Category Archives: Stem Cell Research

BRIDGEWATER Scientists from all over the country gathered for the sixth annual New Jersey Stem Cell Research Symposium on Wednesday at the Bridgewater Marriott hotel.

Researchers presented discoveries to an audience of about 250 people, with the University contributing 42 displays on findings in fields ranging from leukemia to addiction.

The symposium was designed to help different personnel in the field meet to boost productivity, said Kathryn Drzewiecki, a University graduate student in biomedical engineering.

Its good to have research and industry together to help each other, said Drzewiecki, who studied devices meant to culture stem cells. We can tell them what they need and they can get those products to be developed.

The Universitys Center for Stem Cell Research co-sponsored the symposium.

Ron Hart, professor of cell biology and neuroscience at the University, said the University is on the forefront of stem cell research and has the largest collection of human blood cells in the world. Half a million samples are stored in the Cell and DNA Repository and are now being used to generate stem cells for research, he said.

We turn them into neurons and begin to study mechanisms of disorders, Hart said. So there are several labs in Rutgers that are dealing with various diseases. Thats what makes our University special in this aspect.

Among the projects featured at the symposium was a new machine introduced by Life Technologies, a global life-sciences company, designed to copy a genome sequence quicker and cheaper than before.

Although the machine, called the Ion Proton Sequencer, costs $200,000, the chip used to take tissue samples has been reduced from its current cost of $500,000 to about $1,000, said Marsha Slater, application specialist for Life Technologies.

Thats going to create a lot of change in how medicine is done, Slater said. Cancer patients will be able to get their tissue samples sequenced, see what mutations are there which will help choose the best chemotherapy for the patient.

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Symposium attracts top stem cell researchers

NEW HAVEN, Conn. (WTNH) -- The impact of millions of dollars in stem cell research is going on in CT.

News 8 Medical Reporter Jocelyn Maminta found out there has been significant progress in the studies underway at Yale.

Connecticut was the first state to invest money into stem cell research. That drew scientists from all over to come here.

At Yale, researchers say they've made a major breakthrough that could unlock how tissues grow, and perhaps solve that old age problem of losing hair.

"Understanding the basic principles that govern tissue regeneration will allow us to understand how to cure diseases," said Dr. Valentina Greco, Yale School of Medicine.

Dr. Greco has discovered there are stem cells that grow tissue not just by increasing their numbers, but by expanding their size.

This could lead to finding out how to keep organs functioning and avoid disease.

For more information on stem cell research at Yale, visit the Greco Lab website .

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Stem cell research underway at Yale

Newswise The governing board of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) has announced that six investigators from the University of California, San Diego Stem Cell Research program have received a total of more than $7 million in the latest round of CIRM funding. This brings UC San Diegos total to more than $128 million in CIRM funding since the first awards in 2006.

UC San Diego scientists funded by the newly announced CIRM Basic Biology Awards IV include Maike Sander, MD, professor of Pediatrics and Cellular and Molecular Medicine; Miles Wilkinson, PhD, professor, Division of Reproductive Endocrinology; Gene Yeo, PhD, MBA, assistant professor with the Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine and the Institute for Genomic Medicine; George L. Sen, PhD, assistant professor of cellular and molecular medicine; David Traver, PhD, associate professor with the Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine and Ananda Goldrath, PhD, associate professor in the Division of Biological Sciences.

Sander was awarded nearly $1.4 million for her proposal to define and characterize the key transcription factors necessary to promote maturation of human embryonic stem cell (hESC)-derived pancreatic progenitors into mature insulin-secreting beta cells. The loss of pancreatic beta cells in type 1 diabetes results in the absence of insulin secreted by the pancreas. The goal of this work is to enable scientists to one day produce an unlimited source of transplantable beta-cells for patients with diabetes.

