StemCell Therapy

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

IntelliCell BioSciences, Inc. (OTCQB: SVFC.PK) (PINKSHEETS: SVFC.PK); (“IntelliCell”) or the (“Company”), was invited to demonstrate its stromal vascular fraction technology at the recent Baseball Injuries Symposium at the Andrews Sports Medicine Institute in Alabama held and sponsored by USA Baseball. The course Chairman is Dr. James Andrews, and moderated by PT Kevin Wilk, and Dr. Jeff Dugas. One of the courses presented during the three day event was on stem cell technology presented by Dr. Joshua Hackel. Dr. Hackel presented the state of regenerative medicine technology in the role of treating sports injuries. The link is http://www.mediafire.com/?u7bfa662e3r1sdp.

Dr. Hackel compared the IntelliCell SVF technology to several other methods of regenerative medicine being considered to be used by the leading orthopedic sports medicine doctors. Dr. Steven Victor, CEO of IntelliCell stated, "We are extremely excited that IntelliCell’s technology compares very favorably to all the other technologies, for procedures common to all major sports industries. We are extremely grateful to have the opportunity to present to over 200 leading doctors and trainers looking to treat major league, collegiate and amateur baseball players with regenerative medicine. IntelliCell Biosciences believes that its technology will be utilized by such experts this year."

About IntelliCell BioSciences, Inc.

IntelliCell is a pioneering regenerative medicine company focused on the expanding regenerative medical markets using stromal vascular fraction derived from adult adipose tissue. IntelliCell intends to initially focus on selling laboratory suites and licensing its technology to doctors for use in their offices for their patients. The company is also setting up Centers of Excellence where doctors can treat their patients. In addition, IntelliCell BioSciences is exploring storing the stromal vascular fraction in cryo-storage for future uses. The company is also starting FDA IND clinical trials at major medical centers for clinical indication approval. IntelliCell intends to pursue expansion to secondary markets and beyond the U.S. through a combination of company-owned and licensed clinical facilities.

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IntelliCell Demonstrates at the American Sports Medicine Institute Held in Conjunction with and at the Andrews Sports ...

RED BANK, NJ--(Marketwire -02/07/12)- American CryoStem Corporation (OTCQB: CRYO.OB - News) announced today that it has completed providing stem cell processing services for Personal Cell Sciences Corp., a cutting edge manufacturer of anti-aging skin care products.

The study involves researching the regenerative function of a conditioned medium obtained from each participant's adipose (fat tissue) derived mesenchymal stem cells and their ability to promote the production or secretion of collagen, elastin and fibronectin related to skin wound healing.

John Arnone, CEO of American CryoStem and Founder of Personal Cell Sciences, commented, "CRYO's patented tissue culture media and its proprietary, aseptic adipose tissue processing methodology allows, as an added benefit for PCS customers to store a clinical grade sample of their own stem cells for future use in regenerative medicine. We are pleased to provide comprehensive Bio-Insurance storage solutions at our clinical facility."

The adipose tissue samples were acquired utilizing a mini-liposuction procedure. A total of sixty milliliters (approximately 2 fluid ounces) of adipose tissue was collected in the physician's office and sent to CRYO's laboratory for processing. Once processed, the resulting stromal vascular fraction (SVF) was forwarded to the Personal Cell Sciences laboratory for proprietary formulation for patient specific products.

"We are very excited to announce our service agreement and participation in this clinical study for Personal Cell Sciences. This contractual manufacturing agreement reinforces our capabilities to provide CRYO's exceptional clinical processing for relevant adult stem cell related products," said Anthony Dudzinski, COO of American CryoStem. "We look forward to our continued business relationship with PCS and expanding these services to other developers to speed their product's time to market."

About American CryoStem: American CryoStem Corporation (OTCQB: CRYO.OB - News) markets clinical processing products and services for Adipose (fat) Tissue and Adipose Derived Adult Stem Cells. CRYO's clinical processing and preservation platform supports the science and applications being discovered globally by providing the highest quality, clinically processed cells and assuring their sterility, viability and growth cap abilities, while at the same time developing cutting edge application, therapies and laboratory products and services for consumers and physicians.

The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 provides a "safe harbor" for forward-looking statements. Certain of the statements contained herein, which are not historical facts, are forward-looking statements with respect to events, the occurrence of which involve risks and uncertainties. These forward-looking statements may be impacted, either positively or negatively, by various factors. Information concerning potential factors that could affect the Company is detailed from time to time in the Company's reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

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American CryoStem Completes Cell Processing for Clinical Study

McMaster University is on its way to moving stem cell research “from the bench to the bedside” thanks to a $30 million boost from a local family.

The Marta and Owen Boris Foundation made the large donation to establish a human stem cell therapy centre and a unique clinic for patients with complex health conditions.

Owen, the founder of Mountain Cablevision, was in talks with McMaster about investing in their work before he died last April. His children and wife contacted the university a month later and carried out his vision, firming up their commitment last November.

The Boris Family Centre in Human Stem Cell Therapies will be developed as part of the McMaster Stem Cell and Cancer Research Institute using $24 million of the funds.

“It’s getting over that chasm from the bench to the bedside that this (donation) is going to allow us to do,” the institute’s scientific director Dr. Mick Bhatia said.

The centre will give scientists the resources to focus on converting McMaster’s breakthroughs — such as the ability to make blood or types of neural cells with stem cells — into clinical applications through investigative trials, Bhatia said.

