Category Archives: Stem Cell Research

Public release date: 17-Apr-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: David Eve celltransplantation@gmail.com Cell Transplantation Center of Excellence for Aging and Brain Repair

Tampa, Fla. (April. 17, 2012) Combined, complimentary therapies have the ability to maximize the benefits of neural stem cell (NSC) transplantation for spinal cord repair in rat models, according to a study carried out by a team of Korean researchers who published in a recent issue of Cell Transplantation (20:9), now freely available on-line at http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/cog/ct/.

"When transplanted, neural stem cells have demonstrated their therapeutic potential to reverse complex pathological processes following spinal cord injury," said study corresponding author Dr. Byung G. Kim of the Ajou University School of Medicine's Brain Disease Research Center and Department of Neurology, Republic of Korea. "However, many obstacles cannot be overcome by NSC transplant alone."

Their study demonstrated that a combination of treatment strategies - a polymer scaffold, neurotrophin-3 (NT3) and chondroitinase (an enzyme which helps digest the glial scar that formed after a spinal cord injury) - provided added therapeutic benefits to NSC transplantation. The implantation of a polymer scaffold designed to bridge lesion cavities, created a favorable tissue environment for nerve growth. Incorporating the NT3 gene into the transplanted cells improved cell survival and migration while the addition of chondroitinase positively affected neural activity between the scaffold and the spinal cord.

"The poly (-caprolactone) [PCL] scaffold in our study appeared to function like a reservoir supplying migratory NSCs to the spinal cord," said Dr. Kim. "The NSCs grafted with the scaffolds survived the transplantation and migrated to the host spinal cord."

The study included four animal groups, only one of which received the full combination of therapies. Rats in the full combination therapy group were found to have some restored neuroplasticity and enhanced remyelation of contralateral white matter. All four groups subsequently underwent functional testing for locomotor recovery.

"Rats in the full combination group attained well-coordinated plantar stepping accompanied by improved ankle positioning and toe clearance and reduced paw placement errors," explained Dr. Kim. "Furthermore, animals with the full complement of combination strategies responded to transcranial magnetic stimulation."

The researchers concluded that, given their success, similar treatment for humans should be carried out in a chronic injury setting.

"We believe that our results have important clinical implications regarding the future design of NSC-based therapeutic strategies for human victims of traumatic spinal cord injury," concluded Dr. Kim and co-authors.

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Neural stem cell transplants for spinal cord injury maximized by combined, complimentary therapies

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., April 17, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --ETEX Corporation, an advanced biomaterials company, today announced two presentations at the upcoming Global Technology Community 8th Stem Cell Summit, April 19-20, 2012 at the Hyatt Harborside Hotel in Boston, MA. ETEX will highlight their cell carrier development program in two concurrent tracks: Stem Cell Commercialization & Partnering as well as Stem Cell Research & Regenerative Medicine.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20080424/NETH117LOGO )

Brian Ennis, President and CEO of ETEX Corporation, will deliver an oral presentation entitled "Orthobiologic Market Dynamics, Vision of the Future" during the Stem Cell Commercialization & Partnering session. Mr. Ennis will highlight key elements of a product lifecycle / replacement technology business model, outlining a new approach to skeletal repair and orthopedic innovation. This approach incorporates the combination of biomaterials and hardware, localized bone treatment with systemic therapy and stem cell delivery.

Dr. David Kaplan, Tufts University and Dr. Jerry Chang, ETEX Corporation scientific team will showcase recent advancements in their Stem Cell Carrier program during the Stem Cell Research & Regenerative Medicine session. The poster & power point presentation is entitled "Calcium Phosphate Combination Biomaterials as Human Mesenchymal Stem Cell (hMSC) Delivery Vehicles for Bone Repair".

Brian Ennis comments, "As a pioneer in growth factor and cell delivery technology, ETEX is excited to participate in this important event. We believe a cell carrier/scaffold is a grossly underestimated critical element for the successful execution of cell therapy in skeletal repair and soft tissue regeneration."