Wilkinsons grant of $1.36 million will allow his lab to develop and test induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS cells) from patients with genetic mutations in a component of the pathway that results in intellectual disabilities. Many of these patients also have autism, attention-deficit disorders or schizophrenia. Directed towards understanding fundamental mechanisms by which all stem cells are maintained, his research has the potential to impact non-psychiatric disorders as well.

A grant of almost $1.4 million will fund Yeos research to help decode the mechanisms that underlie the single most frequent genetic mutation found to contribute to neurodegenerative diseases amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS or Lou Gehrigs disease) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD). Yeo will generate iPSCs and differentiated motor neurons derived from patients with these mutations, then use genome-wide technologies to analyze these and normal cells and test strategies to rescue mutation-induced defects in iPSC-derived motor neurons.

Sen received a grant of just over $1 million to investigate how tissue specific stem and progenitor cells exist to replenish both healthy, normal tissue and for regeneration from a wound. Disease and aging deplete stem and progenitor cells, impeding the bodys ability to regenerate itself. Sens work aims to better understand the mechanisms of self-renewal and differentiation in epidermal (skin) stem cells. Imbalanced growth and differentiation of epidermal cells can lead to a variety of human skin disorders, including psoriasis and cancer.

Traver, who was awarded a CIRM grant of more than $1.3 million in collaboration with Thierry Jaffredo of the Universit Pierre et Marie Curie in Paris, studies hematopoietic stem cells. HSCs are rare, multipotent stem cells that give rise to all blood cell types, including red blood and immune cells. Travers lab investigates the genes and signaling pathways used by vertebrate embryos to create the first HSCs. An understanding of this developmental process has implications for producing restorative stem cell-based therapies for diseases like leukemia and congenital blood disorders. Currently, medical treatments using HSCs are hampered by cell shortages and finding compatible matches between donors and recipients.

Goldraths $1.16 million grant will help develop strategies to induce immunological tolerance to hESC-derived tissues and cells. Immune-mediated rejection of hESC-derived tissues remains a significant barrier to the promise of regenerative therapies. She proposes a novel approach to promote long-term acceptance of hESC-derived tissues by exploring the molecular pathways and immune cell types that mediate the induction of immune tolerance and pursuing additional targets that halt rejection of tissue grafts derived from these stem cells. If successful, this would increase the potential reach of cellular therapies by decreasing the undesirable side effects of generalized immune suppression.

The CIRM Basic Biology Awards are designed to fund investigations into the basic mechanisms underlying stem cell biology, cellular plasticity, and cellular differentiation. These awards will also fund the development and use human stem cell based models for exploring disease. According to CIRM, studies supported by these awards will form the foundation for future translational and clinical advances, enabling the realization of the full potential of human stem cells and reprogrammed cells for therapies and as tools for biomedical innovation.

CIRM was established in November 2004 with the passage of Proposition 71, the California Stem Cell Research and Cures Act. The statewide ballot measure provided $3 billion in funding for stem cell research at California universities and research institutions and called for the establishment of an entity to make grants and provide loans for stem cell research, research facilities, and other vital research opportunities.

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CIRM Funds Six UC San Diego Stem Cell Researchers

Public release date: 6-Sep-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Sally Stewart Sally.stewart@cshs.org 310-248-6566 Cedars-Sinai Medical Center

LOS ANGELES Sept. 6, 2012 A team of Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute stem cell researchers today was awarded a $1.3 million grant from the California Institute of Regenerative Medicine to continue study of an experimental stem cell therapy that treats heart attack patients with heart-derived cells. Earlier this year, data from the first clinical trial of the stem cell treatment showed the therapy helped damaged hearts regrow healthy muscle.

To date, this cell therapy, developed by Eduardo Marbn, MD, PhD, director of the Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute and Mark S. Siegel Family Professor, is the only treatment shown to regenerate the injured human heart. In this therapy, human heart tissue is used to grow specialized heart stem cells, which then are injected back into the patient's heart. The new research will focus on understanding the cellular mechanisms that have produced favorable outcomes.