“In the absence of this donation, I think we would not be in the position to move our discoveries forward,” he said. “This is a huge leg-up. I’m hoping what it’s really going to do is have a ripple effect to change the way McMaster views translating basic science.”

They plan on developing human stem cell therapies targeting leukemia and possibly neural diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, said Dr. John Kelton, dean and vice-president of the faculty of health sciences.

The remaining $6 million will go toward building a clinic in partnership with Hamilton Health Sciences (HHS) where patients with complex health issues can see specialists and undergo tests in one visit.

This was a result of his parents’ frustrating experiences in recent years with co-ordinating specialists and getting diagnostic testing done in Canada, said Owen’s son, Les Boris.

They ended up going to Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., where they had a case manager who co-ordinated their appointments with specialists and made sure testing was done in-house, he said. “They like the idea of a one-stop shop … (My father) said: ‘This is the kind of model we need here in this country.’”

Kelton said the medical clinic, which will be built in the university’s medical centre, will look for rapid turnaround times and avoid duplications of lab tests. McMaster and HHS will also evaluate the clinic’s success and keep an electronic medical record that patients could access, he said.

Kelton and Owen met three years ago and had their last meeting about the projects three days before the philanthropist died.

Owen had worked on the Avro Arrow and was frustrated with Canada’s lost opportunity of making jet planes for the world, Kelton said.

“He said, ‘Tell me about some opportunities (that) – if we invested in it – could make Hamilton and McMaster world-class. What are some of the areas like an Avro Arrow?’”

The funds for the human stem cell therapy centre will go toward hiring a research chair in blood stem cells and a research chair in neural stems cells, setting up several fellowships and technician positions, and building the facility.

Bhatia says they hope to bring in new scientists and fellows by the early summer.

The Boris family previously donated $6 million to addiction research at St. Joseph’s Healthcare for its new mental health hospital being built on the Mountain and another $5 million for the da Vinci SI Surgical Robotic System.

“We’re very appreciative that we’re in a position to be doing something for the community,” Les said. “And it was the community that put us in the position to do this.

dawong@thespec.com

905-526-2468 | @WongatTheSpec

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$30 million donation from Boris family will help McMaster turn stem cell research into therapy

SACRAMENTO — A research team led by UC Davis Health System scientists has developed a novel technique to enhance bone growth by using a molecule which, when injected into the bloodstream, directs the body's stem cells to travel to the surface of bones. Once these cells are guided to the bone surface by this molecule, the stem cells differentiate into bone-forming cells and synthesize proteins to enhance bone growth. The study, which was published online today in Nature Medicine, used a mouse model of osteoporosis to demonstrate a unique treatment approach that increases bone density and prevents bone loss associated with aging and estrogen deficiency.

"There are many stem cells, even in elderly people, but they do not readily migrate to bone," said Wei Yao, the principal investigator and lead author of the study. "Finding a molecule that attaches to stem cells and guides them to the targets we need is a real breakthrough."

Researchers are exploring stem cells as possible treatments for a wide variety of conditions and injuries, ranging from peripheral artery disease and macular degeneration to blood disorders, skin wounds and diseased organs. Directing stem cells to travel and adhere to the surface of bone for bone formation has been among the elusive goals in regenerative medicine.

The researchers made use of a unique hybrid molecule, LLP2A-alendronate, developed by a research team led by Kit Lam, professor and chair of the UC Davis Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine. The researchers' hybrid molecule consists of two parts: the LLP2A part that attaches to mesenchymal stem cells in the bone marrow, and a second part that consists of the bone-homing drug alendronate. After the hybrid molecule was injected into the bloodstream, it picked up mesenchymal stem cells in the bone marrow and directed those cells to the surfaces of bone, where the stem cells carried out their natural bone-formation and repair functions.

"Our study confirms that stem-cell-binding molecules can be exploited to direct stem cells to therapeutic sites inside an animal," said Lam, who also is an author of the article. "It represents a very important step in making this type of stem cell therapy a reality."

Twelve weeks after the hybrid molecule was injected into mice, bone mass in the femur (thigh bone) and vertebrae (in the spine) increased and bone strength improved compared to control mice who did not receive the hybrid molecule. Treated mice that were normally of an age when bone loss would occur also had improved bone formation, as did those that were models for menopause.

Alendronate, also known by the brand name Fosamax, is commonly taken by women with osteoporosis to reduce the risk of fracture. The research team incorporated alendronate into the hybrid molecules because once in the bloodstream, it goes directly to the bone surface, where it slows the rate of bone breakdown. According to Nancy Lane, a co-investigator on the study and director of the UC Davis Musculoskeletal Diseases of Aging Research Group, the dose of alendronate in the hybrid compound was low and unlikely to have inhibited the compound's therapeutic effect.

"For the first time, we may have potentially found a way to direct a person's own stem cells to the bone surface where they can regenerate bone," said Lane, who is an Endowed Professor of Medicine and Rheumatology and an expert on osteoporosis. "This technique could become a revolutionary new therapy for osteoporosis as well as for other conditions that require new bone formation."

Osteoporosis is a major public health problem for 44 million Americans. One in two women will suffer a fracture due to osteoporosis in their lifetime. Although effective medications are available to help prevent fracture risk, including alendronate, their use is limited by potential harmful effects of long-term use.

The major causes for osteoporosis in women include estrogen deficiency, aging and steroid excess from treatment of chronic inflammatory conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis. Generally, the osteoporosis generated by these metabolic conditions results from change in the bone remodeling cycle that weakens the bone's architecture and increases fracture risk.