Questions regarding ETEX's participation may be directed to Jerry Chang, PhD., jchang@etexcorp.com or 617-577-7270.

About ETEX Corporation Established in 1989, ETEX Corporation develops, manufactures and commercializes calcium phosphate-based biomaterials for improved orthopedic clinical outcomes. A leader in bioresorbable bone substitute materials, ETEX focuses on expanding applications through combinations with cells, biologics, or therapeutic agents delivered in minimally invasive and easy to use systems. For more information, visit http://www.etexcorp.com.

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ETEX Corporation to Present at GTC Stem Cell Summit

California's $3 billion stem cell agency, now more than 7 years old, has joined research partnerships with science and health agencies in eight foreign countries, the San Francisco institute announced.

The agreements call for collaboration in efforts aimed at speeding stem cell research from the laboratory to the hospital, where researchers hope that basic human cells will be programmed to treat scores of human degenerative diseases.

Research partnerships between American and foreign stem cell scientists are encouraged, but the California institute's funds would only be spent within the state, institute officials said.

Alan Trounson, president of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, signed agreements with stem cell funding agencies in Brazil and Argentina last week, he said Thursday.

"Both Brazil and Argentina have strong and robust stem cell research communities in basic science and transitional clinical science, which should create exciting synergies with many scientists in California," Trounson said in a statement.

He has signed similar pacts with stem cell agencies in Canada, Britain, France, Spain, Australia, Japan, China and Indiana.

The California institute was created in 2004 after Proposition 71, a $3 billion bond issue, was approved by California voters at a time when use of federal funds was barred for research into the promising field of embryonic stem cells.

So far the state agency has committed $1.2 billion to scientists and training centers at 56 California institutions, and the rest of the bond money should last until 2020, a spokesman said.

This article appeared on page C - 9 of the SanFranciscoChronicle

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Stem cell institute to work with foreign agencies

Left, Michigan State University's Beaumont Tower; Right, the Michigan Union on the campus of the University of Michigan. / Courtesy MSU & JARRAD HENDERSON/Detroit Free Press

(Detroit Free Press)- Republican members of the Michigan House higher education committee flexed their muscles Friday, passing a budget recommendation that would strip state aid from Michigan's two most prominent universities over disagreements on stem cell research and mandatory student health insurance.

The Republicans have been feuding with both the University of Michigan and Michigan State University in the past year over the two social issues and has threatened to pull state aid over it.

But neither MSU or U-M blinked at the move.

"We believe there are elements in this proposal that are intended to be punitive in nature and that it would force us to raise tuition more than anticipated," said Heather Swain, MSU's vice president for university relations.

This budget recommendation, which would still have to be passed by the full committee, the full House, the Senate and eventually signed by the governor, would make good on the previous threats.

At risk is U-M's and MSU's share of nearly $40 million in performance funding, which, under the House plan, would be doled out to those universities meeting a number of criteria.

"We are, of course, disappointed that the House higher-education budget proposal restricts funding for U-M over the way the university reported its stem cell research," said U-M spokesman Rick Fitzgerald in a written statement. "The university provided a detailed report on the breadth and depth of this critical research being done on our campus. But in the weeks and months ahead we'll be focused on getting the best possible outcome for the University of Michigan."

The GOP legislators are mad at MSU because of a provision passed this year that mandates all incoming students have health insurance. If students don't certify with the university they have health insurance, they are automatically enrolled in a university-picked plan and the cost added to a student's bill.

The same legislators are upset with U-M over reporting on stem cells. In this year's state aid budget, legislators mandated that universities report on several aspects of universities embroyonic stem cell research. The only university that would have had to report that this school year would have been U-M.

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Panel seeks funding cut over stem cell research, health insurance

Republican members of the Michigan House higher education committee flexed their muscles Friday, passing a budget recommendation that would strip state aid from Michigans two most prominent universities over disagreements on stem cell research and mandatory student health insurance.

