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Category Archives: Stem Cell Treatments
Stanford researcher identifies unusual 'altruistic' stem cell behavior with possible link to cancer
Posted: June 12, 2012 at 11:14 am
Public release date: 11-Jun-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Krista Conger kristac@stanford.edu 650-725-5371 Stanford University Medical Center
STANFORD, Calif. When most groups of mammalian cells are faced with a shortage of nutrients or oxygen, the phrase "every man for himself" is more apt than "all for one, one for all." Unlike colonies of bacteria, which often cooperate to thrive as a group, mammalian cells have never been observed to help one another out. But a new study led by a researcher at the Stanford University School of Medicine has shown that certain human embryonic stem cells, in times of stress, produce molecules that not only benefit themselves, but also help nearby cells survive.
"Altruism has been reported among bacterial populations and among humans and other animals, like monkeys and elephants," said Stanford postdoctoral scholar Bikul Das, MBBS, PhD. "But in mammalian cells at the cellular level the idea of altruism has never been described before." Das is the lead author of a paper, to be published online June 11 in Stem Cells, documenting altruistic behavior by human embryonic stem cells, or hESCs.
While altruism is generally thought of as a virtue, it can have a downside for hESCs: The altruistic cells appear to be more prone to accumulating mutations, a sign that they could lead to cancers. A better understanding of hESC altruism could provide new insights into cancer therapies, as well as improving scientists' ability to develop safe and effective stem cell treatments for other diseases.
The finding arose from Das' research into how hESCs react to low-oxygen environments, important because many cancerous tumors are low in oxygen. Embryonic stem cells have the capability to develop into many different cell types through a process called differentiation. Das found that when hESCs were placed for 24 hours in an environment with only one-tenth of a percent of oxygen (the air we breathe, by comparison, is almost 21 percent oxygen), free-radical molecules were generated that began causing internal damage in some cells. Ninety percent of the hESCs differentiated into other cell types or died, with only 10 percent maintaining their so-called "stemness," meaning they retained their ability to develop into any type of cell.
Das wanted to know what set these more hearty cells apart and so began sorting them based on what molecules they contained.
Das and his colleagues discovered that of the embryonic stem cells that had survived the oxygen deprivation, half had high levels of HIF2-alpha (a protein that turns up the production of antioxidant molecules) and low levels of p53 (a protein that normally encourages cells to die when they have too much DNA damage). These levels of HIF2-alpha and p53 are enough, Das showed, to keep the cells from differentiating by turning off cellular pathways typically involved in the process.
But the other half of the stem cells that had kept their "stemness" had relatively normal levels of HIF2-alpha and p53, he and his colleagues report in their paper. There was no clear explanation as to how they would remain undifferentiated without the help of high HIF2-alpha and low p53 unless the other cells were helping them out.
"When I saw this data, I began to suspect that maybe there was altruism going on," said Das.
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Biostem U.S., Corporation Engages Acropolis Agency to Assist in Implementing Its International Marketing Plan
Posted: June 8, 2012 at 8:14 pm
CLEARWATER, FL--(Marketwire -06/08/12)- Biostem U.S., Corporation, (HAIR) (HAIR) (Biostem, the Company), a fully reporting public company in the stem cell regenerative medicine sciences sector, today reported that it has engaged Acropolis Inc. http://www.acropolisinc.com, a full-service advertising agency located in Orlando, Florida, to lend their expertise in brand building, marketing, and advertising development and placement.
Biostem Chief Executive Officer Dwight Brunoehler stated, "After several months of interviewing prospective agencies, we have come to the conclusion that Acropolis is the one to assist us in executing our plans. Their notable work in multiple media areas is impressive, to say the least. Their client list including The University of Florida, Arby's Restaurants, and the City of Orlando, speaks for itself."
Acropolis Principal, Scott Major, said, "This is a great fit for Acropolis. Our entire team loves the Biostem business approach in the incredible field of regenerative medicine. The hair re-growth field in which we will be marketing the Biostem technology is enormous. We are pleased to be a part of Biostem's expansion."
About Biostem U.S. CorporationBiostem U.S., Corporation is a fully reporting Nevada corporation with offices in Clearwater, Florida. Biostem is a technology licensing company with proprietary technology centered on providing hair re-growth using human stem cells. The company also intends to train and license selected physicians to provide Regenerative Cellular Therapy treatments to assist the body's natural approach to healing tendons, ligaments, joints and muscle injuries by using the patient's own stem cells. Biostem U.S., Corporation is seeking to expand its operations worldwide through licensing of its proprietary technology and acquisition of existing stem cell related facilities. The company's goal is to operate in the international biotech market, focusing on the rapidly growing regenerative medicine field, using ethically sourced adult stem cells to improve the quality and longevity of life for all mankind.
