Monthly Archives: July 2014

Stem Cells Could Hold Key To Muscle Repair, Says Study

Posted: July 27, 2014 at 2:50 pm

Details Published on Saturday, 26 July 2014 21:02

A study found that stem cells injected into mice helped shorten muscle repair time. Picture courtesy of Shutterstock.com NEW YORK: Research conducted on exercising mice at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign could open new doors in the field of muscle repair using stem cells.

Scientists injected stem cells prior to encouraging mice to perform exercises considered the rough equivalent of human lengthening contractions performed as part of resistance training.

They found the time of muscle repair was shortened and they achieved considerable development of the mices muscles.

We have an interest in understanding how muscle responds to exercise, and which cellular components contribute to the increase in repair and growth with exercise, says study author and University of Illinois kinesiology and community health professor Marni Boppart.

Boppart says the research is important in treating atrophy and age-related degradation in both the structure and the function of muscles.

But the primary goal of our lab really is to have some understanding of how we can rejuvenate the aged muscle to prevent the physical disability that occurs with age, and to increase quality of life in general as well, she continued.

The types of stem cells used in the experiment are called mesenchymal (mezz-EN-chem-uhl) stem cells (MSCs) and they occur naturally in the body as part of the tissue that connects organs.

Boppart and her team selected MCSs for use on the mice knowing that MSCs emit growth factors.

Their experiment indicates that MCS cells stimulate muscle progenitor cells, which have the ability to differentiate within skeletal musclewhat Boppart refers to as a very complex organ that is highly innervated and vascularized.

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Stem Cell Therapy for Autism || Treatment Information …

Posted: July 27, 2014 at 2:43 pm

Autism Protocol

Current investigative therapies for autism attempt to reverse these abnormalities through administration of antibiotics, antiinflammatory agents, and hyperbaric oxygen. Unfortunately, none of these approaches address the root causes of oxygen deprivation and intestinal inflammation.

Mesenchymal stem cells can regulate the immune system. It is thought that they may help to reverse inflammatory conditions and is currently in the final stages of clinical trials in the US for Crohns disease, a condition resembling the gut inflammation in autistic children.

Through administration of mesenchymal stem cells, we have observed improvement in subjects to whom weve administered stem cells at our facilities. The biological basis for our scientists appears in a peer-reviewed publication Journal of Translational Medicine: Stem Cell Therapy for Autism.

The adult stem cells used in the autism clinical investigation at the Stem Cell Institute come from human umbilical cord tissue (allogeneic mesenchymal). These stem cells are recovered from donated umbilical cords. Before they are approved for use, all umbilical cord-derived stem cells are screened for viruses and bacteria to International Blood Bank Standards. In some cases, we also utilize stem cells harvested from the subjects own bone marrow. Umbilical cord-derived stem cells are ideal for the autism protocol because they allow our physicians to administer uniform doses and they do not require any stem cell collection from the subject, which for autistic children and their parents, can be an arduous process. Because they are collected right after (normal) birth, umbilical cord-derived cells are much more potent than their older counterparts like bone marrow-derived cells for instance. Cord tissue-derived mesenchymal stem cells pose no rejection risk because the body does not recognize them as foreign.

Because HUCT stem cells are less mature than other cells, the bodys immune system is unable to recognize them as foreign and therefore they are not rejected. Weve performed thousands of procedures with umbilical cord stem cells and there has never been a single instance of rejection. HUCT stem cells also proliferate/differentiate more efficiently than older cells, such as those found in the bone marrow and therefore, they are considered to be more potent.

The umbilical cord-derived stem cells are administered intravenously by a licensed physician.

Below is an example of a typical autism schedule. Our investigational clinical protocol for autism (www.clinicaltrials.gov NCT02192749) has been approved by the National Institutional Review Board for Clinical Protocols.

Proper follow-up is an essential part of the autism clinical investigation process. Our primary goal is to ensure that your child is progressing safely. Regular follow-up also enables us to evaluate efficacy and improve our autism clinical protocols based on observed outcomes.

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Cell therapy for multiple sclerosis patients: Closer than ever?

Posted: July 27, 2014 at 2:42 pm

Scientists at The New York Stem Cell Foundation (NYSCF) Research Institute are one step closer to creating a viable cell replacement therapy for multiple sclerosis from a patient's own cells.

