StemCell Therapy

Public release date: 14-Mar-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Karin Eskenazi ket2116@columbia.edu 212-342-0508 Columbia University Medical Center

New York, NY (March 14, 2012) Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC) scientists have developed a way to recreate an individual's immune system in a mouse. The "personalized immune mouse" offers researchers an unprecedented tool for individualized analysis of abnormalities that contribute to type 1 diabetes and other autoimmune diseases, starting at the onset of disease. The findings were published today in the online edition of Science Translational Medicine.

The mouse model could also have clinical applications, such as predicting how a particular patient might respond to existing drugs or immunotherapies, reports senior author Megan Sykes, Michael J. Friedlander Professor of Medicine and Professor of Microbiology & Immunology and Surgical Sciences (in Surgery) at CUMC. Dr. Sykes is also Director for the Columbia Center for Translational Immunology. In addition, the model might prove useful for developing individualized immunotherapies for fighting infection or cancer or for lessening a patient's rejection of transplanted tissue.

Researchers have been searching for new ways to tease apart the various factors that contribute to autoimmune disease. "While large-scale studies of human populations have provided important clues to the genetic basis of immune diseases, they have offered little information about the specific role the genes play," says Dr. Sykes. "It's difficult to isolate these mechanisms when looking at groups of patients who have had disease for different lengths of time or have been receiving different treatments. And the fact that they already have the disease makes it difficult to distinguish what underlies and propagates the autoimmune process."

Several research groups have attempted to create a personalized immune mouse. However, each model has had significant limitations, such as an inability to generate the full complement of immune cells and incompatibilities between tissues used to recreate the human immune system, leading to graft-versus-host disease.

Dr. Sykes' model, in contrast, is able to recreate a robust and diverse human immune system, including T cells, B cells, and myeloid cells (which generate a variety of immune cells), free of immune incompatibilities.

The model is made by transplanting human bone marrow stem cells (also known as CD34+ cells), along with a small amount (approximately 1 cubic mm) of HLA-matched immature thymus tissue, into an immunodeficient mouse. (The HLA, or human leukocyte antigen, system mediates interactions among various immune cells.) The thymus tissue is implanted into the mouse's kidney capsule, a thin membrane that envelops the kidney and serves as an incubator. Within six to eight weeks, the transplanted thymus tissue is seeded by circulating human CD34+ cells (which are infused into the mouse's bloodstream), and begins generating human immune cells from the CD34+ cells.

A key to the model's success was the team's discovery that freezing and thawing the transplanted thymus tissue, as well as administering antibodies against CD2 (a glycoprotein that mediates T cell development and activation), depletes mature T cells from the tissue graft. This prevents rejection of the human CD34+ cells and graft-versus-host disease, while preserving function of the thymus tissue.

Dr. Sykes intends to use the personalized immune mouse to study type 1 diabetes. "We hope to find out what is fundamentally different about patients' immune systems, compared with those of healthy individuals, before any disease develops," she says.

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'Personalized immune' mouse offers new tool for studying autoimmune diseases

When skin cells are reprogrammed, many of their cellular properties are recalibrated as they aquire stem cell properties and then are induced to become skin cells again. In order for these "induced" stem cells to be viable in treatment for humans (tissue regeneration, personalized wound healing therapies, etc.), researchers need to understand how they retain or even improve their characteristics after they are reprogrammed.

Since the initial discovery of reprogramming, scientists have struggled with the unpredictability of the cells due to the many changes that occur during the reprogramming process. Classifying specific epigenetic signatures, as this study did, allows researchers to anticipate ways to produce cell types with optimal properties for tissue repair while minimizing unintended cellular abnormalities.

The researchers used reprogrammed cells to generate three-dimensional connective tissue that mimics an in vivo wound repair environment. To verify the role of the protein (PDGFRbeta) in tissue regeneration and maintenance, the team blocked its cellular expression, which impaired the cells' ability to build tissue.

"We determined that successful tissue generation is associated with the expression of PDGFRbeta. Theoretically, by identifying the epigenetic signatures that indicate its expression, we can determine the reprogrammed cells' potential for maintaining normal cellular characteristics throughout development," said first author Kyle Hewitt, PhD, a graduate of the cell, molecular & developmental biology program at the Sackler School of Graduate Biomedical Sciences, and postdoctoral associate in the Garlick laboratory at Tufts University School of Dental Medicine (TUSDM).

