Category Archives: Illinois Stem Cells

1/14/2013 | Chelsey Coombs, News Bureau Intern | 217-333-5802; diya@illinois.edu

CHAMPAIGN, lll. Researchers have shown that transplanting stem cells derived from normal mouse blood vessels into the hearts of mice that model the pathology associated with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) prevents the decrease in heart function associated with DMD.

Treatment with stem cells derived from blood vessels spurred nestin-positive stem cells already present in the heart to form new cardiac muscle cells (see arrows). | Photo by Suzanne Berry-Miller

Their findings appear in the journal Stem Cells Translational Medicine.

Duchenne muscular dystrophy is a genetic disorder caused by a mutation in the gene for dystrophin, a protein that anchors muscle cells in place when they contract. Without dystrophin, muscle contractions tear cell membranes, leading to cell death. The lost muscle cells must be regenerated, but in time, scar tissue replaces the muscle cells, causing the muscle weakness and heart problems typical of DMD.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that DMD affects one in every 3,500 males. The disease is more prevalent in males because the dystrophin mutation occurs on the X chromosome; males have one X and one Y chromosome, so a male with this mutation will have DMD, while females have two X chromosomes and must have the mutation on both of them to have the disease. Females with the mutation in one X chromosome sometimes develop muscle weakness and heart problems as well, and may pass the mutation on to their children.

Although medical advances have extended the lifespans of DMD patients from their teens or 20s into their early 30s, disease-related damage to the heart and diaphragm still limits their lifespan.

Almost 100 percent of patients develop dilated cardiomyopathy, in which a weakened heart with enlarged chambers prevents blood from being properly pumped throughout the body, said University of Illinois comparative biosciences professor Suzanne Berry-Miller, who led the study. Right now, doctors are treating the symptoms of this heart problem by giving patients drugs to try to prolong heart function, but that cant replace the lost or damaged cells, she said.

In the new study, the researchers injected stem cells known as aorta-derived mesoangioblasts (ADM) into the hearts of dystrophin-deficient mice that serve as a model for human DMD. The ADM stem cells have a working copy of the dystrophin gene.

This stem cell therapy prevented or delayed heart problems in mice that did not already show signs of the functional or structural defects typical of Duchenne muscular dystrophy, the researchers report.

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Stem Cell Therapy Illinois | Stem Cell Treatments

By AMANDA LEE MYERS Associated Press

CINCINNATI (AP) - A Roman Catholic diocese in Ohio is discouraging its 113 schools from participating in the ice bucket challenge to benefit the ALS Association, saying the group's funding of embryonic stem cell research is "in direct conflict with Catholic teaching."

Jim Rigg, superintendent of Catholic schools for the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, told the schools in a letter Tuesday to "immediately cease" any plans to raise funds for the association and to instead direct donations to another organization that combats ALS, a progressive neurodegenerative disease also known as Lou Gehrig's disease that causes paralysis and almost certain death.

The Catholic Church relates the use of embryonic stem cells in research to abortion and says it violates the sanctity of human life. The use of adult stem cells in research is not forbidden by Catholic teaching.

"We certainly appreciate the compassion that has caused people all over the country, certainly including many Catholics, to be interacting and engaging in a fun way to support ALS research," diocese spokesman Dan Andriacco said Thursday. "But it's a well-established moral principle that not only the ends be good, but the means must be good, too."

Carrie Munk, a spokeswoman for the ALS Association, said her group largely funds adult stem cell research but does fund one study involving embryonic stem cells using money from one specific donor.

She said all donors to the ALS Association can stipulate where their money goes and can ask that it not pay for embryonic stem cell research. Munk said she hasn't heard of other Catholic dioceses recommending against donating to the group.

The diocese said schools could participate in the ice bucket challenge, but any money raised should be directed to groups like the John Paul II Medical Research Institute in Iowa City, Iowa, which conducts "pro-life driven" research, according to its website.

Don Clemmer, a spokesman for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, said that the group views the Cincinnati diocese's actions as "a local matter" and that his organization has not issued any directives to its bishops discouraging donations to the ALS Association.

John Di Camillo, staff ethicist at the Philadelphia-based National Catholics Bioethics Center, said his organization is working on a statement about the ice bucket challenge "and the moral controversy that has arisen" in the church as a result.

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Ohio diocese discourages ALS ice bucket challenge - Quincy Herald-Whig | Illinois & Missouri News, Sports