For the first time, NYSCF scientists generated induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells lines from skin samples of patients with primary progressive multiple sclerosis and further, they developed an accelerated protocol to induce these stem cells into becoming oligodendrocytes, the myelin-forming cells of the central nervous system implicated in multiple sclerosis and many other diseases.

Existing protocols for producing oligodendrocytes had taken almost half a year to produce, limiting the ability of researchers to conduct their research. This study has cut that time approximately in half, making the ability to utilize these cells in research much more feasible.

Stem cell lines and oligodendrocytes allow researchers to "turn back the clock" and observe how multiple sclerosis develops and progresses, potentially revealing the onset of the disease at a cellular level long before any symptoms are displayed. The improved protocol for deriving oligodendrocyte cells will also provide a platform for disease modeling, drug screening, and for replacing the damaged cells in the brain with healthy cells generated using this method.

"We are so close to finding new treatments and even cures for MS. The enhanced ability to derive the cells implicated in the disease will undoubtedly accelerate research for MS and many other diseases," said Susan L. Solomon, NYSCF Chief Executive Officer.

"We believe that this protocol will help the MS field and the larger scientific community to better understand human oligodendrocyte biology and the process of myelination. This is the first step towards very exciting studies: the ability to generate human oligodendrocytes in large amounts will serve as an unprecedented tool for developing remyelinating strategies and the study of patient-specific cells may shed light on intrinsic pathogenic mechanisms that lead to progressive MS." said Dr. Valentina Fossati, NYSCF -- Helmsley Investigator and senior author on the paper.

In multiple sclerosis, the protective covering of axons, called myelin, becomes damaged and lost. In this study, the scientists not only improved the protocol for making the myelin-forming cells but they showed that the oligodendrocytes derived from the skin of primary progressive patients are functional, and therefore able to form their own myelin when put into a mouse model. This is an initial step towards developing future autologous cell transplantation therapies in multiple sclerosis patients

This important advance opens up critical new avenues of research to study multiple sclerosis and other diseases. Oligodendrocytes are implicated in many different disorders, therefore this research not only moves multiple sclerosis research forward, it allows NYSCF and other scientists the ability to study all demyelinating and central nervous system disorders.

"Oligodendrocytes are increasingly recognized as having an absolutely essential role in the function of the normal nervous system, as well as in the setting of neurodegenerative diseases,such as multiple sclerosis. The new work from the NYSCF Research Institute will help to improve our understanding of these important cells. In addition, being able to generate large numbers of patient-specific oligodendrocytes will support both cell transplantation therapeutics for demyelinating diseases and the identification of new classes of drugs to treat such disorders," said Dr. Lee Rubin, NYSCF Scientific Advisor and Director of Translational Medicine at the Harvard Stem Cell Institute.

Multiple sclerosis is a chronic, inflammatory, demyelinating disease of the central nervous system, distinguished by recurrent episodes of demyelination and the consequent neurological symptoms. Primary progressive multiple sclerosis is the most severe form of multiple sclerosis, characterized by a steady neurological decline from the onset of the disease. Currently, there are no effective treatments or cures for primary progressive multiple sclerosis and treatments relies merely on symptom management.

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stepping away from embryotic stem cells – Video

Posted: July 26, 2014 at 1:43 pm


stepping away from embryotic stem cells
stem cell research.

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Malcolm K. Brenner receives Pioneer Award for advances in gene-modified T cells targeting cancer

Posted: July 26, 2014 at 7:45 am

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

24-Jul-2014

Contact: Kathryn Ruehle kruehle@liebertpub.com 914-740-2100 Mary Ann Liebert, Inc./Genetic Engineering News

New Rochelle, NY, July 24, 2014Malcolm K. Brenner, MD, PhD, Baylor College of Medicine (Houston, TX) has devoted his career in basic and clinical research toward understanding how tumors are able to escape detection by the body's immune defense system, and developing genetically modified T cells that can effectively target tumors. In recognition of his scientific achievements and leadership in the field, Dr. Brenner is the recipient of a Pioneer Award from Human Gene Therapy, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers. Human Gene Therapy is commemorating its 25th anniversary by bestowing this honor on the leading 12 Pioneers in the field of cell and gene therapy selected by a blue ribbon panel* and publishing a Pioneer Perspective by each of the award recipients. The Perspective by Dr. Brenner is available on the Human Gene Therapy website.