"The ability to generate patient-specific cells from the reprogrammed skin cells may allow for improved, individualized, cell-based therapies for wound healing. Potentially, these reprogrammed cells could be used as a tool for drug development, modeling of disease, and transplantation medicine without the ethical issues associated with embryonic stem cells," said senior author Jonathan Garlick, DDS, PhD, a professor in the department of oral and maxillofacial pathology and director of the division of tissue engineering and cancer biology at TUSDM.

Jonathan Garlick is also a member of the cell, molecular & developmental biology program faculty at the Sackler School and the director of the Center for Integrated Tissue Engineering (CITE) at TUSDM.

More information: Hewitt KJ, Shamis Y, Knight E, Smith A, Maione A, Alt-Holland A, Garlick JA. Journal of Cell Science. "PDGFRbeta Expression and Function in Fibroblasts Derived from Pluripotent Cells is Linked to DNA Demethylation" Published online February 17, 2012, doi: 10.1242/jcs.099192

Provided by Tufts University

Original post:
Epigenetic signatures direct the repair potential of reprogrammed cells

NOKOMIS, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

With the global demand for biotechnology solutions to mounting health concerns growing every day, Rainbow Coral Corp. (OTCBB: RBCC.OB - News) has been working hard to deliver the kinds of breakthroughs that doctors, scientists, and researchers the world over are begging for.

Today, Rainbow BioSciences, the biotech division of Rainbow Coral Corp. (OTCBB: RBCC.OB - News) announced that it has signed a deal to acquire an interest in the cutting-edge biotech firm Nano3D Biosciences, Inc. (n3D). One of the hottest emerging biotech developers in the world, n3D is producing new tools that could challenge long-held assumptions about healthcareand change lives in the process.

The agreement is the culmination of months of work and negotiations. N3D is a terrific fit with RBCCs aggressive focus on company growth. The companys new breakthrough cell-culturing technology, the Bio-Assembler, is fully commercialized already. RBCCs participation will provide n3D with the funds for marketing and distributing the Bio-Assembler to new markets as cellular research in the biotech sector explodes around the globe.

The acquisition has RBCC well-positioned to participate in the potentially dramatic upside that many bioscience companies realize at this stage. N3Ds Bio-Assembler could be poised to revolutionize the way stem cell research and the study of other living tissues is conducted worldwide, with the potential to ultimately reduce the development timeline for new life-saving drug therapies.

For more information on Rainbow BioSciences, RBCCs biotechnology division, please visit http://www.rainbowbiosciences.com/investors.

Rainbow BioSciences will develop new medical and research technology innovations to compete alongside companies such as Cell Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: CTIC - News), Biogen Idec Inc. (NASDAQ: BIIB - News), Abbott Laboratories (NYSE: ABT - News) and Elan Corp. (NYSE: ELN - News).

About Rainbow BioSciences

Rainbow BioSciences, LLC, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Rainbow Coral Corp. (OTCBB: RBCC.OB - News). The company continually seeks out new partnerships with biotechnology developers to deliver profitable new medical technologies and innovations. For more information on our growth-oriented business initiatives, please visit our website at [www.RainbowBioSciences.com]. For investment information and performance data on the company, please visit http://www.RainbowBioSciences.com/investors.

Notice Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

Excerpt from:
RBCC Closes Deal with Game Changing Biotech Firm

Public release date: 15-Mar-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Jennifer Ganton jganton@ohri.ca 613-798-5555 x73325 Ottawa Hospital Research Institute

A team of researchers from the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute (OHRI) and the University of Ottawa (uOttawa) has been awarded $367,000 from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) and $75,000 from the Stem Cell Network to lead the first clinical trial in the world of a stem cell therapy for septic shock. This deadly condition occurs when an infection spreads throughout the body and over-activates the immune system, resulting in severe organ damage and death in 30 to 40 per cent of cases. Septic shock accounts for 20 per cent of all Intensive Care Unit (ICU) admissions in Canada and costs $4 billion annually. Under the leadership of Dr. Lauralyn McIntyre, this new "Phase I" trial will test the experimental therapy in up to 15 patients with septic shock at The Ottawa Hospital's ICU.