"We have seen encouraging results in patients with this treatment, and it has the potential to revolutionize how we treat heart attack patients," Marbn said. "This further study will allow us to better understand how it works, which we hope will lead us to even more stem-cell based treatments for the heart."

During a heart attack, clots form suddenly on top of cholesterol-laden plaques, which block the flow of blood to the heart muscle. This causes living heart tissue to die and be replaced by a scar. The larger the scar, the higher the chance of death or disability from the heart attack.

Conventional treatments aim to limit the initial injury by opening the clogged artery and prevent further harm with medications. Regenerative therapy aims to regrow healthy heart muscle and dissolve the heart tissue -- an approach that, according to a study by Marbn published in The Lancet, led to an average 50 percent reduction in scar size.

Early study by Cedars-Sinai researchers indicates that much of the benefit in the experimental therapy is due to an indirect effect of the transplanted cardiac-derived cells. These cells seem to stimulate proliferation of the surrounding undamaged heart cells -- a previously unrecognized means of cardiac regeneration in response to cell therapy.

"This is vital basic science work that we believe will ultimately open pathways to new treatments in the fight against heart disease, the leading cause of premature death and disability," Marbn said.

The process to grow the cardiac-derived stem cells involved in the study was developed by Marbn when he was on the faculty of Johns Hopkins University. The university has filed for a patent on that intellectual property, and has licensed it to a company in which Dr. Marbn has a financial interest.

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Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute awarded $1.3 million to study cardiac stem cells

ROCHESTER - The Oakland University William Beaumont Institute for Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine will welcome both national and international experts in stem cell research and its biotechnological applications when it hosts the Second Midwest Conference on Stem Cell Biology and Therapy set for Oct. 5-7.

Researchers from hospitals, medical organizations, academic institutions and the business community throughout the country will discuss not only the latest advances in this rapidly expanding field of medical science, but the ethical and moral issues that surround it.

Rasul Chaudhry, an OU faculty member, co-director of the ISCRM and a lead organizer of the conference, has studied embryonic and umbilical cord blood stem cells and multipotent progenitors for more than a decade. He said he is looking forward to sharing the work he, colleagues and students have been zealously pursuing.

"This conference provides an excellent opportunity to showcase Oakland University being a world-class institution involved in cutting-edge biomedical research," Chaudhry explained. "This is also a chance to show the high-caliber research efforts that are going on at OU and recognize the efforts of our faculty and students."

Bernard Siegel, executive director of the Genetics Policy Institute (GPI) and founder of the annual World Stem Cell Summit, said, "GPI is proud to partner with ISCRM in this important scientific conference, which will showcase the latest discoveries from top laboratories around the region.

"We are especially proud that the institute was officially launched at the 2010 World Stem Cell Summit in Detroit. We congratulate Dr. Chaudhry for his visionary leadership in organizing this year's regional conference, which will again put Michigan and the entire Midwest on the stem cell map."

This year's event will build on the success of the First Midwest Conference on Stem Cell Biology, which Oakland University, Beaumont Health System and Providence Hospital organized in 2008, as well as the 2010 World Stem Cell Summit organized by the University of Michigan, Wayne State University and Michigan State University. Main highlights of this three-day conference include more than 90 expert speakers and panelists presenting their latest research in one keynote forum, three plenary sessions and 16 focus sessions.

"It is an exciting time for regenerative medicine platforms that aim to integrate stem cell biology, organogenesis and tissue engineering into cell, tissue- and organ-based therapies," said Dr. Gary Hammer, Millie Schembechler Professor of Adrenal Cancer and director of the Endocrine Oncology Program at the University of Michigan Medical School.

"As the University of Michigan's Center for Organogenesis is composed of over 120 faculty engaged in research in these basic and translational disciplines, we are delighted to support and participate broadly in this conference."

Regular registration, which runs through Saturday, Sept. 15, is $350 for the public and $175 for students, residents and post-doctoral students. Registration after Sept. 15 is $400 and $200, respectively. Optional workshops are $100. Sponsorship opportunities are still available.