The Republicans have been feuding with both the University of Michigan and Michigan State University in the past year over the two social issues and has threatened to pull state aid over it.

But neither MSU or U-M blinked at the move.

We believe there are elements in this proposal that are intended to be punitive in nature and that it would force us to raise tuition more than anticipated, said Heather Swain, MSUs vice president for university relations.

This budget recommendation, which would still have to be passed by the full committee, the full House, the Senate and eventually signed by the governor, would make good on the previous threats.

At risk is U-Ms and MSUs share of nearly $40 million in performance funding, which, under the House plan, would be doled out to those universities meeting a number of criteria.

We are, of course, disappointed that the House higher-education budget proposal restricts funding for U-M over the way the university reported its stem cell research, said U-M spokesman Rick Fitzgerald in a written statement. The university provided a detailed report on the breadth and depth of this critical research being done on our campus. But in the weeks and months ahead well be focused on getting the best possible outcome for the University of Michigan.

The GOP legislators are mad at MSU because of a provision passed this year that mandates all incoming students have health insurance. If students dont certify with the university they have health insurance, they are automatically enrolled in a university-picked plan and the cost added to a students bill.

The same legislators are upset with U-M over reporting on stem cells. In this years state aid budget, legislators mandated that universities report on several aspects of universities embroyonic stem cell research. The only university that would have had to report that this school year would have been U-M.

U-M sent in what legislators called more than 50 pages of news releases about its stem cell research. Legislators said the numbers they wanted werent included. That led to a testy exchange earlier this month between GOP lawmakers and U-M President Mary Sue Coleman.

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Stem cell, health insurance stances may cost U-M, MSU state aid

Featured Article Academic Journal Main Category: Muscular Dystrophy / ALS Also Included In: Neurology / Neuroscience;Stem Cell Research Article Date: 29 Mar 2012 - 4:00 PDT

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An international team led by the UK's University of Edinburgh and King's College London, and Columbia University in New York, has for the first time made living human motor neurones that feature key properties of MND/ALS. They made the diseased nerve cells using stem cells derived from adult skin.

Having such a laboratory model of a disease to hand vastly improves the speed with which potential new drugs can be screened, and helps expand understanding of the disease.

Programme leader Dr Siddharthan Chandran, Professor of Neurology at the University of Edinburgh, and colleagues, write about this key milestone in the 26 March online, ahead of print, issue of PNAS.

Chandran said in a statement:

"Using patient stem cells to model MND in a dish offers untold possibilities for how we study the cause of this terrible disease as well as accelerating drug discovery by providing a cost effective way to test many thousands of potential treatments."

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Motor Neurone Disease Sees Stem Cell Breakthrough

The Catholic Church has never had a particularly easy relationship with science. After all, this is the institution that sentenced Galileo Galilei as a heretic for his theories on the universe during the Roman Inquisition. Two thousand years later, the church forgave Galileo and called the whole misunderstanding a tragic mutual incomprehension but it remains safe to say the Vatican doesnt have a great track record when it comes to empirical open-mindedness.

So onlookers were surprised when the Vatican announced it would be hosting a global conference on the highly controversial issue of stem-cell research in Rome over four days in late April. The church held a similar conference in 2010 and 2011, which focused on its recommendation that stem-cell research should be limited to adult cells that can be harvested from live donors, not embryonic cells that destroy the source. But this years conference schedule featured some of the worlds foremost experts in embryonic research as keynote speakersleading some scientists to think that the Vatican might actually be looking for enlightenment on the topic.

That was not exactly case. Instead, the Vatican seems to have hoped that by including embryonic researchers in the program, it would appear that these scientists actually endorsed the Vaticans stance.

It might have worked to some extent, but after some of the speakers declined to censor their speeches, the Vatican abruptly canceled the conference altogether. According to the conference website, the event was canceled due to serious economic and logistic-organizational reasons that have completely jeopardized the success of the 3rd International Congress on Responsible Stem Cell Research. The scientists who were planning to attend say they are being stifled instead. I think the only interpretation is that we are being censored, Alan Trounson, president of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine in San Francisco, said in a statement. It is very disappointing that they are unwilling to hear the truth.