Mesenchymal stem cells from bone marrow induce new bone remodeling, which thicken and strengthen bone.

The authors noted that the potential use of this stem cell therapy is not limited to treating osteoporosis. They said it may prove invaluable for other disorders and conditions that could benefit from enhanced bone rebuilding, such as bone fractures, bone infections or cancer treatments.

"These results are very promising for translating into human therapy," said Jan Nolta, professor of internal medicine, an author of the study and director of the UC Davis Institute for Regenerative Cures. "We have shown this potential therapy is effective in rodents, and our goal now is to move it into clinical trials."

Funding for the study came from the Endowment on Healthy Aging and the National Institutes of Health. The California Institute for Regenerative Medicine has given the team a planning grant to develop a proposal for human clinical trials.

"This research was a collaboration of stem cell biologists, biochemists, translational scientists, a bone biologist and clinicians," said Lane. "It was a truly fruitful team effort with remarkable results."

The Nature Medicine article is titled "Directing mesenchymal stem cells to bone to augment bone formation and increase bone mass." Min Guan, who is affiliated with the UC Davis Department of Internal Medicine, was co-lead author of the paper. Other UC Davis authors were Ruiwu Liu, Junjing Jia, Liping Meng, Ping Zhou and Mohammad Shahnazari, from the departments of Internal Medicine, and Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine, as well as the UC Davis Institute for Regenerative Cures. Authors Brian Panganiban and Robert O. Ritchie are with the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at UC Berkeley.

UC Davis is playing a leading role in regenerative medicine, with nearly 150 scientists working on a variety of stem cell-related research projects at campus locations in both Davis and Sacramento. The UC Davis Institute for Regenerative Cures, a facility supported by the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM), opened in 2010 on the Sacramento campus. This $62 million facility is the university's hub for stem cell science. It includes Northern California's largest academic Good Manufacturing Practice laboratory, with state-of-the-art equipment and manufacturing rooms for cellular and gene therapies. UC Davis also has a Translational Human Embryonic Stem Cell Shared Research Facility in Davis and a collaborative partnership with the Institute for Pediatric Regenerative Medicine at Shriners Hospital for Children Northern California. All of the programs and facilities complement the university's Clinical and Translational Science Center, and focus on turning stem cells into cures. For more information, visit http://www.ucdmc.ucdavis.edu/stemcellresearch.

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Directing stem cells to boost bone formation, strength

February 7, 2012

University of Illinois researchers determined that an adult stem cell present in muscle is responsive to exercise, a discovery that may provide a link between exercise and muscle health. The findings could lead to new therapeutic techniques using these cells to rehabilitate injured muscle and prevent or restore muscle loss with age.

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) in skeletal muscle have been known to be important for muscle repair in response to non-physiological injury, predominantly in response to chemical injections that significantly damage muscle tissue and induce inflammation. The researchers, led by kinesiology and community health professor Marni Boppart, investigated whether MSCs also responded to strain during exercise, and if so, how.

“Since exercise can induce some injury as part of the remodeling process following mechanical strain, we wondered if MSC accumulation was a natural response to exercise and whether these cells contributed to the beneficial regeneration and growth process that occurs post-exercise,” said Boppart, who also is affiliated with the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology at the U. of I.

The researchers found that MSCs in muscle are very responsive to mechanical strain. They witnessed MSC accumulation in muscle of mice after vigorous exercise. Then, they determined that although MSCs don’t directly contribute to building new muscle fibers, they release growth factors that spur other cells in muscle to fuse and generate new muscle, providing the cellular basis for enhanced muscle health following exercise.

A key element to the Illinois team’s method was in exercising the mice before isolating the cells to trigger secretion of beneficial growth factors. Then, they dyed the cells with a fluorescent marker and injected them into other mice to see how MSCs coordinated with other muscle-building cells.

In addition to examining the cells in vivo, the researchers studied the cells’ response to strain on different substrates. They found that MSC response is very sensitive to the mechanical environment, indicating that conditions of muscle strain affect the cells’ activity.

“These findings are important because we’ve identified an adult stem cell in muscle that may provide the basis for muscle health with exercise and enhanced muscle healing with rehabilitation/movement therapy,” Boppart said. “The fact that MSCs in muscle have the potential to release high concentrations of growth factor into the circulatory system during exercise also makes us wonder if they provide a critical link between enhanced whole-body health and participation in routine physical activity.”

Next, the group hopes to determine whether these cells contribute to the decline in muscle mass over a person’s lifetime. Preliminary data suggest MSCs become deficient in muscle with age. The team hopes to develop a combinatorial therapy that utilizes molecular and stem-cell-based strategies to prevent age-related muscle loss.

“Although exercise is the best strategy for preserving muscle as we age, some individuals are just not able to effectively engage in physical activity,” Boppart said. “Disabilities can limit opportunities for muscle growth. We’re working hard to understand how we can best utilize these cells effectively to preserve muscle mass in the face of atrophy.”

The team published its findings in the journal PLoS One. The Illinois Regenerative Medicine Institute, the Ellison Medical Foundation and the Mary Jane Neer Foundation supported this work.