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OU To Host International Stem Cell Research Conference Oct. 5-7

SAN DIEGO A study led by researchers at the UC San Diego Stem Cell Research program and funded by the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) looks at an important RNA binding protein called LIN28, which is implicated in pluripotency and reprogramming as well as in cancer and other diseases. According to the researchers, their study published in Thursday's (Sept. 6) online issue of Molecular Cell will change how scientists view this protein and its impact on human disease.

Studying embryonic stem cells and somatic cells stably expressing LIN28, the researchers defined discrete binding sites of LIN28 in 25 percent of human transcripts. In addition, splicing-sensitive microarrays demonstrated that LIN28 expression causes widespread downstream alternative splicing changes variations in gene products that can result in cancer or other diseases.

"Surprisingly, we discovered that LIN28 not only binds to the non-coding microRNAs, but can also bind directly to thousands of messenger RNAs," said first author Melissa Wilbert, a doctoral student in the UC San Diego Biomedical Sciences graduate program.

Messenger RNA or mRNA, are RNA molecules that encode a chemical "blueprint" for the synthesis of a protein. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are short snippets of RNA that are crucial regulators of cell growth, differentiation, and death. While they don't encode for proteins, miRNAs are important for regulating protein production in the cell by repressing or "turning off" genes.

"The LIN28 protein is linked to growth and development and is important very early in human development," said principal investigator Gene Yeo, Ph.D., MBA, of the Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, the Stem Cell Research Program and the Institute for Genomic Medicine at UC San Diego. "It is usually turned off in adult tissue, but can be reactivated, for instance, in certain cancers or metabolic disorders, such as obesity."

Using genome-wide biochemical methods to look at the set of all RNA molecules across the transcriptome, the researchers found that LIN28 recognizes and binds to a known hairpin-like structure found on the let-7 family of miRNA, but surprisingly, this same structure is also found on mRNAs, allowing LIN28 to directly regulate thousands of targets.

"One of these targets actually encodes for the LIN28 protein itself. In other words, LIN28 helps to make more of itself," said Yeo. This process, known as autoregulation, helps to maintain a so-called "steady-state" system in which a protein positively regulates its own production by binding to a regulatory element of the mRNA for the gene coding it.

"Since these mRNA targets include those known to be involved in gene splicing, we also implicate LIN28 in the regulation of alternative splicing," said Wilbert, adding that abnormal variations in splicing are often implicated in cancer and other disorders.

In the splicing process, fragments that do not typically code for protein, called introns, are removed from gene transcripts, and the remaining sequences, called exons, are reconnected. The splicing factor proteins themselves, as well as the location where these proteins bind, dictate which pieces of the RNA are included or excluded in the final gene transcript - in much the same way that removing and inserting scenes, or splicing, can alter the plot of a movie.

The discovery of thousands of precise binding sites for LIN28 within human genes offers a novel look at the role this protein plays in development and disease processes. For example, scientists had looked at targeting a particular miRNA called let-7 to halt cancer growth. "But we now see that LIN28 can, in essence, bypass let-7 and find many, many other binding sites perhaps with the same adverse effect of uncontrolled cell overgrowth," said Yeo. "This suggests that LIN28 itself should be the therapeutic target for diseases, rather than let-7 or other miRNAs."

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Protein binding sites found in 1,000s of human genes

Public release date: 4-Sep-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Debra Kain ddkain@ucsd.edu 619-543-6163 University of California - San Diego

A study led by researchers at the UC San Diego Stem Cell Research program and funded by the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) looks at an important RNA binding protein called LIN28, which is implicated in pluripotency and reprogramming as well as in cancer and other diseases. According to the researchers, their study published in the September 6 online issue of Molecular Cell will change how scientists view this protein and its impact on human disease.