Just what was the Vatican thinking? Inviting embryonic stem-cell researchers to a conference and then denying them the right to talk about their field of expertise was a major gamble. Had the speakers agreed to avoid reference to embryonic research, it would have given the disingenuous impression that they endorse the Holy Sees recommendation on adult stem-cell research only. Did the Vatican really think they could control the scientific community? Apparently so. Father Scott Borgman of the Pontifical Academy for Life, which co-organized the conference, had reportedly asked the speakers to limit their discussions to adult stem-cell research only. George Daly, a leading embryonic researcher with the Childrens Hospital in Boston, says he was actually told not to make embryonic researchhis field of expertisea focal point of his talk. When he told Borgman that he would still be touching on the topic in a historical context, higher-ups in the Vatican reportedly panicked. I had been encouraged to think that the Congress would be a forum for discussion of many areas of common interest to the Vatican and stem cell scientists, regardless of the disagreements over embryonic stem cells, Daly told The Daily Beast. We should all agree that clinical trials of new medical treatments based on stem cells should proceed according to rigorous principles to ensure patients are kept as safe as possible and free from exploitation. And we should all agree that premature claims of therapeutic efficacy and direct marketing of unproven interventions to vulnerable patients is a threat to legitimate attempts to develop experimental stem cell medicines.

Pope Benedict looks on during the mass in solemnity of the chair of St. Peter with new Cardinals in St. Peter's basilica at the Vatican on February 19, 2012. The Vatican stands by its decision to cancel the controversial conference as having a purely business motive. , Alberto Pizzoli, AFP / Getty Images

With the cancelation of the event, discourse between the two diverse entities will not have a venue. One Vatican official told the Catholic News Service that many of the Vaticans leaders were secretly glad the conference failed. I am infinitely relieved that the church has avoided a major blunder which would have confused the faithful for decades to come, the unnamed source said. The Holy Spirit has certainly shown to be present through those faithful members who drew attention to the ambiguity of the choice of speakers. I hope and pray that a review will be affected of the basis on which these congresses are planned.

Some stem-cell researchers are also relieved the conference wont go on. I personally am very uncomfortable with a scientific meeting run by a church, and one at which only certain types of science and scientists are allowed to attend, blogged Paul Knoepfler, an associate professor of Cell Biology and Human Anatomy at UC Davis School of Medicine who blogs about stem cell research at IPCell.com. Also I cant help but wonder, what would be the reaction if someone like Daley spent a few minutes of his talk discussing his embryonic cell research in a very nonconfrontational way? Would he be tasered or drop through some trap door straight to Hell?

Still, Knoepfler was hopeful. I view the canceled Vatican stem-cell meeting as a missed opportunity for a very much needed, open dialogue about stem cells, he told The Daily Beast. More specifically, I believe the reasons for the cancellation reflect an anti-scientific attitude by the highest level of Vatican leaders. More simply put, the attitude might be summed up by the phrase If you do not think like us, you are not welcome at our meeting, and well go so far as to cancel the whole thing to avoid your presence.

Inviting embryonic stem-cell researchers to a conference and then denying them the right to talk about their field of expertise was a major gamble.

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Vatican’s Stem-Cell Censorship Sham

Featured Article Academic Journal Main Category: Cancer / Oncology Also Included In: Immune System / Vaccines;Stem Cell Research Article Date: 28 Mar 2012 - 2:00 PDT

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Senior author Dr Irving Weissman, professor of pathology at Stanford, and colleagues, write about their success in treating bladder, brain, breast, colon, liver, ovarian, and prostate cancer tumors in this week's online ahead of print issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

They say the antibody blocks a protein known as CD47, that sends "don't eat me" signals that cancer cells use to stop macrophages and other cells of the immune system from gobbling them up.