The treatment involves mesenchymal stem cells, also called mesenchymal stromal cells or MSCs. Like other stem cells, they can give rise to a variety of more specialized cells and tissues and can help repair and regenerate damaged organs. They also have a unique ability to modify the body's immune response and enhance the clearance of infectious organisms. They can be found in adult bone marrow and other tissues, as well as umbilical cord blood, and they seem to be easily transplantable between people, because they are more able to avoid immune rejection.

There has been a great deal of interest in using MSCs to treat disease, with most research so far focused on heart disease, stroke, inflammatory bowel disease and blood cancers. Hundreds of patients with these diseases have already been treated with MSCs through clinical trials, with results suggesting that these cells are safe in these patients, and have promising signs of effectiveness. MSCs are still considered experimental however, and have not been approved by Health Canada as a standard therapy for any disease.

In recent years, a number of animal studies have suggested that MSCs may also be able to help treat septic shock. For example, a recent study by Dr. Duncan Stewart, CEO and Scientific Director of OHRI (and also a co-investigator on the new clinical trial) showed that treatment with these cells can triple survival in a mouse model of this condition.

"Mesenchymal stem cell therapy appears promising in animal studies, but it will require many years of clinical trials involving hundreds of patients to know if it is safe and effective," said Dr. Lauralyn McIntyre, a Scientist at the OHRI, ICU Physician at The Ottawa Hospital, Assistant Professor of Medicine at uOttawa and a New Investigator with CIHR and Canadian Blood Services. "This trial is a first step, but it is a very exciting first step."

As with all "Phase I" trials, the main goal of this study is to evaluate the safety of the therapy and determine the best dose for future studies. The 15 patients in the treatment group will receive standard treatments (such as fluids, antibiotics and blood pressure control), plus a planned intravenous dose of 0.3 to 3 million MSCs per kg of body weight. The MSCs will be obtained from the bone marrow of healthy donors and purified in the OHRI's Good Manufacturing Practice Laboratory in the Sprott Centre for Stem Cell Research. The researchers also plan to evaluate 24 similar septic shock patients who will receive standard treatments only (no MSCs). All patients will be rigorously monitored for side effects, and blood samples will be taken at specific time points to monitor the cells and their activity. This trial will not be randomized or blinded and it will not include enough patients to reliably determine if the therapy is effective. It will be conducted under the supervision of Health Canada and the Ottawa Hospital Research Ethics Board, and will have to be approved by both of these organizations before commencing.

"The OHRI is rapidly becoming known as a leader in conducting world-first clinical trials with innovative therapies such as stem cells," said Dr. Duncan Stewart, CEO and Scientific Director of OHRI, Vice-President of Research at The Ottawa Hospital and Professor of Medicine at uOttawa. "This research is truly pushing the boundaries of medical science forward, and is providing the citizens of Ottawa with access to promising new therapies."

"The Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) is very pleased to support this clinical trial," said Dr. Jean Rouleau, Scientific Director of the CIHR Institute of Circulatory and Respiratory Health. "The work of Dr. McIntyre and her colleagues will not only add to our growing knowledge of the benefits of stem-cell therapies, but will hopefully lead to treatments that can help save the lives of patients where currently, our treatment options are less than optimal."

Link:
Ottawa researchers to lead world-first clinical trial of stem cell therapy for septic shock

EDMONDS, Wash., March 14, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --Washington Center for Pain Management is participating in a nationwide FDA-cleared adult stem cell study testing novel treatment for chronic low back pain and has enrolled its first patient. The study will test the use of Mesenchymal Precursor Cells (MPCs) adult stem cells derived from bone marrow that will be directly injected into the lumbar disc. The minimally invasive procedure may offer an alternative to back surgery for eligible patients with chronic pain from degenerative discs.

An estimated 30 million people in the United States suffer from back pain. Degenerative disc disease is the most common cause of low-back pain, which develops with the gradual loss of a material called proteoglycan, which cushions the bones of the spine and enables normal motion.

Most patients with low-back pain respond to physical therapy and medications, but in advanced cases, artificial disc replacement or spinal fusion -- removal of the degenerated discs and the fusion of the bones of the spine -- is necessary. However, these surgeries often are not entirely effective.