Studying embryonic stem cells and somatic cells stably expressing LIN28, the researchers defined discrete binding sites of LIN28 in 25 percent of human transcripts. In addition, splicing-sensitive microarrays demonstrated that LIN28 expression causes widespread downstream alternative splicing changes variations in gene products that can result in cancer or other diseases.

"Surprisingly, we discovered that LIN28 not only binds to the non-coding microRNAs, but can also bind directly to thousands of messenger RNAs," said first author Melissa Wilbert, a doctoral student in the UC San Diego Biomedical Sciences graduate program.

Messenger RNA or mRNA, are RNA molecules that encode a chemical "blueprint" for the synthesis of a protein. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are short snippets of RNA that are crucial regulators of cell growth, differentiation, and death. While they don't encode for proteins, miRNAs are important for regulating protein production in the cell by repressing or "turning off" genes.

"The LIN28 protein is linked to growth and development and is important very early in human development," said principal investigator Gene Yeo, PhD, MBA, of the Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, the Stem Cell Research Program and the Institute for Genomic Medicine at UC San Diego. "It is usually turned off in adult tissue, but can be reactivated, for instance, in certain cancers or metabolic disorders, such as obesity."

Using genome-wide biochemical methods to look at the set of all RNA molecules across the transcriptome, the researchers found that LIN28 recognizes and binds to a known hairpin-like structure found on the let-7 family of miRNA, but surprisingly, this same structure is also found on mRNAs, allowing LIN28 to directly regulate thousands of targets.

"One of these targets actually encodes for the LIN28 protein itself. In other words, LIN28 helps to make more of itself," said Yeo. This process, known as autoregulation, helps to maintain a so-called "steady-state" system in which a protein positively regulates its own production by binding to a regulatory element of the mRNA for the gene coding it.

"Since these mRNA targets include those known to be involved in gene splicing, we also implicate LIN28 in the regulation of alternative splicing," said Wilbert, adding that abnormal variations in splicing are often implicated in cancer and other disorders.

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Binding sites for LIN28 protein found in thousands of human genes

Lynn Kotz, a longtime Pikesville event planner who later became a staunch supporter for stem cell research, died Aug. 8 following a long battle with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). She was 58. Kotzs battle with ALS, also known as Lou Gehrigs disease, began about three years ago when she noticed a slight slur in her speech. She and her family expected the worst as her mother also succumbed to the disease in 1992.

We immediately were concerned it was ALS because our bubbie had the same symptoms, said Kotzs daughter, Megan Campbell. Despite the diagnosis, she continued to live a full life and worked hard to try and help find a cure so future generations may have a chance to beat the disease.

In the final years of her life, Kotz participated in various ALS studies and she worked to raise awareness of ALS and stem cell research in general, which many medical experts believe may hold the key to beating ALS and a host of other neurological diseases. Two years ago, Hadassah of Greater Baltimore began a fundraiser for stem cell research in her honor. That event attracted more than 800 people.

Lorin Kline, Kotzs other daughter, said seeing that many people step up to help with the cause, and honor her mother, meant so much to her family. It also helped her family realize just how beloved Kotz was in the Jewish community.

It was amazing to see so many people come out to support Mom, Kline said. For her, the moment symbolized just how the Jewish community could come together when called upon to do so. She was so proud of being Jewish and loved being a part of this community. It was something she always instilled in us. We saw that again at her funeral, which had hundreds of people there to pay their respects. It was unbelievable.

Kline, 32, and Campbell, 35 said while ALS eventually took Kotzs life, its not what defined her. Her daughters described Kotz as the life of the party who rarely could go anywhere without running into someone she knew.

It was this love of people and planning parties that led Kotz in 1985 to co-found Celebrations Unlimited, Inc. During the last 27 years, Celebrations Unlimited has planned countless bar mitzvahs, weddings, parties and other events in the Baltimore-Washington region. Campbell and Kline eventually joined their mother in the business and plan to continue to develop the company.

