StemCell Therapy

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COULD we stem the tide of ageing by delaying the deterioration of stem cells? A new compound that appears to do just that could help us find ways to protect our organs from age-related wear and tear, experiments in mice suggest.

As we age, so do our mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs): their numbers in our bone marrow decline, and those that are left lose the ability to differentiate into the distinct cell types - such as bone, cartilage, fat and possibly muscle cells - that help in the healing process.

"We think this ageing of stem cells may be linked to the onset of some age-related disorders, such as osteoporosis," says Ilaria Bellantuono at the University of Sheffield in the UK.

Earlier research in mice had suggested that the prion protein expressed by MSCs might play a role in holding back stem cell ageing. Mice lacking the prion protein were less able to regenerate blood cells. The study provided more evidence that correctly folded prions serve a useful purpose in the body, despite the role that misfolded prions play in BSE and vCJD.

Bellantuono and her colleagues have now found that the prion protein performs a similar function in humans - older MSCs from human bone marrow expressed less of the protein than younger ones.

In a bid to find a compound that might slow MSC ageing, the team tested numerous molecules known to target prion proteins on dishes of human stem cells. One molecule emerged as a potential candidate - stem cells treated with it produced 300 times the number of cells over 250 days than untreated stem cells. The treated cells kept on dividing for longer.

The team then injected treated cells into the thigh bones of mice, and three days later found that they had produced three times as many new cells as they would normally produce. After five weeks, there were 10 times as many cells.

The new cells appeared to be of higher quality, too, and readily differentiated into bone and fat cells, as well as those that support the tissue and blood vessels.

Bellantuono's team think the molecule works by helping the prions protect the stem cells from the DNA damage associated with normal ageing. When they exposed both treated and untreated cells to hydrogen peroxide - a compound known to cause DNA damage - they found that the treated cells were protected from damage (Stem Cells, DOI: 10.1002/stem.1065).

"You can delay the loss of stem cells' function by manipulating the prion protein," says Bellantuono, who presented the findings at the Aging Online Symposium last month. "In the long term, you may go a long way to maintaining tissue health in [old] age."

Continued here:
Protecting prion protein keeps stem cells young

Researchers at Kings College London have developed the first artificial functioning blood vessel outside of the body, according to a release from the college. The vessels are made from reprogrammed stem cells from human skin. The team also saw the cells develop into a blood vessel inside the body for the first time.

The hope is that this new technique will eventually lead to a treatment for patients with heart disease. The plan is that the reprogrammed cells would be injected into a leg or even directly into the heart to restore blood flow. Another possibility would be to graft one of the artificially developed vessels into the body as a replacement for blocked or damaged vessels. The research team also believes the newly created vessels could be used to prevent leg amputation in diabetic patients with poor circulation.

The study, which was published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, reports that the reprogrammed vascular cells have no risk turning into tumors.

The release quotes Professor Qingbo Xu of the British Heart Foundation as saying, "This is very exciting research . . . If we can develop this approach as personalized treatments for patients with the condition, it will be a significant step forward."

The researchers cautioned that this is an early study and that more research needs to be done regarding how this approach will works in patients, but Dr Hlne Wilson, Research Advisor at the British Heart Foundation, said: "The discovery could help lead towards future therapies to repair hearts after they are damaged by a heart attack. As well as playing a part in a possible future regenerative treatment, these cells might also be used in drug screening to find new treatments to tackle inherited diseases."

See the article here:
Stem Cells as Blood Vessels=Heart Tx?

CTVNews.ca Staff Published Friday, Aug. 17, 2012 8:36AM EDT

A Toronto research team hopes to make hip and knee replacements a thing of the past as it explores the growth of new human cartilage using stem cells.

With an estimated four million Canadians suffering from arthritis, and that number expected to grow to seven million by 2031, doctors are hoping to use the stem cells to treat the deterioration of cartilage in joints. Although hip and knee replacements are a great operation, they improve patients lives in terms of pain, quality and function, theyre not your own joint, Dr. Nizar Mahomed told CTVs Canada AM on Friday. They dont last forever and they bring risks and limitations.

Mahomed, an orthopedic surgeon at Torontos Western Hospital, said 45,000 hip and knee replacement surgeries are performed in Canada each year. Many of the surgeries are to treat the damage left by arthritis, which he said is caused by aging, obesity and injuries.