"Millions of Americans are debilitated by chronic low back pain," says Dr Hyun Joong Hong MD, the lead investigator at The Washington Center for Pain Management. "This promising therapy is at the cutting edge of medical science and has the potential to create a paradigm shift in our approach to minimally invasive solutions to this disease."

Researchers will enroll approximately 100 study participants. About fifteen participants will be enrolled at The Washington Center for Pain Management and the rest at 11 other medical centers throughout the United States. The trial is scheduled to last for three years.

Washington Center for Pain Management is enrolling study participants suffering from moderate low-back pain for a minimum of six months and whose condition has not responded to other, conventional treatments.

Once enrolled, patients are randomly assigned to one of four treatment groups:

Patients will receive a single injection of their assigned test agent directly into the center of the target discs within their spine and will be monitored for safety. Patients will also be monitored using imaging to identify any changes in their disease condition or disease progression. Use of pain medications, self-reports of pain, subsequent surgical interventions and assessments of disability, quality of life, productivity and activity will be evaluated. Repair of the disc and reduction of chronic back pain will be assessed in each patient.

Promising results have been observed in prior research using animal models when stem cells were investigated for the repair of damaged spine discs. The cells were well tolerated in these study animals.

This study is sponsored by Mesoblast Limited, a world leader in the development of biologic products for the broad field of regenerative medicine. Mesoblast has the worldwide exclusive rights to a series of patents and technologies developed over more than 10 years relating to the identification, extraction, culture and uses of adult Mesenchymal Precursor Cells (MPCs). The MPCs are derived from young adult donors' bone marrow and are immune tolerant.

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Washington Center for Pain Management Begins Enrollment in United States Stem Cell Therapy Study in Subjects With ...

LEUVEN, BELGIUM--(Marketwire -03/15/12)- TiGenix NV (EURONEXT: TIG) today gave a business update and announced financial results for the full year 2011.

Business highlights

Financial highlights

"TiGenix has created a new and strong basis in 2011 on which we can build going forward and we have strengthened our position as the European leader in cell therapy," says Eduardo Bravo, CEO of TiGenix. "We have delivered on our promises: we have obtained national reimbursement for ChondroCelect in Belgium and made progress in other European markets. We advanced all clinical stem cell programs on plan, and raised substantial funds from specialized healthcare investors and through non-dilutive financing. Today, TiGenix is well-positioned to reach the next value-enhancing inflection points."

Business Update

Successful integration of Cellerix reinforces leadership position in cell therapyIn May 2011, TiGenix closed the business combination with the stem cell therapy company Cellerix, creating the European leader in cell therapy. During 2011 the Company succeeded in rapidly integrating both entities. The Company now combines top line revenues with an advanced pipeline of clinical stage regenerative and immuno-modulatory products. TiGenix's operations are supported by a strong commercial and manufacturing infrastructure for advanced cell therapies, an experienced international management team and a solid cash position.

As a result of the merger, the Company's development focus has shifted from early stage preclinical programs towards a number of highly promising clinical stage products for inflammatory and autoimmune disorders of high unmet medical need, each addressing markets in excess of EUR 1 billion. TiGenix product pipeline is based on a proprietary stem cell platform that exploits expanded allogeneic (donor-derived) adult stem cells derived from human adipose (fat) tissue ('eASCs'). The platform has been extensively characterized in line with requirements of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and is supported by exhaustive preclinical and CMC packages.

Given its focus on cell therapy, TiGenix is in the process of divesting its ChondroMimetic franchise, which is based on a biomaterial platform. To be able to concentrate on its core business and move forward with a clean slate, TiGenix has decided to write-off the intellectual property related to the OrthoMimetics acquisition.

ChondroCelect commercial roll-out progressing with first national reimbursementChondroCelect obtained reimbursement in Belgium in May 2011, and is today available in 22 specialized treatment centers.

TiGenix is selling ChondroCelect in the UK, the Netherlands, Germany, and Spain under managed access and private insurance schemes, while pursuing national reimbursement in these countries and France.

Read more:
TiGenix Reports Full Year 2011 Financial Results

EDMONDS, Wash., March 14, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --Washington Center for Pain Management is participating in a nationwide FDA-cleared adult stem cell study testing novel treatment for chronic low back pain and has enrolled its first patient. The study will test the use of Mesenchymal Precursor Cells (MPCs) adult stem cells derived from bone marrow that will be directly injected into the lumbar disc. The minimally invasive procedure may offer an alternative to back surgery for eligible patients with chronic pain from degenerative discs.