For further information, contact Fox Communications Group at 310-974-6821, or view the Biostem website at http://www.biostemus.com.
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Biostem U.S., Corporation Engages Acropolis Agency to Assist in Implementing Its International Marketing Plan
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Stem cell therapy offers new treatment options for pets — and humans
Posted: June 8, 2012 at 8:14 pm
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Stem cell therapy offers new treatment options for pets -- and humans
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Bio-Matrix Scientific Group's Regen BioPharma Subsidiary Executes Option Agreement to License Stem Cell Intellectual …
Posted: June 7, 2012 at 11:18 pm
SAN DIEGO, CA--(Marketwire -06/07/12)- Bio-Matrix Scientific Group, Inc. (BMSN) (BMSN) announced today that its wholly owned subsidiary Regen BioPharma, Inc. has executed an exclusive option agreement which grants Regen BioPharma an option to license Patent #6,821,513 which patents methods of stimulating blood production in patients with deficient stem cells. The patent, as well as data licensed with the patent, covers methods of stimulating the bone marrow to generate new blood cells. The patent and option agreement are disclosed in the Company's most recent 8K filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission on June 6, 2012.
"The technology has broad applicability to help cancer patients recover faster following chemotherapy, as well as for recipients of bone marrow and cord blood transplants. Currently, new blood cell production is stimulated by expensive drugs such as Neupogen and Neulasta which replicate the body's growth factors but can cause side effects and rely upon the diminished recuperative powers of an immune compromised patient," stated J. Christopher Mizer, President of Regen BioPharma.
David Koos, Chairman & CEO of Bio-Matrix Scientific Group, added, "We are excited to get this therapy into the clinic. Based on peer-reviewed published animal data, it has the potential to restore immune function faster and more effectively than the existing standard of care."
The licensed technology covers the use of a naturally-occurring cell type for stimulation of bone marrow stem cells. By utilizing cells as opposed to drugs, Regen BioPharma believes it possesses a substantial advantage to existing approaches in terms of safety and economics of production. Currently the market for growth factors that stimulate blood making stem cells is more than $4.84 billion per year (www.wikinvest.com/stock/Amgen).
About Bio-Matrix Scientific Group Inc. and Regen BioPharma, Inc.:Bio-Matrix Scientific Group, Inc. (BMSN) (BMSN) is a biotechnology company focused on the development of regenerative medicine therapies and tools. The Company is focused on human therapies that address unmet medical needs. Specifically, Bio-Matrix Scientific Group Inc. is looking to increase the quality of life through therapies involving stem cell treatments. These treatments are focused in areas relating to cardiovascular, hematology, oncology and other indications.
Through Its wholly owned subsidiary, Regen BioPharma, it is the Company's goal to develop translational medicine platforms for the rapid commercialization of stem cell therapies. The Company is looking to use these translational medicine platforms to advance intellectual property licensed from entities, institutions and universities that show promise towards fulfilling the Company's goal of increased quality of life.
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This news release may contain forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are inherently subject to risks and uncertainties, some of which cannot be predicted or quantified. Future events and actual results could differ materially from those set forth in, contemplated by, or underlying the forward-looking statements. The risks and uncertainties to which forward-looking statements are subject include, but are not limited to, the effect of government regulation, competition and other material risks.
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Bio-Matrix Scientific Group's Regen BioPharma Subsidiary Executes Option Agreement to License Stem Cell Intellectual ...
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Ontario, Canada’s McMaster University Researchers Discover Drug Destroys Human Cancer Stem Cells but Not Healthy Ones
Posted: June 7, 2012 at 11:12 am
HAMILTON, Ontario--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
A team of scientists at McMaster University in Ontario, Canada have discovered a drug, thioridazine, successfully kills cancer stem cells in the human while avoiding the toxic side-effects of conventional cancer treatments.
"The unusual aspect of our finding is the way this human-ready drug actually kills cancer stem cells; by changing them into cells that are non-cancerous," said Mick Bhatia, the principal investigator for the study and scientific director of McMaster's Stem Cell and Cancer Research Institute (SCC-RI) in the Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine.
Unlike chemotherapy and radiation, thioridazine appears to have no effect on normal stem cells.
The research, published in the science journal CELL, holds the promise of a new strategy and discovery pipeline for the development of anticancer drugs in the treatment of various cancers. The research team has identified another dozen drugs that have good potential for the same response.