—

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Source: University of Illinois

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Muscle Stem Cells Activated By Exercise

18-11-2011 17:40 Fruit fly intestine may hold secret to the fountain of youth Long-lived fruit flies offer Salk scientists clues to slowing human aging and fighting disease November 02, 2011 LA JOLLA, CA—One of the few reliable ways to extend an organism's lifespan, be it a fruit fly or a mouse, is to restrict calorie intake. Now, a new study in fruit flies is helping to explain why such minimal diets are linked to longevity and offering clues to the effects of aging on stem cell behavior. Scientists at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies and their collaborators found that tweaking a gene known as PGC-1, which is also found in human DNA, in the intestinal stem cells of fruit flies delayed the aging of their intestine and extended their lifespan by as much as 50 percent. "Fruit flies and humans have a lot more in common than most people think," says Leanne Jones, an associate professor in Salk's Laboratory of Genetics and a lead scientist on the project. "There is a tremendous amount of similarity between a human small intestine and the fruit fly intestine." Learn more at: salk.edu

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Salk News Clip - Long Lived Fruit Flies (KPBS) - Video

29-01-2012 23:26 Fourteen patients were randomized to see if adipose-derived adult stem cells would help limit the damage from an acute heart attack. Infarct size was decreased by 50%, the perfusion defect was 17% smaller, and the left ventriclular ejection fraction was increased about 6% better than the control group. Stem cell vocabulary was reviewed and highlighted that there are embryonic stem cells and adult stem cells and that sources of stem cell are from bone marrow, adipose tissue, blood, umbilical cord blood and from cloned embryonic cell lines. Stem cells can develop into 200 different cell types.

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Stem Cells Help Heart Attack Victims - Video

Jan 23, 2012 6:35pm

The first results of human embryonic stem cell therapy are in, and they look good.

Two women, 51 and 78, who were legally blind became the first patients to receive human embryonic stem cell treatment, for their condition. The treatment, also called hESC-RPE, involved scientists injecting stem cells into each patient’s eye. One woman had a condition known as Stargardt’s macular dystrophy and the other, age-related macular degeneration. Both conditions cause severe vision loss. The surgery appeared safe after four months and both women experienced an improvement in vision.

“Our study is designed to test the safety and tolerability of hESC-RPE in patients with advanced-stage Stargardt’s macular dystrophy and dry age-related macular degeneration,” the authors wrote. “So far, the cells seem to have transplanted into both patients without abnormal proliferation … or other untoward pathological reactions or safety signals. Continued follow-up and further study is needed. The ultimate therapeutic goal will be to treat patients earlier in the disease processes, potentially increasing the likelihood of photoreceptor and central visual rescue.”

Eye experts say this is an important study because it could show a promising trend in vision improvement. According to the National Eye Institute, about 1.75 million Americans currently suffer from macular degeneration, and this number is expected to grow to 2.95 million in 2020.

“Stem cell biology has an enormous potential to correct genomically derived ocular diseases, both in correcting deficiencies and amending altered anatomy and physiology,” said Barrett Katz, Frances DeJur Chair in ophthalmology at Montefiore Medical Center in New York. “The eye is the very best organ to expect such advances to be made within, as it is relatively easily accessible and immunologically privileged.”

The research, conducted at UCLA and Advanced Cell Technology in Massachusetts and published today in the Lancet, was small in scope and population and no patients were given a placebo treatment for the sake of comparison.

For this reason, some doctors worried the report would raise hopes prematurely.

“To reach any conclusions on the safety or efficacy of two patients treated for four months without a control population for comparison is unreasonable,” said Martin Friedlander, professor of ophthalmology at Scripps Health in La Jolla, Calif. “This is why anecdotal reports like this are not published.”

“This falsely raises the hopes of millions of individuals suffering from these diseases,” he said.

The use of human embryonic stem cells has long been seen as an ethically controversial medical technology because many ague that an embryo is the earliest form of life. Extracting stem cells from that embryo almost always damages it.

But proponents of the use of human embryonic stem cells  say this argument lacks validity and detracts from the medical benefits that could be achieved.

“It has been over a decade since the discovery of human embryonic stem cells,” Dr. Robert Lanza, co-author of the study and Chief Scientific Officer at Advanced Cell Technology, said in a statement. “This is the first report of hESC-derived cells ever transplanted into patients, and the safety and engraftment data to-date looks very encouraging… Despite the progressive nature of these conditions, the vision of both patients appears to have improved after transplantation of the cells, even at the lowest dosage.

“This is particularly important, since the ultimate goal of this therapy will be to treat patients earlier in the course of the disease where more significant results might potentially be expected,” Lanza said

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Stem Cell Treatment Helps on Blindness

Boris family gift propels stem cell therapies and one-stop patient care

Newswise — HAMILTON, ON (Feb. 6, 2012) – A Hamilton family is giving McMaster University $30 million to accelerate the university’s innovations in health research, education and care.

“McMaster University has proven its ability to fast forward discoveries from the lab bench to the patients’ bedside, it made perfect sense to make this investment in this world class university,” said Les Boris, on behalf of his parents’ Marta and Owen Boris Foundation. His sister Jackie Work added: “The Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine is ranked among the top 20 medical schools in the world. This is the best place to commit to the future.”

The funding was announced in a ceremony at the University today.

Of the total, $24 million is designated to establish The Boris Family Centre in Human Stem Cell Therapies, which will speed the commercial development of discoveries at the McMaster Stem Cell and Cancer Research Institute. The six-year-old institute has had several major breakthroughs, including the ability to turn human skin into blood.

The funds will establish two senior research chairs, one in blood stem cells and the other in neuro stem cells; set up several fellowships and technician positions;
build the facility and provide a fund for emerging opportunities.