An estimated 30 million people in the United States suffer from back pain. Degenerative disc disease is the most common cause of low-back pain, which develops with the gradual loss of a material called proteoglycan, which cushions the bones of the spine and enables normal motion.

Most patients with low-back pain respond to physical therapy and medications, but in advanced cases, artificial disc replacement or spinal fusion -- removal of the degenerated discs and the fusion of the bones of the spine -- is necessary. However, these surgeries often are not entirely effective.

"Millions of Americans are debilitated by chronic low back pain," says Dr Hyun Joong Hong MD, the lead investigator at The Washington Center for Pain Management. "This promising therapy is at the cutting edge of medical science and has the potential to create a paradigm shift in our approach to minimally invasive solutions to this disease."

Researchers will enroll approximately 100 study participants. About fifteen participants will be enrolled at The Washington Center for Pain Management and the rest at 11 other medical centers throughout the United States. The trial is scheduled to last for three years.

Washington Center for Pain Management is enrolling study participants suffering from moderate low-back pain for a minimum of six months and whose condition has not responded to other, conventional treatments.

Once enrolled, patients are randomly assigned to one of four treatment groups:

Patients will receive a single injection of their assigned test agent directly into the center of the target discs within their spine and will be monitored for safety. Patients will also be monitored using imaging to identify any changes in their disease condition or disease progression. Use of pain medications, self-reports of pain, subsequent surgical interventions and assessments of disability, quality of life, productivity and activity will be evaluated. Repair of the disc and reduction of chronic back pain will be assessed in each patient.

Promising results have been observed in prior research using animal models when stem cells were investigated for the repair of damaged spine discs. The cells were well tolerated in these study animals.

This study is sponsored by Mesoblast Limited, a world leader in the development of biologic products for the broad field of regenerative medicine. Mesoblast has the worldwide exclusive rights to a series of patents and technologies developed over more than 10 years relating to the identification, extraction, culture and uses of adult Mesenchymal Precursor Cells (MPCs). The MPCs are derived from young adult donors' bone marrow and are immune tolerant.

Read the rest here:
Washington Center for Pain Management Begins Enrollment in United States Stem Cell Therapy Study in Subjects With ...

Civil servants urged to donate stem cells Last Updated(Beijing Time):2012-03-13 10:37

China should mobilize civil servants to donate their hemopoietic stem cells to help people with life-threatening blood diseases, proposed a member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) National Committee.

The publicity campaign mobilizing civil servants to donate would also allow them to develop a more intimate relationship with citizens, said Guo Changjiang, vice-president of the Red Cross Society of China, according to Beijing Times.

Statistics from the China Marrow Donor Program show that more than 20,000 civil servants donated their stem cells by the end of 2011, accounting for 0.33 percent of civil servants in China.

On the whole, the China Marrow Donor Program collected 1.46 million stem cell blood samples by the end of 2011, accounting for 0.11 percent of the population. The stock is limited compared to other countries.

At present there are nearly 1 million blood disease patients in China in need of a transplant of stem cells. Since it's difficult to find two sets of stem cells compatible enough for a transplant, a much larger stem cell pool is needed, according to medical experts.

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Civil servants urged to donate stem cells

Edited by M. A. Hayat 384 pp, $209 New York, NY, Springer, 2012 ISBN-13: 978-9-4007-2015-2

Stem cells and cancer stem cells are 2 distinct, evolving, and promising areas of research. Hematopoietic stem cells are already used in the treatment of bone marrow failure and hematologic malignancies, and there is now great interest in isolating stem cells from other organs for use in replenishing damaged tissue in the heart, brain, bones, and other organs and structures. In contrast, cancer stem cells, a newly recognized component of some cancers, have some properties of pluripotent stem cells in that they replicate without normal cell cycle regulation and apoptosis. Moreover, they are naturally resistant to chemotherapy because of drug-exuding pumps, DNA repair proteins, and dormancy; thus, these cells are now suspected to be the root cause of relapse and metastasis after conventional therapies in some malignancies, especially leukemia. Targeting cancer stem cells in addition to cancer cells may therefore lead to better eradication of cancer than is presently possible.