In "Gene Modified Cells for Stem Cell Transplantation and Cancer Therapy", Dr. Brenner recounts the highlights of his career to date. He describes the evolution of his research, which has contributed significantly to advancing the field of gene transfer using retroviral vectors in the development of both autologous (AUTO) and allogeneic (ALLO) hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) approaches to cancer immunotherapy, and the strategy of using chimeric antigen receptors (CARs) to modify T cells stimulating their activation, proliferation, and anti-tumor activity.

Dr. Brenner received a PhD in immunology and early in his career sought to understand how B cells interact with T cells to produce antibodies. After pursuing the development of cellular therapies to treat immune disorders, Dr. Brenner shifted the focus of his research to bone marrow transplantation, or what is now called HSCT. Together with colleagues he developed and tested an approach to improve patients' immune recovery after their T cells are depleted in preparation for a transplant. As Dr. Brenner explains, "This work was the forerunner of our later efforts to improve antiviral and antitumor immunity by adoptive transfer of T cells."

"Malcolm has been driving the field of cell-based gene therapy forward since its infancy. His contributions have been truly seminal," says James M. Wilson, MD, PhD, Editor-in-Chief of Human Gene Therapy and Director of the Gene Therapy Program, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia.

*The blue ribbon panel of leaders in cell and gene therapy, led by Chair Mary Collins, PhD, MRC Centre for Medical Molecular Virology, University College London selected the Pioneer Award recipients. The Award Selection Committee selected scientists that had devoted much of their careers to cell and gene therapy research and had made a seminal contribution to the field--defined as a basic science or clinical advance that greatly influenced progress in translational research.

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About the Journal

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California stem cell agency head takes stand on 'personal ethics'

Posted: July 26, 2014 at 7:42 am

The California Institute for Regenerative Medicine has continued in damage-control mode since the state agencys former president, Alan Trounson, joined the board of directors at StemCells Inc. this month, just seven days after leaving the agency.

Newark-based StemCells has been awarded nearly $20 million in CIRM funding, as part of a long relationship that, in the wake of Trounson's departure, has raised concern about potential conflict of interest.

The agency's new president, C. Randal Mills, said he was taking a strong stand on personal ethics, signing an agreement not to accept a job with any company funded by CIRM for at least one year after leaving his position at the state agency.

"We take even the appearance of conflicts of interest very seriously," Mills said in a statement this month.

But a scientist whose grant proposal was turned down even though it received a higher rating than the StemCells proposal called the relationship between the state agency and the company interesting.

In my opinion, Mr. Trounson and the CIRM staff were clearly antagonistic to us and strongly supportive of StemCells, Lon S. Schneider, a scientist at USCs Keck School of Medicine, told the California Stem Cell Report ,a blog that follows news related to the stem cell agency.

And Times columnist Michael Hiltzik pointed out that the agency has hired its own law firm to conduct the investigation, rather than a completely independent party.

The unanswered question burning a hole through CIRM's credibility is whether StemCells Inc. got its money because its research was promising, or because it knew the right people, Hiltzik wrote.

The stem cell agency has also voted to cut $5 million from a $70-million effort to create a series of statewide stem cell clinics, according to the California Stem Cell Report. And even though the board has 29 members, only eight could vote because of conflicts of interest among the others, according to the report.

Following a thorough review it is my opinion that the $70-million price tag is not clearly justified in terms of the benefits it will deliver to the people of California, Mills wrote in a memo to the agency's board.

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Robert J. Harman, DVM, Founder and CEO of Vet-Stem, Inc. to Join New York Radio Host Lorry Young in Upcoming Episode …

Posted: July 26, 2014 at 7:40 am

San Diego, CA (PRWEB) July 25, 2014

WABC Radio show out of New York City, A Paws For Your Pet with Lorry Young will be hosting California-based Vet-Stem, Inc.s Founder and CEO, Robert J. Harman, DVM, to talk about stem cell therapy in pets. Dr. Harman first visited the show in November 2013 to discuss the benefits of stem cell therapy for pets suffering from osteoarthritis and other degenerative diseases, as well as recent developments moving the Regenerative Veterinary Medicine industry forward.