For 15 years, some researchers have believed stem cells are the source of many cancers. In 1997, Canadian researchers first identified cancer stem cells in certain types of leukemia. Cancer stem cells have since been identified in blood, breast, brain, lung, gastrointestinal, prostate and ovarian cancer.
To test more than a dozen different compounds, McMaster researchers pioneered a fully automated robotic system to identify several drugs, including thioridazine.
"Now we can test thousands of compounds, eventually defining a candidate drug that has little effect on normal stem cells but kills the cells that start the tumor," said Bhatia.
The next step is to test thioridazine in clinical trials, focusing on patients with acute myeloid leukemia whose disease has relapsed after chemotherapy. Bhatia wants to find out if the drug can put their cancer into remission, and by targeting the root of the cancer (cancer stem cells) prevent the cancer from coming back. Researchers at McMaster have already designed how these trials would be done.
Bhatia's team found thioridazine works through the dopamine receptor on the surface of the cancer cells in both leukemia and breast cancer patients. This means it may be possible to use it as a biomarker that would allow early detection and treatment of breast cancer and early signs of leukemia progression, he said. The research team's next step is to investigate the effectiveness of the drug in other types of cancer. In addition, the team will explore several drugs identified along with thioridazine. In the future, thousands of other compounds will be analyzed with McMaster robotic stem cell screening system in partnership with collaborations that include academic groups as well as industry.
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Ontario, Canada’s McMaster University Researchers Discover Drug Destroys Human Cancer Stem Cells but Not Healthy Ones
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Stem Cells Behind Clogged Arteries
Posted: June 7, 2012 at 11:12 am
University of Georgia stem cell researcher Steve Stice shows stem cells from a tank in his lab in Athens, Ga.
WEDNESDAY, June 6 (HealthDay News) -- A previously unknown type of stem cell is the culprit behind blocked blood vessels that can lead to heart attack and stroke, new research in mice suggests.
It's long been believed that smooth muscle cells within blood vessel walls combined with cholesterol and fat to clog arteries. But in research with mice, a team at the University of California, Berkeley found that's not the case.
[Read: Stem Call Study Shows Promising Results Against Heart Failure.]
Using genetic tracing, the investigators determined that a type of stem cell called a multipotent vascular stem cell is to blame and said it should be the focus in the search for new treatments.
"For the first time, we are showing evidence that vascular diseases are actually a kind of stem cell disease," principal investigator Song Li, a professor of bioengineering and a researcher at the Berkeley Stem Cell Center, said in a university news release. "This work should revolutionize therapies for vascular diseases because we now know that stem cells rather than smooth muscle cells are the correct therapeutic target."
The study was published June 6 in the journal Nature Communications.
"This is groundbreaking and provocative work, as it challenges existing dogma," said Dr. Deepak Srivastava, director of the Gladstone Institute of Cardiovascular Disease at UC San Francisco, who provided some of the mouse vascular tissues used in the study.
[Read:Improved Stem Cell Line May Avoid Cancer Risk.]
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Stem Cells Behind Clogged Arteries
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Cellular Dynamics Launches MyCell™ Services
Posted: June 7, 2012 at 11:12 am
MADISON, Wis., June 7, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --Cellular Dynamics International, Inc. (CDI), the world's largest commercial producer of human induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cell lines and tissue cells, today announced the launch of its MyCell Services. These services include novel iPS cell line reprogramming, genetic engineering and differentiation of iPS cells into commercially available iCell terminal tissue cells (for example, heart or nerve cells).
"CDI's mission is to be the top developer and manufacturer of standardized human cells in high quantity, quality and purity and to make these cells widely available to the research community. Our MyCell Services provide researchers with unprecedented access to the full diversity of human cellular biology," said Bob Palay, CDI Chief Executive Officer. "The launch of MyCell Services furthers CDI founder and stem cell pioneer Jamie Thomson's vision to enable scientists worldwide to easily access the power of iPSC technology, thus driving breakthroughs in human health."
Over the past 2 years, CDI has launched iCell Cardiomyocytes, iCell Neurons and iCell Endothelial Cells for human biology and drug discovery research. MyCell Services leverage CDI's prior investment in building an industrial manufacturing platform that can handle the parallel production of multiple iPSC lines and tissue cells, manufacturing billions of cells daily.