The incident of arthritis increases with age, so as our population ages the prevalence of arthritis is going to continue to increase.

Mahomed and his colleagues are one of the first research teams in the world that have been able to grow human cartilage.

The team is now embarking on the next stage of the study, which will see the new tissue used in animals.

If we actually make it work in animals then one day well be able to bring it back into patients, said Mahomed.

He added that stem cells hold much hope for medicine in the future as studies are looking at using the cells to regenerate cardiac tissue and in the treatment of nerve and spinal cord injuries.

Mahomed said he hopes within five to 10 years the new technology can be used in human patients while putting an end to joint replacement surgeries.

Excerpt from:
New research uses stem cells as possible treatment for arthritis

Even after 18 years of frozen storage, human embryos can still produce viable stem cells for drug screening and biomedical research.

By Hayley Dunning | August 16, 2012

Cryopreservation of embryos in fertility centers is common, and concerns over damage to the embryo during thawing were largely allayed by the birth of a healthy boy in 2010 from 20-year old cryopreserved embryo. Last week (August 10), researchers in Thailand reported in BioResearch Open Access that they successfully induced the growth of stem cells from a set of 17- and 18-year-old frozen embryos.

The embryos were thawed, then cultured to the blastocyst stage and co-cultured with human foreskin fibroblasts which acted as feeder cells to maintain the growth of embryonic stem cells. The team used the same method to induce stem cells to grow from fresh embryos for comparison, and in cells from both sources they found similar levels of pluripotency.

The importance of this study is that it identifies an alternative source for generating new embryonic stem lines, using embryos that have been in long-term storage, BioResearch Open Access Editor-in-Chief Jane Taylor told Asian News International.

By Cristina Luiggi

A postdoctoral research fellow at Emory University falsifies stem cell research data.

By Megan Scudellari

Human embryonic stem cells swiftly kill themselves in response to DNA damage.

By Edyta Zielinska

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Embryonic Stem Cells Survive Freezing

DUBLIN--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/vxwrkb/personalized_medic) has announced the addition of the "Personalized Medicine - A Global Market Overview" report to their offering.

This report review, analyze and projects the personalized medicine market for global and the regional markets including the United States, Europe and Rest of World. The market numbers illustrated in this report only represent the market exclusively for the product segments and technologies enunciated above. The market, in this report, does not include the associated hardware equipment or software technologies that are used to manage patient data. The study includes recent and current trends related to technology and the market along with the key industry developments.

The market for personalized medicine product types analyzed in this study includes Targeted Biologics, Proteomics & Genomics, Genetically Modified (GM) Products, Wellness & Disease Management, Other Molecular Diagnostics and Self/Other Diagnostics. The report also includes the market analysis for application technologies of personalized medicine - Pharmacogenomics, Point-of-Care Testing, Stem Cell Therapy, Pharmacoproteomics, Pharmacogenetics and Other Technologies. The report analyses the global market in terms of USD Million.

This 350 page global market report includes 43 charts (includes a data table and graphical representation for each chart), supported with meaningful and easy to understand graphical presentation, of the market. The statistical tables represent the data for the global market by geographic region, product type and application technology.

The report covers the brief business profiles of 56 key global players and 77 major players across the United States - 45; Europe - 24; and Rest of World - 8.

The report also provides the listing of the companies engaged in research and development, manufacturing, processing, supplies and distribution of personalized. Also enlisting the academic institutions engages in personalized medicine, the global list covers the addresses, contact numbers and the website addresses of 395 companies.

For more information, including table of contents and list of companies mentioned, please visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/vxwrkb/personalized_medic

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Research and Markets: Personalized Medicine - A Global Market Overview

NEW YORK, Aug. 16, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Reportlinker.com announces that a new market research report is available in its catalogue:

http://www.reportlinker.com/p0955290/Personalized-Medicine---A-Global-Market-Overview.html#utm_source=prnewswire&utm_medium=pr&utm_campaign=In_Vitro_Diagnostic

`Personalized Medicine can mean a lot of things to a lot of people. For some, it may relate to doctors having knowledge about their case history and the treatment received, which is a morale boosting factor, since everybody wants caregivers who can comprehend an individual's problems. The day is not very far when this level of personal or individual understanding between a patient and a doctor would be much deeper than hitherto anticipated. The coming decade is expected to witness an increase in the use of companion diagnostics and personalized medicines, with pricing incentives and efficiency improvement propelling the market. Current market leaders with diagnostic divisions focusing on biomarker identification would be at an advantage.