An additional $6 million is for a unique clinic which will allow patients with complex health problems to see several specialists and have related tests during one visit. Established in partnership with Hamilton Health Sciences, this patient-oriented clinic will be built in the McMaster University Medical Centre in Hamilton and led by a senior research chair.

The Marta and Owen Boris Foundation was established by Marta and Owen Boris who created the Hamilton cable company Mountain Cablevision and developed it over 50 years before selling it to Shaw Communications in 2009.

Owen Boris died in April, 2011.

“McMaster has been renewing its commitment to our community, and to have community members make such a significant contribution to the University is truly outstanding,” said Patrick Deane, president of McMaster. “Great research, great discoveries, and better patient care. The Boris family gift will accelerate nour ability to make great things happen.”

Dr. John Kelton, dean and vice-president of the Faculty of Health Sciences, added: “This is an innovative and action oriented family. They understand the great potential McMaster has to make medical breakthroughs, and their willingness to place their bets on McMaster is a tremendous vote of confidence in us.”

Mick Bhatia is scientific director of the McMaster Stem Cell and Cancer Research Institute. He said: “In a short time we’ve become world renowned for our human stem cell discoveries. Now is the time to move these discoveries to the patient.”

About the clinic for day patients, Dr. Akbar Panju, professor and deputy chair clinical of the Department of Medicine, said the new format is unique in Canada and will put patients first.

“Too often patients go from office to office to receive essential medical care from several specialists. This clinic will ensure they will get everything they need in one place,” he said, noting that the clinic will also be a centre of learning for
health sciences students and residents from many disciplines.

McMaster University, one of four Canadian universities listed among the Top 100 universities in the world, is renowned for its innovation in both learning and discovery. It has a student population of 23,000, and more than 150,000 alumni in 128 countries.

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$30m Gift to Fast Forward Stem Cell Therapies and One-Stop Patient Care

10-10-2011 16:05 http://www.StemCellTreatment.org is the #1 stem cell treatment and therapy center in the world. We have done over 8000 stem cell treatments. Stars like Danny Glover come to the American Stem Cell and Anti Aging Center. ASCAAC has done stem cell therapy for diabetes, heart disease, spinal injury, multiple sclerosis, autism and many other problems and diseases. Call 480 243 8859 and get your questions and concerns answered about stem cell treatment for whatever condition your need information on!

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Stem Cell Treatment - Video

07-11-2011 15:39 http://www.StemCellTreatment.org Salima had stem cell treatment for Fibromyalgia and had very good results. We have had great success with stem cell therapy for Fibromyalgia also known as FMS. Fibromyalgia symptoms include pain and tenderness in the joints, muscles and other soft tissue. Stem cell treatment for fibromyalgia is something that ASCAAC specializes in. Go to our website for more information and fill out the form or give us a call so we can answer your stem cell and fibromyalgia questions!

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Stem Cell Treatment Fibromyalgia - Video

20-12-2011 09:01 If you would like more information please call us Toll Free at 877-578-7908. Or visit our website at http://www.usastemcells.com Or click here to have a Free Phone Constultation with Dr. Matthew Burks usastemcells.com Real patient testimonials for USA Stem Cells. Adult stem cell therapy for COPD, Emphysema, and Pulmonary fibrosis.

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Adult Stem Cell Treatments for COPD -Real patient results, USA Stem Cells- Donald W. Testimonial - Video

10-01-2012 17:54 Cell-based therapy research at Swedish Heart and Vascular Institute is quintessential to medical advancement. Medical director Dr. Paul P. Huang researches stem cell therapy pertaining to cardiovascular disease. He provides an historical perspective of stem cell research and explains how stem cells can help cardiovascular patients avoid surgery and improve their quality of life. Dr. Huang believes that regenerative medicine is medicine's next frontier. For more information visit http://www.swedish.org

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Cell-based Therapy Research - Video

Your life depends on purposeful, targeted changes to cellular DNA. Although conventional thinking says directed DNA changes are impossible, the truth is that you could not survive without them. Your immune system needs to engineer certain DNA sequences in just the right way to function properly.

Today's blog is a tale of how cells engineer their DNA molecules for a specific purpose. It also illustrates how an evolutionary process works within the human body.

Your immune system has to anticipate and inactivate unknown invaders. Living organisms deal with unpredictable events by evolving. They change to adapt to new circumstances. Variation comes from their capacity for self-modification. Cells have many molecular mechanisms that read, write, and reorganize the information in their genomes, the DNA molecules used for data storage.

The adaptive immune system executes basic evolutionary principles in real time. It has to recognize and combat unknown (and utterly unpredictable) invaders. Immune system cells have to produce antibody molecules that can bind to any possible molecular structure.

How do cells with finite DNA, and finite coding capacity, produce a virtually infinite variety of antibodies? The answer is that certain immune cells (B cells) become rapid evolution factories. They generate antibodies with effectively limitless diversity while preserving molecular structures needed to interact with other parts of the immune system.

Immune cells achieve both diversity and regularity in antibody structures. They accomplish this by a targeted yet flexible process of natural genetic engineering: they cut and splice DNA.

Diversity is strictly limited to a special part of the antibody molecules: a "variable" region encoded by engineered DNA. DNA encoding the "constant" region does not change in the same way. The diversity-generating process is called "VDJ recombination" because it involves cutting and splicing together different "variable" (V), "diversity" (D) and "joining" (J) coding segments. Immune cells do this by cutting DNA at defined "recombination signal sequences." There are hundreds of V segments, about a few dozen D segments, and ten J segments. The various combinations of different spliced segments makes for a tremendous amount of diversity.