Read the original:
Stem Cells and Cancer Stem Cells: Therapeutic Applications in Disease and Injury, Volume 2 [Book and Media Reviews]

ScienceDaily (Mar. 13, 2012) For the first time, scientists at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have made early retina structures containing proliferating neuroretinal progenitor cells using induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells derived from human blood.

And in another advance, the retina structures showed the capacity to form layers of cells as the retina does in normal human development and these cells possessed the machinery that could allow them to communicate information. (Light-sensitive photoreceptor cells in the retina along the back wall of the eye produce impulses that are ultimately transmitted through the optic nerve and then to the brain, allowing you to see.) Put together, these findings suggest that it is possible to assemble human retinal cells into more complex retinal tissues, all starting from a routine patient blood sample.

Many applications of laboratory-built human retinal tissues can be envisioned, including using them to test drugs and study degenerative diseases of the retina such as retinitis pigmentosa, a prominent cause of blindness in children and young adults. One day, it may also be possible replace multiple layers of the retina in order to help patients with more widespread retinal damage.

We dont know how far this technology will take us, but the fact that we are able to grow a rudimentary retina structure from a patients blood cells is encouraging, not only because it confirms our earlier work using human skin cells, but also because blood as a starting source is convenient to obtain, says Dr. David Gamm, pediatric ophthalmologist and senior author of the study. This is a solid step forward.

In 2011, the Gamm lab at the UW Waisman Center created structures from the most primitive stage of retinal development using embryonic stem cells and stem cells derived from human skin. While those structures generated the major types of retinal cells, including photoreceptors, they lacked the organization found in more mature retina.

This time, the team, led by Gamm, Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences in the UW School of Medicine and Public Health, and postdoctoral researcher and lead author Dr. Joseph Phillips, used their method to grow retina-like tissue from iPS cells derived from human blood gathered via standard blood draw techniques.

In their study, about 16 percent of the initial retinal structures developed distinct layers. The outermost layer primarily contained photoreceptors, whereas the middle and inner layers harbored intermediary retinal neurons and ganglion cells, respectively. This particular arrangement of cells is reminiscent of what is found in the back of the eye. Further, work by Dr. Phillips showed that these retinal cells were capable of making synapses, a prerequisite for them to communicate with one another.

The iPS cells used in the study were generated through collaboration with Cellular Dynamics International (CDI) of Madison, Wis., who pioneered the technique to convert blood cells into iPS cells. CDI scientists extracted a type of blood cell called a T-lymphocyte from the donor sample, and reprogrammed the cells into iPS cells. CDI was founded by UW stem cell pioneer Dr. James Thomson.

We were fortunate that CDI shared an interest in our work. Combining our labs expertise with that of CDI was critical to the success of this study, added Dr. Gamm.

Other members of the research team include:

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Scientists produce eye structures from human blood-derived stem cells

11-03-2012 03:23

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China medical tourism Parkinson's disease stem cells therapy 2 - Video

12-03-2012 20:48 by:www.medicaltourism.hk

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Chia medical tourism--stroke--stem cell therapy 1.flv - Video

12-03-2012 21:11 by:www.medicaltourism.hk

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A research lab led by controversial cloning pioneer Hwang Woo-Suk said it would attempt to implant DNA from the extinct mammal into an elephant egg cell to create a new embryo.

They hope it will lead to the birth of a new baby mammoth for the first time since the prehistoric giants last roamed the earth 10,000 years ago.

Sooam Biotech Research Foundation said today it had signed a deal with Russia's North-Eastern Federal University to cooperate on the project.

Scientists will attempt to "restore" cells taken from mammoth remains that were entombed in ice until they were recently uncovered by the thawing permafrost.

First they must find well-preserved tissues with undamaged genes, such as bone marrow. The next step is to replace the nucleus of an Indian elephant egg cell with the mammoth DNA.

If all goes to plan, test tube embryos will be implanted in an elephant's womb and the first woolly mammoth would be born 22 months later.

Sooam researcher Hwang In-Sung said: "The first and hardest mission is to restore mammoth cells.

"This will be a really tough job, but we believe it is possible because our institute is good at cloning animals."

The lab has successfully cloned living animals including a cow, a cat, dogs, a pig and a wolf, but using ancient DNA from a long-extinct species has never been done.