This report review, analyze and projects the personalized medicine market for global and the regional markets including the United States, Europe and Rest of World. The market numbers illustrated in this report only represent the market exclusively for the product segments and technologies enunciated above. The market, in this report, does not include the associated hardware equipment or software technologies that are used to manage patient data. The study includes recent and current trends related to technology and the market along with the key industry developments.

The market for personalized medicine product types analyzed in this study includes Targeted Biologics, Proteomics & Genomics, Genetically Modified (GM) Products, Wellness & Disease Management, Other Molecular Diagnostics and Self/Other Diagnostics. The report also includes the market analysis for application technologies of personalized medicine Pharmacogenomics, Point-of-Care Testing, Stem Cell Therapy, Pharmacoproteomics, Pharmacogenetics and Other Technologies. The report analyses the global market in terms of USD Million.

This 350 page global market report includes 43 charts (includes a data table and graphical representation for each chart), supported with meaningful and easy to understand graphical presentation, of the market. The statistical tables represent the data for the global market by geographic region, product type and application technology. The report covers the brief business profiles of 56 key global players and 77 major players across the United States 45; Europe 24; and Rest of World 8. The report also provides the listing of the companies engaged in research and development, manufacturing, processing, supplies and distribution of personalized. Also enlisting the academic institutions engages in personalized medicine, the global list covers the addresses, contact numbers and the website addresses of 395 companies.

PART A: GLOBAL MARKET PERSPECTIVE

1. INTRODUCTION1.1 Product Outline1.1.1 Personalized Medicine's Influence on Large Scale Studies1.1.2 Gazing into the Crystal Ball: What the Future Holds for Personalized Medicine1.1.3 Ramifications of Personalized Medicine for Healthcare Systems1.1.3.1 Pharmaceutical Industry1.1.3.2 Diagnostics Industry1.1.3.3 Insurers1.1.3.4 Physicians1.1.3.5 Government Agencies1.1.3.6 Patients1.1.4 Analysis of Personalized Medicine by Segment1.1.4.1 Targeted Biologics1.1.4.1.1 Overview1.1.4.1.2 Targeted Biologics for Breast Cancer: An Illustration1.1.4.2 Proteomics & Genomics1.1.4.2.1 Proteomics1.1.4.2.1.1 A Complex Problem1.1.4.2.1.2 Post-Translational Modifications1.1.4.2.1.3 Phosphorylation1.1.4.2.1.4 Ubiquitination1.1.4.2.1.5 Other Modifications1.1.4.2.2 Genomics1.1.4.2.2.1 Pharmacogenomics1.1.4.3 Genetically Modified (GM) Products1.1.4.3.1 The Genetic Engineering Process1.1.4.3.1.1 Applications of Genetic Engineering1.1.4.4 Wellness & Disease Management1.1.4.4.1 Wellness Defined1.1.4.4.2 Disease Management Defined1.1.4.5 Molecular Diagnostic Technologies1.1.4.5.1 DNA Sequencing1.1.4.5.2 Biochips and Microarrays1.1.4.5.3 Cytogenetics1.1.4.5.3.1 Personalized Medicine Based on Molecular Cytogenetics1.1.4.5.3.2 Personalized Medicine Based on Cytomics1.1.4.5.4 Single Nucleotide Polymorphism (SNP) Genotyping1.1.4.5.4.1 Applications of SNPs Pertinent to Personalized Medicine1.1.4.5.5 Haplotyping1.1.4.5.6 Application of Proteomics In Molecular Diagnosis1.1.4.5.7 Gene Expression Profiling1.1.4.5.8 Personalized Medicine and Molecular Imaging1.1.4.5.9 Diagnostics Based On Glycomics1.1.4.5.10 Combining Diagnostics and Therapeutics1.1.4.5.11 Point-Of-Care (POC) Diagnosis1.1.4.5.12 Genetic Testing For Disease Predisposition1.1.5 Analysis of Personalized Medicine by Technology1.1.5.1 Pharmacogenomics1.1.5.1.1 Drug Metabolism1.1.5.1.2 Applications1.1.5.2 Point-of-Care Testing1.1.5.2.1 Tests that are Most Apt for Specific Scenarios1.1.5.2.2 Advantages1.1.5.3 Stem Cell Therapy1.1.5.3.1 Treatment with Stem Cells1.1.5.3.2 Current Therapies1.1.5.3.3 Future Treatments1.1.5.4 Pharmacoproteomics1.1.5.5 Pharmacogenetics1.1.5.5.1 Prediction of Drug-Drug Interactions1.1.5.5.2 Integration of Pharmacogenetics with the Healthcare System1.1.5.5.3 Pharmacogenetic Tests1.1.5.6 Other Personalized Medicine Technologies1.1.5.6.1 Biochips1.1.5.6.2 Genetic Screening1.1.5.6.3 Metabolomics1.1.5.6.4 Molecular Diagnostics1.1.5.6.5 Pharmacodynamics1.1.5.6.6 Pharmacokinetics1.1.5.6.7 SNP Genotyping1.1.6 The Rationale Behind Personalized Medicine: "One Size no Longer Fits All"1.1.7 The Human Genome: What is It?