Chris Parker, CDI Chief Commercial Officer, commented, "Not all studies requiring human cells can be accomplished by using cells from a limited set of normal, healthy donors. Researchers may need iPS cells or tissue cells derived from specific ethnic or disease populations, and MyCell Services enable them to take advantage of our deep stem cell expertise and robust industrial manufacturing pipeline to do so. Previously, scientists had to create and differentiate iPS cells themselves. Such activities consume significant laboratory time and resources, both of which could be better applied to conducting experiments that help us better understand human biology. CDI's MyCell Services enable scientists to re-direct those resources back to their experiments."
CDI pioneered the technique to create iPS cells from small amounts of peripheral blood, although iPS cells can be created from other tissue types as well. Additionally, CDI's episomal reprogramming method is "footprint-free," meaning no foreign DNA is integrated into the genome of the reprogrammed cells, alleviating safety concerns over the possible use of iPS cells in therapeutic settings. These techniques have been optimized for manufacture of over 2 billion human iPS cells a day, and differentiated cells at commercial scale with high quality and purity to match the research needs.
Modeling Genetic Diversity
CDI has several projects already underway using MyCell Services to model genetic diversity of human biology. The Medical College of Wisconsin and CDI received a $6.3M research grant from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), announced July 2011, for which CDI's MyCell Services will reprogram an unprecedented 250 iPS cell lines from blood samples collected from Caucasian and African-American families in the Hypertension Genetic Epidemiology Network (HyperGEN) study. In addition, MyCell Services will differentiate these iPS cells into heart cells to investigate the genetic mechanisms underlying Left Ventricular Hypertrophy, an increase of the size and weight of the heart that is a major risk factor for heart disease and heart failure.
Researchers are also using CDI's MyCell Services to generate iPS cells and liver cells from individuals with drug induced liver injury (DILI), toward an eventual goal of identifying genetic factors linked to idiosyncratic liver toxicity. "The most problematic adverse drug event is sudden and severe liver toxicity that may occur in less than one in one thousand patients treated with a new drug, and thus may not become evident until the drug is marketed. This type of liver toxicity is not predicted well by usual preclinical testing, including screening in liver cultures derived from random human donors," said Paul B. Watkins, M.D., director of with The Hamner - University of North Carolina Institute for Drug Safety Sciences. "The ability to use iPS cell technology to prepare liver cultures from patients who have actually experienced drug-induced liver injury, and for whom we have extensive genetic information, represents a potential revolution in understanding and predicting this liability."
Screening Human Disease
While most diseases are multi-systemic, focus typically centers on only one organ system. For example, congenital muscular dystrophy (CMD) is a group of rare genetic diseases with a focus on skeletal muscle, yet other systems, including heart, eye, brain, diaphragm and skin, can be involved. Understanding the molecular mechanisms underlying complex disease phenotypes requires access to multiple tissue types from a single patient. While some systems are readily accessible for taking a biopsy sample, for example skin, other organs are not.
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Stem Cells Harden Arteries In Mice, Prompting New Theory On The Cause Of Cardiovascular Disease
Posted: June 7, 2012 at 11:12 am
In a finding that could open up a new realm of treatments for cardiovascular disease, UC Berkeley scientists say they've found that hardened arteries are actually caused by rogue stem cells in blood vessels that start multiplying after blood vessel walls are damaged, not by rogue muscle cells as previously suspected.
"For the first time, we are showing evidence that vascular diseases are actually a kind of stem cell disease," UC Berkeley bioengineering professor Song Li, senior author of a paper documenting the discovery that appeared Wednesday in the journal Nature Communications, said in a statement Wednesday.
The researchers examined cells from mouse blood vessels and found that the ones that proliferated after vascular injury couldn't be traced back to smooth muscle cells, which are commonly thought to be the culprits behind clogged arteries (in combination with cholesterol and fat).
"We did further tests and detected proteins and transcriptional factors that are only found in stem cells. No one knew that these cells existed in the blood vessel walls, because no one looked for them before," co-author Aijun Wang said in a statement.
The team is calling the newly identified stem cell type multipotent vascular stem cells. Their ability to differentiate into a variety of cell types, including bone and cartilage, could explain how blood vessels become hardened and brittle in the later stages of cardiovascular disease, according to Li.
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In further experiments, the scientists confirmed that human blood vessels contain multipotent vascular stem cells after isolating them from arteries and coaxing them to develop into several different cell types.
Artery-blocking plaque forms as part of the body's natural immune response to blood vessel damage caused by low-density lipoprotein,also known as "bad" cholesterol. Researchers used to think that smooth muscle cells along the blood vessel walls helped form plaque by de-differentiating into a stem cell-like state, but Li and his team were suspicious because this process had never been directly documented in experiments.