Young has invited Dr. Harman back to dial down into specific case studies and success stories of the over 10,000 dogs, cats, horses and exotic animals that Vet-Stems services have treated in the last decade. Moose, a Labrador Retriever Mix, is one of those special pet patients in the New York City area that was treated with Vet-Stem Regenerative Cell Therapy for arthritis caused by elbow dysplasia, and arthritic bone growth.

When Mooses owners noticed decreased mobility, lameness, and an increasingly lower tolerance for other dogs they brought Moose to local veterinarian Alex Klein to explore solutions. As many as 65% of dogs between the ages of 7 and 11 years old are inflicted with some degree of arthritis. Certain specific breeds, much like Moose, are reported to have as high of a percentage as 70 in being diagnosed with arthritis.

Stem cell therapy has been proven to help with the pain of arthritis in pets because it decreases inflammation, regenerates damaged tissues, and restores range of motion. An owner survey showed that greater than 80% of dogs treated for osteoarthritis in one or more leg joints with Vet-Stem Regenerative Cell Therapy showed an improved quality of life. Dogs like Moose have a small amount of fat collected by their veterinarian, which is sent overnight to Vet-Stems lab. There, the fat is separated from the stem cells and injectable doses of concentrated stem cells are sent back to the veterinarian overnight. Within 48 hours Moose received injections in his arthritic joints and the healing process began.

This ability to improve on a pets quality of life is why Dr. Harman is so passionate about sharing stories with other animal enthusiasts such as Young and her radio audience. Pet-spert, Young offers a special look into the latest techniques, treatments, and options that will enable listeners to provide their pets with a safer, healthier, and happier life. Produced and hosted by Young, A Paws For Your Pet, helps listeners answer any potential questions they may have regarding the health and well-being of their beloved pet, and hosts experts in the industry like Dr. Harman regularly.

About Vet-Stem, Inc. Since its formation in 2002, Vet-Stem, Inc. has endeavored to improve the lives of animals through regenerative medicine. As the first company in the United States to provide an adipose-derived stem cell service to veterinarians for their patients, Vet-Stem pioneered the use of regenerative stem cells for horses, dogs, cats, and some exotics. In 2004 the first horse was treated with Vet-Stem Regenerative Cell Therapy for a tendon injury that would normally have been career ending. Ten years later Vet-Stem celebrated its 10,000th animal treated, and the success of establishing stem cell therapy as a proven regenerative medicine for certain inflammatory, degenerative, and arthritic diseases. As animal advocates, veterinarians, veterinary technicians, and cell biologists, the team at Vet-Stem tasks themselves with the responsibility of discovering, refining, and bringing to market innovative medical therapies that utilize the bodys own healing and regenerative cells. For more information about Vet-Stem and Regenerative Veterinary Medicine visit http://www.vet-stem.com or call 858-748-2004.

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Dr Nathan Newman Stem Cell Technology by JEUNESSE – Video

Posted: July 25, 2014 at 8:40 am


Dr Nathan Newman Stem Cell Technology by JEUNESSE
Dr. Nathan Newman explains the importance of Adult Stem Cells for looking younger, erasing wrinkles, healing acne and more. http://firstline.jeunesseglobal.com.

By: Jeunesse Global

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How to use stem cells? Luminesce Technology – Video

Posted: July 25, 2014 at 8:40 am


How to use stem cells? Luminesce Technology

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"Stem Cells Dr. Nathan Newman" – Sean Wroe Jeuness Global Distributor – Video

Posted: July 25, 2014 at 8:40 am


"Stem Cells Dr. Nathan Newman" - Sean Wroe Jeuness Global Distributor
Stem Cells are the future of health and beauty. Jeunesse Global is at the forefront of this incredible Stem Cell Technology. Sean Wroe is a Jeunesse Global Distributor leading the way. http://www.seanwroe...

By: Sean Wroe

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"Stem Cells Dr. Nathan Newman" - Sean Wroe Jeuness Global Distributor - Video

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