2. KEY MARKET TRENDS

Combating Melanoma and Lung Cancer Facilitated Using Novel Personalized Drugs

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Personalized Medicine - A Global Market Overview

Neural stem cells (green) in the hippocampus huddle around a neuron (purple), listening for stray signals.

In 2000, a team of neuroscientists put an unusual idea to the test. Stress and depression, they knew, made neurons wither and die particularly in the hippocampus, a brain area crucial for memory. So the researchers put some stressed-out rats on an antidepressant regimen, hoping the mood boost might protect some of those hippocampal neurons. When they checked in a few weeks later, though, the team found that rats hippocampuses hadnt just survived intact; theyd grown whole new neurons bundles of them. But thats only the beginning of our tale.

By the time 2009 rolled around, another team of researchers was suggesting that human brains might get a similar hippocampal boost from antidepressants. The press announced the discovery with headlines like, Antidepressants Grow New Brain Cells although not everyone agreed with that conclusion. Still, whether the principle applied to humans or not, a far more basic question was begging to be answered: How, exactly, does a brain tell new cells to form?

Well, through synapses, of course, you might answer and thatd be a very reasonable guess. After all, synapses are how most neurons talk to each other: electrochemical information is squirted from a tiny tendril of one neuron into the tip of a tendril on another; and cells throughout most of the brain share essentially this same mechanism for passing signals along: The signals coming out of Neuron As synapses keep bugging Neuron B by stimulating its synapses, until finally Neuron B caves under peer pressure and bugs Neuron C with the signal and so on.

There are, however, two significant exceptions to this system.

The first exception was discovered a few years ago, as scientists got more and more curious about the role of neuroglia (also known as just glia), synapse-less cells that many had assumed were just there to serve as structural support for neurons. A 2008 study showed that glia help control cerebral blood flow, and research in 2010 demonstrated that some glia cells known as astrocytes actively listen for and respond to certain neurotransmitter messages. These so-called quiet cells are actually pretty loud talkers once you learn to tune in to their chatter.

The second exception to the synapse rule is even more mysterious in large part because its a brand-new discovery: As the journal Nature reports, a team led by Hongjun Song at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine have found that neural stem cells listen in on the stray chemical signals that leak from synapses.

You can imagine neural stem cells as being sort of neural embryos depending on the surrounding conditions, they can develop into neurons or into glia. And heres whats strange about the way these cells communicate: They respond not to any single synaptic signal, but to the overall chemical vibe of their environment to chronic feelings of stress, for instance. By way of response, they may morph into neurons or glia or even tell the brain to crank out some all-new cells.

Neural stem cells seem to be particularly interested in the chemical GABA (gamma-aminobutyric acid) a neurotransmitter thats known to be involved in inhibiting signals from other neurons. When scientists artificially block these stem cells GABA receptors from receiving messages, the cells wake up and start replicating but when those GABA signals are allowed to reach the receptors, the stem cells stay dormant.

In this case, Song explains, GABA communication keeps the brain stem cells in reserve, so if we dont need them, we dont use them up.

Original post:
What Your Neural Stem Cells Aren't Telling You

MANILA, Philippines Celebrity hairstylist Ricky Reyes, talent manager and host Lolit Solis, actress Lorna Tolentino and even former President Joseph Estrada are only among the prominent Filipinos who swear by the healing effects of fresh cell therapy, which involves the injection of live animal cells into the body.