Antibodies contain two paired protein chains: a longer heavy chain and a shorter light chain. The heavy chain variable coding region forms by splicing V, D, and J segments together. The light chain variable coding region forms by joining V and J segments together. There are at least 10,000 VDJ combinations and 1,000 VJ combinations. Altogether, over 10,000,000 different heavy + light chain antibodies are possible through "combinatorial diversity."

Not bad... but not good enough.

VDJ recombination generates additional diversity. Although cutting the V, D, and J segments is precise, immune cells join each pair of cleaved DNA segments at about a dozen different positions. Connection between the same two segments can have about 30 to 35 possible different sequence outcomes. This "junctional diversity" adds over 1,000 possible antibody combinations.

In addition, heavy chain D segment joining has another virtually unlimited source of variability. Immune cells have an enzyme that attaches unique new DNA sequences to either end of the D segment. These are not encoded anywhere in the genome. Such so-called "N region" sequences can add over 1,000 new variations to each existing VDJ combination.

So the total possible genetically engineered antibody diversity is something above 10,000,000 X 1,000 X 1,000 = 10,000,000,000,000 combinations. This extraordinary number appears to be large enough to generate antibodies that can protect you from virtually any invader, whatever its molecular structure may be.

The immune system is itself a rapid evolutionary process, replacing one set of immune specificities with another. The right antibody-producing cells multiply when an invader enters the body. Antibodies sit on the surface of cells that made them. When a particular variable region binds an invader, that event sends a signal inside the cell to begin dividing.

Dividing immune cells are called "activated B cells," which proliferate into distinct populations. Because the descendants of a single activated B cell share the same engineered variable region coding sequences, they produce even more invader-recognizing antibodies. By binding, these antibodies signal the rest of the immune system to begin eliminating the invaders. This is the front-line "primary" adaptive immune response.

In a future blog, I'll explain ongoing natural genetic engineering as activated immune cells mature in the "secondary" response. It is no less amazing. For now, let's draw three conclusions from the initial rapid evolution system. We see that:

Evolution has produced a system that engineers DNA with a specific purpose: encoding proteins that bind to unpredictable invaders and signal the immune system to make more antibodies and eliminate the invaders. Precise targeting of DNA cutting to variable region-coding segments allows the basic antibody structure to stay the same. At the same time, its recognition/binding capacity changes. Your B cells are able to combine several different kinds of DNA biochemistry into a functional engineering process: 1) cutting the V, D and J segments; 2) joining the cleaved segments; and 3) synthesizing and inserting the N region sequences.

In the immune system, "purposeful" and "having a predestined outcome" are far from the same thing. Your immune system follows a regular process, but the end result is not fixed in advance. This is an important lesson to keep in mind as we witness ongoing public debates over evolutionary DNA change.

In biology, the alternative to randomness is not necessarily strict determinism. If the cells of the immune system can use well-defined natural genetic engineering processes to make change when change is needed, there is a scientific basis for saying that germ-line cells might do the same in the course of evolution.

Read more here:
James A. Shapiro: Purposeful, Targeted Genetic Engineering in Immune System Evolution

Paul Marks senior technology correspondent

An 83-year-old Belgian woman is able to chew, speak and breathe normally again after a machine printed her a new jawbone. Made from a fine titanium powder sculpted by a precision laser beam, her replacement jaw has proven as functional as her own used to be before a potent infection, called osteomyelitis, all but destroyed it.

The medics behind the feat say it is a first. "This is a world premiere, the first time a patient?specific implant has replaced the entire lower jaw," says Jules Poukens, the researcher who led the operation at Biomed, the biomedical research department of the University of Hasselt, in Belgium. "It's a cautious, but firm step."

Until now, the largest 3D-printed implant is thought to have been half of a man's upper jawbone, in a 2008 operation in Finland.

In this operation, a 3D printed titanium scaffold was steeped in stem cells and allowed to grow biocompatible tissue inside the abdomen of the recipient. Then, in 2009, researchers reported successfully printing copies of whole thumb bones - opening the way for the replacement of smashed digits using information from MRI scans.

Poukens' team worked with researchers in Belgium and the Netherlands and a 3D printing firm called Layerwise in Leuven, Belgium, which specialises in printing with ultrastrong titanium to make dental implants (like bridges and crowns) and facial and spinal bone implants.

By using an MRI scan of their patient's ailing jawbone to get the shape right, they fed it to a laser sintering 3D printer which fused tiny titanium particles layer by layer until the shape of her jawbone was recreated. It was then coated in a biocompatible ceramic layer. No detail was spared: it even had dimples and cavities that promoted muscle attachment, and sleeves that allowed mandibular nerves to pass through - plus support structures for dental implants the patient might need in future.

The team were astonished at the success of the four-hour jaw implant operation, which took place in June 2011 but which has only just been revealed.  "Shortly after waking up from the anaesthetic the patient spoke a few words, and the day was able to speak and swallow normally again," says Poukens.

It's only the start, predicts Layerwise managing director Peter Mercelis. "Patient?specific implants can potentially be applied on a much wider scale than transplantation of human bone structures."

Since 3D printers can create layers of material only micrometres thick, and from just about any material, researchers are investigating ways to print skin grafts for burns victims from them - and how to build up whole organs from depositing cells in the correct shape.