Hwang Woo-Suk, who created the world's first cloned dog Snuppy in 2005, was a national hero in South Korea until some of his research into creating human stem cells was found in 2006 to have been faked.

Read more here:
Woolly mammoths 'will be brought back to life' by cloning

The deal was signed by Vasily Vasiliev, vice rector of North-Eastern Federal University of the Sakha Republic, and controversial cloning pioneer Hwang Woo-Suk of South Korea's Sooam Biotech Research Foundation, on Tuesday.

Hwang was a national hero until some of his research into creating human stem cells was found in 2006 to have been faked. But his work in creating Snuppy, the world's first cloned dog, in 2005, has been verified by experts.

Stem cell scientists are now setting their sights on the extinct woolly mammoth, after global warming thawed Siberia's permafrost and uncovered remains of the animal.

Enlarge

South Korean scientist Hwang Woo-Suk (L) and Vasily Vasiliev (R), vice director of North-Eastern Federal University of Russia's Sakha Republic, exchange agreements during a signing ceremony on joint research at Hwang's office in Seoul. The research collaboration agreement will help Russian and S.Korean scientists to recreate a woolly mammoth which last walked the earth some 10,000 years ago.

The South Korean foundation said it would transfer technology to the Russian university, which has already been involved in joint research with Japanese scientists to bring a mammoth back to life.

"The first and hardest mission is to restore mammoth cells," another Sooam researcher, Hwang In-Sung, told AFP. His colleagues would join Russian scientists in trying to find well-preserved tissue with an undamaged gene.

By replacing the nuclei of egg cells from an elephant with those taken from the mammoth's somatic cells, embryos with mammoth DNA could be produced and planted into elephant wombs for delivery, he said.

Sooam will use an Indian elephant for its somatic cell nucleus transfer. The somatic cells are body cells, such as those of internal organs, skin, bones and blood.

"This will be a really tough job, but we believe it is possible because our institute is good at cloning animals," Hwang In-Sung said.

Read this article:
S.Korean, Russian scientists bid to clone mammoth

Russian-South Korean project includes participation of disgraced stem cell researcher who faked his results.

Scientists from South Korea and Russia have signed onto a project that sounds like it got lifted off the pages of "Jurassic Park" to bring a woolly mammoth back to life.

This undated handout provided by ExhibitEase LLC shows a 3D computer-generated Image of woolly mammoth emerging from ice block.

Even more controversial than the storyline is the participation of a disgraced cloning expert from South Korea in the project. Hwang Woo-Suk, now with South Korea's Sooam Biotech Research Foundation, was found to have falsified data claiming a stem cell research breakthrough and then forced to resign his post at Seoul National University in 2009.

In 2005, Suk reported in a paper published in the journal Science that his team had come up with a procedure to clone individual stem cell colonies from 11 patients. That built upon a 2004 article which he published. A subsequent investigation by the university found the papers to have been fabrications. Separately, he was later convicted of embezzlement

Still, Suk continues to enjoy notoriety in his native country as the first scientist to clone a dog. Whether he can apply that expertise to reproduce a now-extinct animal may hinge on a variable entirely out of his hands. This isn't the first time scientists have set their sights on cloning a mammoth. Scientists in Russia researching the project have had their progress blocked by not having nuclei with undamaged mammoth genes. That changed last August when paleontologists reported discovering a well-preserved mammoth's thigh bone in Siberia, raising the chances for a successful cloning procedure.

"The first and hardest mission is to restore mammoth cells," another Sooam researcher, Hwang In-Sung, told AFP.

Assuming that the researchers can find nuclei with undamaged genes, they would implant the embryos into elephant wombs for delivery. Although mammoths became extinct about 10,000 years ago, they are considered to be close enough relatives to the modern elephant.

More here:
Scientists sign on to recreate woolly mammoth--just for fun

17-02-2012 10:42 NSCF funds clinical trials to: • Induce drug-free tolerance for transplanted kidneys • Effectively cure inherited red blood cell disorders like sickle cell disease (SCD) and thalassemia •Permanently correct fatal childhood enzyme deficiencies For more information visit nationalstemcellfoundation.org.