Reyes, who used to suffer from a rare disease which he called reading eye epilepsy, said he went to Germany last June for fresh cell therapy.

After a number of sessions, the celebrity hairstylist can now read newspapers without suffering a seizure.

It was gone immediately, he said. Pati arthritis ko. Naalis yung sakit, tapos gaganda at babata ka pa.

Solis, 65, had fresh cell therapy after experiencing knee pain, and 75-year-old Estrada opted to undergo the procedure in Germany to keep healthy.

Before them, several other well-known figures worldwide are said to have tried fresh cell treatments, among them the late English actor Charlie Chaplin.

So how is this procedure done? Dr. Robert Janson-Muller, who runs a fresh cell therapy clinic in Germany, is in town to give Filipinos the lowdown on this decades-long treatment.

Not stem cell treatment

Before starting his lecture for members of the local media on Tuesday, Janson-Muller made it clear that fresh cell therapy is different from the now controversial stem cell treatment, which aims to replace damaged organs in the body or create one from scratch.

He stressed that his methods, which do not promise miracles, have been proven effective by his predecessors for the past 60 years.

Continue reading here:
Fresh cell therapy promises better health, sex and more

Public release date: 13-Aug-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Vicki Cohn vcohn@liebertpub.com 914-740-2100 Mary Ann Liebert, Inc./Genetic Engineering News

New Rochelle, NY, August 13, 2012Even after being frozen for 18 years, human embryos can be thawed, grown in the laboratory, and successfully induced to produce human embryonic stem (ES) cells, which represent a valuable resource for drug screening and medical research. Prolonged embryonic cryopreservation as an alternative source of ES cells is the focus of an article in BioResearch Open Access, a new bimonthly peer-reviewed open access journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. The article is available free online at the BioResearch Open Access website.

Kamthorn Pruksananonda and coauthors from Chulalongkorn University and Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital, Bangkok, Thailand, demonstrated that ES cells derived from frozen embryos have a similar ability to differentiate into multiple cell typesa characteristic known as pluripotencyas do ES cells derived from fresh embryos. They present their findings in the article "Eighteen-Year Cryopreservation Does Not Negatively Affect the Pluripotency of Human Embryos: Evidence from Embryonic Stem Cell Derivation."

"The importance of this study is that it identifies an alternative source for generating new embryonic stem lines, using embryos that have been in long-term storage," says Editor-in-Chief Jane Taylor, PhD, MRC Centre for Regenerative Medicine, University of Edinburgh, Scotland.

###

About the Journal

BioResearch Open Access is a bimonthly peer-reviewed open access journal that provides a new rapid-publication forum for a broad range of scientific topics including molecular and cellular biology, tissue engineering and biomaterials, bioengineering, regenerative medicine, stem cells, gene therapy, systems biology, genetics, biochemistry, virology, microbiology, and neuroscience. All articles are published within 4 weeks of acceptance and are fully open access and posted on PubMedCentral. All journal content is available online at the BioResearch Open Access website.

About the Publisher

Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., is a privately held, fully integrated media company known for establishing authoritative peer-reviewed journals in many promising areas of science and biomedical research, including Tissue Engineering, Stem Cells and Development, Human Gene Therapy and HGT Methods, and AIDS Research and Human Retroviruses. Its biotechnology trade magazine, Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News (GEN), was the first in its field and is today the industry's most widely read publication worldwide. A complete list of the firm's 70 journals, books, and newsmagazines is available at the Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. website.

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Human embryos frozen for 18 years yield viable stem cells suitable for biomedical research

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Verastem, Inc., (VSTM) a biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering and developing drugs to treat breast and other cancers by targeting cancer stem cells, today reported financial results for the quarter ended June 30, 2012, and also commented on certain corporate accomplishments and plans.

We made significant advances in our therapeutic programs during the second quarter, said Christoph Westphal, M.D., Ph.D., Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Verastem. The acquisition of the Phase 2-ready focal adhesion kinase inhibitors from Pfizer accelerates this key cancer stem cell-targeting program by approximately 12-18 months, and we are now positioned to initiate a potential registration study in mesothelioma next year.