Read more from the original source:
3D printer provides woman with a brand new jaw

"We want to come up with technology to replace defective tissue with beating heart tissue made from stem cells sloughed off by the infant into the amniotic fluid," said Rice bioengineer Jeffrey Jacot, who led the study. "Our findings serve as proof of principle that stem cells from amniotic fluid have the potential to be used for such purposes."

The results were published online by the journal Tissue Engineering Part A. The research was conducted at Texas Children's Hospital.

According to the American Heart Association, about 32,000 infants a year in the United States are born with congenital heart defects, 10,000 of which either result in death or require some sort of surgical intervention before they're a year old.

Jacot, an assistant professor of bioengineering based at Rice's BioScience Research Collaborative and director of the Pediatric Cardiac Bioengineering Laboratory at the Congenital Heart Surgery Service at Texas Children's Hospital, hopes to grow heart patches from the amniotic stem cells of a fetus diagnosed in the womb with a congenital heart defect. Because the cells would be a genetic match, there would be no risk of rejection, he said.

"Between 60 and 80 percent of severe heart defects are caught by ultrasound," he said. "Ultimately, when a heart defect is diagnosed in utero, we will extract amniotic cells. By birth, we will have made tissue for the repair out of the infant's own cells. The timing is critical because the surgery needs to be done within weeks of the infant's birth."

Enlarge

Cells derived from amniotic fluid display a shape and typical cell-cell connections indicative of endothelial cells, which form blood vessels, after treatment with specific growth factors. Researchers at Rice University are working with amniotic stem cells with the goal of growing living tissue that matches infants born with congenital heart defects. Credit: Jacot Lab/Rice University/Texas Children's Hospital

Surgeons currently use such nonbiological materials as Dacron or Teflon, which do not contract or grow with the patient, or native pericardium, the membrane that surrounds the heart. Pericardium generally forms scar tissue and can only be used in the first operation. Both solutions require further operations and raise the risk of cardiac arrest, Jacot said.

Stem cells, the focus of both great hope and great controversy, are the cells in every organism that differentiate into specialized cells in the body. Stem cells drawn from human embryos are known to have great potential for treatment of defects and disease, but research into their use has been limited by political and other concerns, Jacot said.

That isn't the case with cells found in amniotic fluid, he said. Amniotic fluid is the liquid that protects and nourishes a fetus in the womb. Fluid is sometimes taken from pregnant women through amniocentesis, but cells for the Jacot lab's studies were drawn from women undergoing treatment for twin-twin transfusion syndrome. "This is where two identical twins share a placenta and one is getting more blood than the other. It's not common," he said, noting that Texas Children's is one of the few hospitals that treat the syndrome. "Part of the general treatment is to remove fluid with the goal of saving both lives, and that fluid is usually discarded."

Jacot said other labs have tested amniotic fluid as a source of stem cells with promising results. "Our work is based on five years of work from other labs in which they've discovered a very small population of amniotic stem cells – maybe one in every 10,000 – that naturally express markers characteristic of embryonic and mesenchymal stem cells."

Jacot and his team created a population of amniotic stem cells through a complex process that involved extracting cells via centrifugation and fluorescence-activated sorting. They sequestered cells with a surface receptor, c-kit, a marker associated with stem cells.

The cells were cultured in endothelial growth media to make them suitable for growing into a network of capillaries, Jacot said. When the cells were placed in a bio-scaffold, a framework used for tissue engineering, they did just that.

"Anything we make will need a blood supply," he said. "That's why the first cell type we looked for is one that can form blood vessels. We need to know we can get a capillary network throughout tissue that we can then connect to the infant's blood supply."

Jacot said the cells they tested grow very fast. "We've done calculations to show that, with what we get from amniocentesis, we could more than grow an entire heart by birth," he said. "That would be really tough, but it gives us confidence that we will be able to quickly grow patches of tissue outside of the body that can then be sewn inside."

He said construction of a functional patch is some years away, but his lab is making progress. While embryonic cells have the most potential for such a project, amniotic cells already show signs of an ability to turn into heart muscle, he said.

Co-authors are graduate students Omar Benavides and Jennifer Petsche, both of Rice; and Kenneth Moise Jr. and Anthony Johnson, now professors at the Texas Center for Maternal and Fetal Treatment at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston with appointments at Children's Memorial Hermann Hospital.

The research was supported by the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship and CAREER programs, the Houston-Rice Alliance for Graduate Education and the Professoriate, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute Med into Grad Program and the Virginia and L.E. Simmons Family Foundation.

More information: http://online.lieb … EA.2011.0392

Provided by Rice University (news : web)

Original post:
Scientists make strides toward fixing infant hearts

20-01-2012 16:12 A conversation Dr. CC King, Ph.D., Associate Research Scientist at the UC, San Diego Pediatric Diabetes Research Center, about his work on stem cell therapy for type 1 (and type 2) diabetes.

Follow this link:
Stem Cell Therapy for Type 1 Diabetes (UCSD, PDRC) - Video

Suzanne Somers, a breast cancer survivor who’s become known for her controversial advice against chemotherapy, has done something that other women can truly find hope in. She turned to stem-cell techniques to successfully reconstruct her breasts.

The actress, 65, underwent a lumpectomy and radiation 12 years ago, and since then, she says, she wasn’t happy with the appearance of her breasts.  The radiation, she told “People” magazine, "left what breast I had flatter and flatter. I had a Double D on one side and on the other side I could hardly fill a B."