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National Stem Cell Foundation - Video

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

Contact: Zaal Kokaia zaal.kokaia@med.lu.se 46-705-365-917 Lund University

Stroke and other diseases and injuries to the brain are often followed by inflammation, caused by a reaction of the body's immune system. This reaction has been seen as something that must be combated, but perhaps the immune system could in fact help with recovery following a stroke. A major new EU project, led by Lund University in Sweden and the Weizmann Institute in Israel, is going to study this question.

Stroke is a major public health problem, with 700 000 new cases in the EU and 30 000 new cases in Sweden each year. The EU is now investing EUR 12 million in the project TargetBraIn. The goal of the project is to gain a better understanding of the role of the immune system in stroke.

The immune system protects the body when its tissues are damaged for whatever reason. The cells of the immune system often produce inflammation, which has some negative effects, but which in time helps the original damage to heal.

Stroke is most commonly caused by a cerebral infarction (a blood clot in the brain), which starves the brain of oxygen. It is the damage caused by the lack of oxygen which activates the immune system and leads to inflammation. Until now, this has been seen as a wholly undesirable reaction. To emphasise the positive aspects of the immune system's reaction is therefore something of a paradigm shift in the field. Professor Michal Schwartz and her research group in Israel have pioneered the study of the positive role of the immune system in repairing damaged nerve cells.

Professor Zaal Kokaia, head of the Stem Cell Centre at Lund University, has long worked with stem cell therapy for brain injuries. He led StemStroke, an EU project which researched the possibility of creating new nerve cells after a stroke through transplants or by encouraging the brain to form new cells. Zaal Kokaia and Michal Schwartz are now coordinator and deputy coordinator respectively of TargetBraIn (an acronym which stands for "Targeting Brain Inflammation for Improved Functional Recovery in Acute Neurodegenerative Disorders").

"Within TargetBraIn we want to reinforce the positive effects of inflammation and reduce its negative effects. This could be achieved either by trying to change the immune system's reactions or through stem cell therapy, or both! A combination of the two methods may produce the best results", says Zaal Kokaia.

The research is still at the experimental stage, and the road to general application on patients will be long. However, as the population of Europe ages, stroke is becoming an increasingly costly disease, hence the EU investment in the field.

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More here:
Could the immune system help recovery from stroke?

By Traci Pedersen Associate News Editor Reviewed by John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on March 11, 2012

A novel explanation of glaucoma is rapidly rising, and it is promoting advances in treatment that may ultimately eliminate the disease. Rather than being viewed solely as an eye disease, top scientists now consider glaucoma to be a neurologic disorder that causes nerve cell death, similar to what happens in Parkinsons disease and Alzheimers.

Treatment advances are being tested in patients or are scheduled to begin clinical trials soon.

The long-standing theory regarding glaucoma was that vision damage was caused by unusually high pressure inside the eye, known as intraocular pressure (IOP). Therefore, lowering IOP was the focus of surgical techniques and medications; developing tests and instruments to measure and track IOP was vital to that effort.

Although measuring a patients IOP is still a key part of glaucoma treatment, it is no longer the only method an ophthalmologist uses to diagnose glaucoma. Even when surgery or medication successfully lowers IOP, some glaucoma patients continue to lose vision.

Also, some patients find it difficult to use eye drop medications as prescribed by their physicians. These problems encouraged researchers to look beyond IOP as a cause of glaucoma and focus of treatment.

The new research model focuses on the damage that occurs in a type of nerve cell called retinal ganglion cells (RGCs), which connect the eye to the brain through the optic nerve and are vital to vision.

RGC-targeted glaucoma treatments now in clinical trials include: medications injected into the eye that deliver survival and growth factors to RGCs; medications known to be useful for stroke and Alzheimers, such as cytidine-5-diphosphocholine; and electrical stimulation of RGCs, delivered through tiny electrodes implanted in contact lenses or other external devices. Human trials of stem cell therapies are in the planning stages.

As researchers turn their attention to the mechanisms that cause retinal ganglion cells to degenerate and die, they are discovering ways to protect, enhance and even regenerate these vital cells, said Jeffrey L Goldberg, M.D., Ph.D., assistant professor of ophthalmology at the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute and Interdisciplinary Stem Cell Institute.

Understanding how to prevent damage and improve healthy function in these neurons may ultimately lead to sight-saving treatments for glaucoma and other degenerative eye diseases.

Excerpt from:
Glaucoma: A Neurological Disorder?