Recent Accomplishments

Our significant recent accomplishments include the following:

Focal Adhesion Kinase (FAK) Inhibition

Dual PI3K/mTOR Inhibition

Corporate

Second Quarter 2012 Financial Results

As of June 30, 2012, Verastem had cash, cash equivalents and investments of $104.3 million compared to $56.8 million on December 31, 2011.

Link:
Verastem Reports Second Quarter 2012 Financial and Corporate Results

CLEARWATER, FL--(Marketwire -08/13/12)- Biostem U.S., Corporation (HAIR) (HAIR) (Biostem, the Company) is a fully reporting public company in the stem cell regenerative medicine sciences sector. President, John Satino announced today that the Pizarro Hair Restoration Clinic in Orlando, Florida is now equipped and ready to begin offering The Biostem Method of hair re-growth using the patient's own adult cells in a minimally invasive, painless procedure. In addition, Biostem Medical Director and Trainer, Dr. Marina Pizarro is ready to offer onsite training to new Biostem affiliates.

According to Satino, "This week, Dr. Pizarro treated her first two patients using The Biostem Method of hair re-growth in her Orlando office. This paves the way for Biostem to start offering affiliate agreements throughout the country in response to the many inquiries from physicians who want to offer this transplant alternative to their patients. We are making plans to open affiliate offices in major cities soon, after which we will expand the services to rural and international locations focusing first on Europe and Asia."

As a side note, Satino stated that, "While the industry typically sees more males requesting hair transplant for hair re-growth solutions, it is interesting that the first two treatments Dr. Pizarro performed were on women. Statistics do show that women suffer hair loss in significant numbers, yet are less likely to go through the transplant procedure. The Biostem Method finally offers women as well as men, a viable and proven alternative."

About Biostem U.S. Corporation Biostem U.S., Corporation (HAIR) is a fully reporting Nevada corporation with offices in Clearwater, Florida. Biostem U.S. is a technology licensing company with proprietary technology centered on providing hair re-growth using human stem cells. The company also intends to train and license selected physicians to provide Regenerative Cellular Therapy treatments to assist the body's natural approach to healing tendons, ligaments, joints and muscle injuries by using the patient's own stem cells. Biostem U.S. is seeking to expand its operations worldwide through licensing of its proprietary technology and acquisition of existing stem cell related facilities. The company's goal is to operate in the international biotech market, focusing on the rapidly growing regenerative medicine field, using ethically sourced adult stem cells to improve the quality and longevity of life for all mankind.

The company's Board of Directors is headed by Chairman, Scott Crutchfield, who also acts as Senior Vice President of World Wide Operations for Crocs, Inc. (CROX) and includes Crocs, Inc. original member, Steve Beck.

More information on Biostem U.S., Corporation can be obtained through http://www.biostemus.com or by contacting Fox Communications Group at 310-974-6821.

See the article here:
Biostem Medical Director, Dr. Marina Pizarro Performs First Biostem Method(TM) of Hair Re-Growth Procedures at Orlando ...

By John von Radowitz, Science Correspondent, PA News

No one is immune to the human form of mad cow disease, variant CJD, new research suggests today.

Some people whose genetic make-up normally acts as a barrier against infection may ultimately develop a different and so-far unrecognised type of disease, it is claimed.

Scientists have shown that individuals with a pair of genes known as MM about a third of the population acquire vCJD relatively easily.

No one with a different paring, VV, has been known to suffer the disease.

Then in August it emerged that a patient from a mixed MV genetic group had been infected with vCJD from contaminated blood, without showing any symptoms. Just over half the population has the MV pairing.

The news sparked fears of a mad cow disease timebomb in the population, with thousands of people unwittingly carrying the brain disease on a long incubation fuse. Read more…

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http://feeds.feedburner.com/integratedmedicine

http://www.celltherapyblog.com hosted by http://www.celltherapygroup.com

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http://feeds.feedburner.com/CellTherapyBlog

A tiny opening exists for scientists
who failed to win approval last month of their bids for $20 million
research awards from the California stem cell agency.

Source:
http://californiastemcellreport.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default?alt=rss

By John von Radowitz, Science Correspondent, PA News

No one is immune to the human form of mad cow disease, variant CJD, new research suggests today.

Some people whose genetic make-up normally acts as a barrier against infection may ultimately develop a different and so-far unrecognised type of disease, it is claimed.