Anti-CD47 is the first antibody treatment to work against a variety of human solid tumors. The investigators said they are now eager to get started with phase 1 and phase 2 clinical trials in humans within the next two years.

The treatment also significantly reduced the ability of the tumors to spread (metastasize) to other parts of the mice's bodies, and in some cases, the animals appeared to be "cured".

Weissman, who directs the Institute of Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine and the Ludwig Center for Cancer Stem Cell Research and Medicine, both at Stanford, told the press their findings show "conclusively" that CD47 is a "a legitimate and promising target for human cancer therapy":

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Antibody Shrinks Tumors Of Seven Cancers

ScienceDaily (Mar. 26, 2012) A breakthrough using cutting-edge stem cell research could speed up the discovery of new treatments for motor neuron disease (MND).

The international research team has created motor neurons using skin cells from a patient with an inherited form of MND.

Role of protein

Using patient stem cells to model MND in a dish offers untold possibilities for how we study the cause of this terrible disease as well as accelerating drug discovery by providing a cost-effective way to test many thousands of potential treatments said Professor Siddharthan Chandran, Director of the University's Euan MacDonald Centre for MND Research.

The study discovered that abnormalities of a protein called TDP-43, implicated in more than 90 per cent of cases of MND, resulted in the death of motor neuron cells.

This is the first time that scientists have been able to see the direct effect of abnormal TDP-43 on human motor neurons.

The study, led by the University of Edinburgh's Euan MacDonald Centre for Motor Neuron Disease Research, was carried out in partnership with King's College London, Columbia University, New York and the University of San Francisco.

Motor neuron disease

MND is a devastating, untreatable and ultimately fatal condition that results from progressive loss of the motor nerves -- motor neurons -- that control movement, speech and breathing.

The study, funded by the MND Association, is published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

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Stem cell study aids quest for motor neuron disease therapies

By Carolyn Y. Johnson, Globe Staff

An international stem cell conference scheduled to take place next month at the Vatican has been cancelled, and the Catholic News Agency has reported that the choice of speakers, which included a prominent Boston embryonic stem cell researcher, was a factor.

Dr. George Q. Daley, a stem cell researcher at Childrens Hospital Boston, was scheduled to give the opening lecture at the Third International Congress on Responsible Stem Cell Research. Daley said in an interview that he received a brief e-mail late last week announcing that the conference had been cancelled and that an explanation would follow shortly.

Unnamed sources told the Catholic News Agency that the event, as planned, would have presented an unacceptably ambivalent stance on embryonic stem cell research. The Catholic Church opposes human embyronic stem cell research because it requires the destruction of embryos.

One unnamed member of the Pontifical Academy for Life told the news agency: The news of the cancellation of the Congress is an enormous relief to many members of the Pontifical Academy for Life, who felt that the presence on its program of so many speakers, including the keynote speaker, committed to embryonic stem cell research, was a betrayal of the mission of the Academy and a public scandal.

The official reason for the cancellation of the conference is given on the website:

Due to serious economic and logistic-organizational reasons that have completely jeopardized the success of the 3rd International Congress on Responsible Stem Cell Research, the Organizers have decided to cancel the event, the website states.

In the preliminary program, the four-day meetings purpose is described as a focus on the clinical use of stem cells, with emphasis on the ethical aspects of their applications.

Daley said that the cancellation of the meeting is very disappointing. He said he had not been prohibited from speaking about embryonic stem cell research, but had been asked not to focus on that research in his talk. He said he had been planning to talk about embryonic stem cells in the context of the history of stem cell research and had been looking forward to the meeting.

I think there are a lot of issues on which even opponents of embyronic stem cell research can agree upon, which is important -- probably most critically in the importance of establishing stem cell medicines on a very rigorous basis of rigorous clinical trials, Daley said. Were all trying to fight aginst this premature marketing of unproven interventions to patients.

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Vatican stem cell conference cancelled partly over keynote speaker George Daley from Boston