Dissatisfied with conventional breast-reconstruction procedures,  the “Three’s Company” veteran researched further and discovered that  Dr. Kotaro Yoshimura, a Japanese surgeon, had  developed stem-cell breast reconstruction in 2004. After talking with Yoshimura, Somers was convinced and decided to go with an American doctor for the operation.

So she began a clinical trial that has been ongoing at Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center.  The first patient to participate, Somers had fat removed from her stomach via liposuction. Then her surgeon, Dr. Joel Aronowitz, harvested stem cells from half the fat and combined it with the remaining amount.

After that, Aronowitz injected the mixture back into Somers’ breast until it matched her left one in size.  (Somers had reduced her DD left breast to a C.)

Somers said she’s thrilled with the result and the implications for other breast-cancer survivors. I am so ensconced in what's cutting edge," she told “People.” "I get my thrill out of passing on information to women so they can have a better quality of life."

The rest is here:
Suzanne Somers Uses Stem Cell Therapy for Breast Reconstruction

31-01-2012 13:32 James P. Watson, MD lecture sample from the 11th Clinical Applications for Age Management Medicine Conference, Fall 2011, Las Vegas, Nevada Pre-Conference Track 2: Regenerative and Cell Based Medicine This lecture focused on regenerative and cell-based medicine, Autologous Stem Cell Research. This field continues to grow in use by physicians across the world. From platelet rich plasma to culture expanded stem cells, the need for information about the applications of these therapies to treat patients has never been greater. This track will focus on the latest developments in cell-based medicine with speakers who are driving the research and using these technologies as part of their everyday practice of medicine. For more information about our upcoming conference visit our website http://www.agemed.org Or contact us at conference@agemed.org

Originally posted here:
An Overview of Data Trends in Autologous Stem Cell Research and Clinical Use - James P. Watson, MD - Video

6 February 2012

Angel Biotechnology Holdings plc.

("Angel" or "the Company")

Angel signs three new GMP (KOSDAQ: 018290.KQ - news) manufacturing contracts

for Materia Medica Holding

Angel Biotechnology Holdings plc., (AIM:ABH), the biopharmaceutical contract manufacturer, is pleased to announce that it has reached agreement on three further manufacturing contracts with OOO " NPF "Materia Medica Holding" (MMH) with a combined value in excess of £4.5 million. It is expected these projects will run concurrently and take approximately 22 months to complete.

Under the proposed agreements, Angel will initiate activities within existing facilities, with a view to transferring production to its Cramlington site during 2012, which the Company is currently re-commissioning. The commission of these new agreements will come under the terms of our current umbrella pricing agreement, pending formation of the joint venture company ("JVC") announced on 17 October 2011 after which the contracts will transfer into the control of the JVC.

Dr Paul Harper, Executive Chairman, Angel Biotechnology Holdings, said:

"The commission of these three new agreements provides a robust basis for the proposed JVC between Angel and MMH and demonstrates the confidence the customer has in Angel's capabilities. These agreements will put the proposed JVC on a sure footing from the outset, but is also an excellent example of the value Angel can provide via significant alliances such as this.. I would like to thank MMH for making this commercial commitment."

Professor Oleg Epstein, General Director, OOO "NPF "Materia Medica Holding", said:

"By signing these three new agreements with Angel, MMH can act in a timely manner to bring these products to market. As core business, it is important to us that development work begins whilst the JVC is being established. I am positive this will provide the best possible start to the new JVC.

For further information:

Angel Biotechnology Holdings plc

Lorna Peers, Finance Director +44 (0) 131 445 6077

Stewart White, Commercial Director http://www.angelbio.com

Grant Thornton, Corporate Finance

Colin Aaronson / Melanie Frean / Elliot Berg +44 (0) 20 7383 5100

Hybridan LLP (Broker)

Claire Noyce/Tim Goodman/

Deepak Reddy +44 (0) 20 7947 4350

Media (Frankfurt: 725292 - news) enquiries:

The Communications Portfolio Ltd

Ariane Comstive / Caolan Mahon +44 (0) 20 7536 2028 / 2029

ariane.comstive@communications-portfolio.co.uk

Notes to Editors:

Angel Biotechnology Holdings plc. is a full service contract bio-manufacturing partner to biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies worldwide. Angel specialises in advanced biologics including biopharmaceutical proteins and cell therapies, such as cellular vaccines and stem cells. At present, Angel's products are principally used in pre-clinical studies and clinical trials with a view to becoming the contract manufacturer of choice on a continuing basis.

Drug development companies outsource their biopharmaceutical manufacturing requirements to Angel to reduce their own capital requirements and enable them to develop products more rapidly. In addition, Angel provides complete regulatory services and documentation to its customers while its manufacturing processes adhere to the most stringent regulatory requirements. Products are produced to current Good Manufacturing Practice (cGMP) standards as required by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and in facilities that are certified to European standards by the Medicines (Xetra: 938858 - news) and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).

Its (Euronext: ALITS.NX - news) customers range from early-stage biotechnology companies including ReNeuron plc. and US-based Pathfinder Cell Therapy, to established pharmaceutical companies such as Russian-based Materia Medica Holdings.

Angel has two facilities: Pentlands Science Park near Edinburgh where it employs 38 people, and a site in Cramlington, near Newcastle (Frankfurt: 725198 - news) -upon-Tyne, which is expected to be commissioned by the end of Q1 2012, initially employing up to 10 people.

More information is available at http://www.angelbio.com .

- Ends -

Read more here:
Angel Biotechnology - Contracts with Materia Medica