Scientists have shown that individuals with a pair of genes known as MM about a third of the population acquire vCJD relatively easily.

No one with a different paring, VV, has been known to suffer the disease.

Then in August it emerged that a patient from a mixed MV genetic group had been infected with vCJD from contaminated blood, without showing any symptoms. Just over half the population has the MV pairing.

The news sparked fears of a mad cow disease timebomb in the population, with thousands of people unwittingly carrying the brain disease on a long incubation fuse. Read more…

Source:
http://feeds.feedburner.com/integratedmedicine

http://www.celltherapyblog.com hosted by http://www.celltherapygroup.com

Source:
http://feeds.feedburner.com/CellTherapyBlog

A tiny opening exists for scientists
who failed to win approval last month of their bids for $20 million
research awards from the California stem cell agency.

Source:
http://californiastemcellreport.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default?alt=rss

While $34.7 million is a touch more than $34.5 million, that's not exactly huge quarter-over-quarter growth from Seattle Genetics' (Nasdaq: SGEN) Adcetris.

Still, investors seem to be shaking off the lackluster growth, and for good reason: Sales of Adcetris -- a drug for treating relapsed Hodgkin lymphoma and anaplastic large-cell lymphoma -- are a very small part of the long-term success of Seattle Genetics.

The light growth seems to be the result of declining business at academic centers, where sales dropped off as patients stopped treatment because they finished their therapy cycles or had a strong enough response to undergo a stem-cell transplant.

The number of community doctors using the drug increased in the second quarter, which is good news for the sales trajectory, as most of the lymphoma patients for whom Adcetris is appropriate are seen in the community setting.

Don't expect much growth in the second half, though; management is guiding for sales of $140 million to $150 million in 2012 -- either flat or a 17% increase from the first half of the year to the second half.

Seattle Genetics lost $12.3 million on a GAAP basis in the quarter but didn't actually burn any cash. In fact, the cash, cash equivalents, and investments increased by $21.5 million during the quarter. I don't know how long investors can expect that to continue, as the biotech is still using product manufactured prior to approval.

Of course, aside from Adcetris, Seattle Genetics can bring in cash by licensing out its antibody-drug conjugate technology, which has attracted some big names, including Roche, GlaxoSmithKline (NYSE: GSK) , Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) , and Abbott Labs (NYSE: ABT) .

Internally, Seattle Genetics' future depends on expanding the use of Adcetris into frontline setting for the two lymphomas it's currently approved to treat, as well as other types of cancer. The potential there towers over the $150 million Seattle Genetics will bring in this year.

Interested in new technology? Check out the Fool's new report, "The Next Trillion Dollar Revolution." Claim your free copy by clicking here.

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A Growth-Free Quarter -- and That's OK

Public release date: 10-Aug-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Mary Jane Gore mary.gore@duke.edu 919-660-1309 Duke University Medical Center

DURHAM, N.C.-- Duke researchers may have found a promising stem cell therapy for preventing osteoarthritis after a joint injury.

Injuring a joint greatly raises the odds of getting a form of osteoarthritis called post-traumatic arthritis, or PTA. There are no therapies yet that modify or slow the progression of arthritis after injury.

Researchers at Duke University Health System have found a very promising therapeutic approach to PTA using a type of stem cell, called mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), in mice with fractures that typically would lead to them developing arthritis. Their findings could lead to a therapy that would be used after joint injury and before signs of significant osteoarthritis.

The scientists thought the stem cells would work to prevent PTA by altering the balance of inflammation and regeneration in knee joints, because these stem cells have beneficial properties in other regions of the body.

"The stem cells were able to prevent post-traumatic arthritis," said Farshid Guilak, Ph.D., director of orthopaedic research at Duke and senior author of the study.

The study was published on August 10 in Cell Transplantation.

The researchers also thought that a type of mice bred for their super-healing properties would probably fare better than typical mice, but they were wrong.

"We decided to investigate two therapies for the study, said lead author Brian Diekman, Ph.D., a postdoctoral researcher in the Guilak lab. "We thought that stem cells from so-called superhealer mice would be superior at providing protection, and instead, we found that they were no better than stem cells from typical mice. We thought that maybe it would take stem cells from superhealers to gain an effect as strong as preventing arthritis after a fracture, but we were surprised and excited to learn that regular stem cells work just as well."

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Stem cells may prevent post-injury arthritis