Celebrations Unlimited really happened by accident, Campbell said. Mom just loved to plan parties. It started with our birthdays, which always had a grand theme. Then, people started asking her ideas on planning events and it just kind of evolved from there. People whose events she planned werent just customers, they were her friends. Most of our business came from word of mouth.

Kline said her mother was determined to make the most out of her final years and did everything she could to ensure her family would stay strong. This included making sure she was well enough to attend Campbells wedding, which took place just four days before she died.

She had her input all over my wedding, even going out shopping for last-minute things a week before the wedding, Campbell said. It was an emotional day for me and I had a hard time enjoying the moment until my dad pointed out how relaxed Mom was that day. She wanted to make sure my day was special. Thats just the type of person she was.

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Celebrating Lynn Kotz

A US Appeal court rules that the National Institutes of Health is legally allowed to fund human embryonic stem cell research.

By Hayley Dunning | August 27, 2012

The decision by the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit confirms a previous ruling by a lower court, which threw out a lawsuit accusing the National Institutes of Health (NIH) of violating a 1996 law prohibiting taxpayer funding of research that destroys human embryos.

NIH funding of human embryonic stem cell (hESC) research hinges on ambiguity in the 1996 Dickey-Wicker law, which permits federal funding of research projects that utilize already-derived ESCswhich are not themselves embryosbecause no human embryo or embryos are destroyed in such projects, Chief Judge David B. Sentelle said in todays ruling.

The lawsuit was brought by two adult stem cell researchers, whose lawyers said today that their clients are considering taking the issue to the US Supreme Court. Although the Supreme Court accepts only about 1 percent of cases, experts say the fact that the three judges involved in this decision ruled in favor of the NIH for different reasons means the legal wrangling might not be over yet.

NIH will continue to move forward, conducting and funding research in this very promising area of science, NIH Director Francis Collins said in a statement after the decision. The ruling affirms our commitment to the patients afflicted by diseases that may one day be treatable using the results of this research.

By Jef Akst

Proposals from researchers receiving more than $1 million a year in NIH funding will be carefully picked over to avoid overlap with ongoing research.

By Hayley Dunning

A unique resource for studying environmental impacts on freshwater systems is threatened by federal funding cuts.

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Stem Cell Research Funding Upheld

August 26, 2012

April Flowers for redOrbit.com Your Universe Online

A three-judge panel at the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia refused to order the Obama administration to stop funding embryonic stem cell research on Friday.

This ruling comes despite complaints that the research is dependent on destroyed human embryos. Opponents to the research claim the National Institutes for Health (NIH) is violating the 1996 Dickey-Wicker law which prohibits taxpayer financing for work that harms an embryo.

The judges were unanimous, however, in upholding the lower courts decision to throw out the case entirely. This is the second time the appeals court has said that federal funding of stem cell research was permissible.

Dickey-Wicker permits federal funding of research projects that utilize already-derived ESCs [Embryonic Stem Cells] which are not themselves embryos because no human embryo or embryos are destroyed in such projects, Chief Judge David B. Sentelle said in the ruling, adding that the plaintiffs made the same argument the last the time the court reviewed the issue. Therefore, unless they have established some extraordinary circumstance, the law of the case is established and we will not revisit the issue.

NIH Director Dr. Francis Collins said in a statement, NIH will continue to move forward, conducting and funding research in this very promising area of science. The ruling affirms our commitment to the patients afflicted by diseases that may one day be treatable using the results of this research.

Maladies that researchers believe can be someday cured by this kind of research include spinal cord injuries, diabetes, heart disease, bone marrow diseases, and Parkinsons disease.

Those opposed to the research object because the cells were obtained from destroyed human embryos. Current research is using cells culled long ago, opponents fear that success in these experiments would drive new embryonic destruction.

Those who support the research assert that most research cells come from extra embryos that fertility clinics would have discarded anyway.

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U.S. Appeals Court: Government Can Fund Stem Cell Research