Li said in an email that the next step is to establish a model for human blood vessel disease that can be used in the lab to screen drug candidates targeting the vascular stem cells.
The team has already applied for a grant from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine to work on their "blood vessel on a chip," Li says.
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Stem Cells Harden Arteries In Mice, Prompting New Theory On The Cause Of Cardiovascular Disease
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Some stem cells can trigger tumors, report scientists
Posted: June 4, 2012 at 11:15 pm
June 4, 2012
Some stem cells can trigger tumors, report scientists
Fischbach lab
Stem cells often used in reconstructive surgery following mastectomies and other cancer-removal treatments may pose a danger: Cornell biomedical scientists have discovered that these cells, in contact with even trace amounts of cancer cells, can create a microenvironment suitable for more tumors to grow.
"It is necessary for us not only to think about what happens with these cells in an otherwise healthy patient, but also, what the fate of stem cells may be in a patient who is prone to disease," said Claudia Fischbach-Teschl, assistant professor of biomedical engineering, who led the research published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, June 4.
The cells the researchers studied are derived from fat and are called adipose-derived stem cells. They are useful for tissue engineering and reconstructive surgery because they are good at taking over healthy tissue function and recruiting new blood vessels to promote healing.
But they might be too good -- that is, the Cornell researchers observed that the presence of cancer cell media -- the soluble material that contains chemicals secreted by tumor cells -- prevents the stem cells from turning into fat cells as would be desired. Instead, they triggered the cells to secrete chemicals known as "factors" that promote blood vessel growth, or angiogenesis, and to develop into myofibroblasts, which are cells known to play a role in tumor development.
These alterations led to a stiffening of the extracellular matrix that surrounds the cells -- the stiffening is a characteristic feature of breast cancer (which is why tumors can be palpated). Myofibroblasts make the surrounding tissue more rigid, and this stiffness triggers more changes in the stem cell behavior that lead to even more tumor-promoting characteristics -- a positive feedback loop.
The researchers observed these changes in in vitro experiments using stem cells and breast cancer cell lines that varied in aggression. First they collected soluble media from tumor cells and observed how the stem cells changed in response. They found that TGF-beta and interleukin-8 are specific tumor-secreted factors that contribute to the stem cells' eventual change in phenotype to myofibroblasts. They confirmed their results with in vivo experiments by injecting stem cells and tumor cells into the mammary glands of mice.
The experimental results are also supported by the fact that obese women are more likely to develop breast cancer. The presence of more adipose tissue means larger numbers of adipose stem cells, and one could hypothesize that the larger stem cell pool could promote tumor-progression processes, Fischbach-Teschl said.
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Biostem U.S., Corporation Presents Scientific and Medical Board of Advisors Publications
Posted: June 2, 2012 at 12:11 pm
CLEARWATER, FL--(Marketwire -06/01/12)- Biostem U.S., Corporation (HAIR) (HAIR) (Biostem, the Company), a fully reporting public company in the stem cell regenerative medicine science sector, has made its Scientific and Medical Board of Advisors publications available on the company website, http://www.biostemus.com.
Chief Executive Officer Dwight Brunoehler stated, "The company is very proud of the many contributions its SAMBA members have made, and continue to make, to the medical community. As their publications and credentials show, this is a very prestigious and influential group. Having worked with them in past projects and now at Biostem, I know them all to be active participants in the development and guidance of the company's objectives. Their diversified areas of expertise and backgrounds are already playing a major role in assisting the company as it moves forward into the expanding field of regenerative medicine."
About Biostem U.S., Corporation Biostem U.S., Corporation is a fully reporting Nevada corporation with offices in Clearwater, Florida. Biostem is a technology licensing company with proprietary technology centered on providing hair re-growth using human stem cells. The company also intends to train and license selected physicians to provide Regenerative Cellular Therapy treatments to assist the body's natural approach to healing tendons, ligaments, joints and muscle injuries by using the patient's own stem cells. Biostem U.S., Corporation is seeking to expand its operations worldwide through licensing of its proprietary technology and acquisition of existing stem cell related facilities. The company's goal is to operate in the international biotech market, focusing on the rapidly growing regenerative medicine field, using ethically sourced adult stem cells to improve the quality and longevity of life for all mankind.
More information on Biostem U.S., Corporation can be obtained through http://www.biostemus.com, or by calling Fox Communications Group 310-974-6821.
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Biostem U.S., Corporation Presents Scientific and Medical Board of Advisors Publications
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