Category Archives: Stem Cells

GOLTRY, Okla. A Goltry-area woman is back on Oklahoma soil after traveling to Milwaukee to give her brother a special birthday present.

Jeni Sumner was the only match among family members tested to donate stem cells to her younger brother, who was diagnosed with acute myelogenous leukemia last year.

Ed Dees cancer went into remission last October but returned earlier this year. Sumner said Dees doctors felt a stem cell transplant would be the best treatment.

Sumner spoke by phone about the events of the past week, as she prepared to return to Oklahoma on Thursday morning.

The transplant began at 2:07 p.m. Tuesday Dees birthday and took about an hour, she said.

We had a little birthday party for him and then he got my present, Sumner said.

Prior to the transplant, Dee went through chemotherapy and had a conditioning treatment, which Sumner said entailed the doctors wiping out his immune system and blood levels.

Sumner had to give herself injections over four days to make her bone marrow produce more stem cells and push them into her blood.

Those went really well, she said.

The stem cell retrieval process was on Monday.

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Special birthday present: Stem cell donor returns to Goltry

(2012-08b) Ron Rothenberg - Inflammation, Hormones, Stem Cells Telomeres
W URL at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h6JOZ6i6MBw Update in Preventive/Regenerative Medicine -- Inflammation, Hormones, Stem Cells and Telomeres- by Ron ...

By: Silicon Valley Health Institute

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(2012-08b) Ron Rothenberg - Inflammation, Hormones, Stem Cells & Telomeres - Video

Professor Alan Clarke Meera Raja: Bowel Cancer Stem Cells
In October 2013 as part of our 70th Birthday celebrations, we held a very special Research conference at the Swalec Stadium in Cardiff. Professor Alan Clarke...

By: Tenovus Charity

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Professor Alan Clarke & Meera Raja: Bowel Cancer Stem Cells - Video

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

19-Jun-2014

Contact: Shaun Mason smason@mednet.ucla.edu 310-206-2805 University of California - Los Angeles

UCLA researchers led by Dr. Brigitte Gomperts have discovered the inner workings of the process thought to be the first stage in the development of lung cancer. Their study explains how factors that regulate the growth of adult stem cells that repair tissue in the lungs can lead to the formation of precancerous lesions.

Findings from the three-year study could eventually lead to new personalized treatments for lung cancer, which is responsible for an estimated 29 percent of U.S. cancer deaths, making it the deadliest form of the disease.

The study was published online on June 19 in the journal Stem Cell. Gomperts, a member of the UCLA Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research and the UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, collaborated with Manash Paul and Bharti Bisht, postdoctoral scholars and co-lead authors of the study.

Adult stem cells in lung airways are present specifically to repair the airways after injury or disease caused by smoking, pollution, viruses or other factors. Gomperts and her team found that this reparative process is tightly regulated by molecules called reactive oxygen species, or ROS.

Recent research has shown that low levels of ROS are important for signaling the stem cells to perform important functions such as repairing tissue damage while high levels of ROS can cause stem cells to die. But the level of ROS needed for repair to be initiated has remained a subject of debate among researchers.

The UCLA study found that the dynamic flux of ROS from low to moderate levels in the airway stem cells is what drives the repair process, and that the increase in ROS levels in the repairing cell is quickly reduced to low levels to prevent excessive cell proliferation.

Gomperts' lab found that disrupting this normal regulation of ROS back to low levels is equivalent to pulling the brakes off of the stem cells: They will continue to make too many of themselves, which causes the cells not to mature and instead become precancerous lesions. Subsequent progressive genetic changes to the cells in these lesions over time can eventually allow cancerous tumors to form.

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Scientists identify link between stem cell regulation and the development of lung cancer

Valencia, Spain (PRWEB) June 24, 2014

Today at Cell Science-2014 in Valencia, Spain, Dr. James L. Sherley, Director of Bostons Adult Stem Cell Technology Center, LLC, announced the issue of another significant patent to the companys growing portfolio of adult tissue stem cell intellectual property. The new patent issued today (U.S. Patent and Trademark Office No. 8,759,098) protects a method for producing induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) with a single non-genetic agent.

Director Sherley made the announcement at the conclusion of his keynote address at the 4th Annual World Congress on Cell Science and Stem Cell Research. After discussing unique aspects of adult stem cells that are often overlooked, he highlighted a proposed connection between adult stem cells and iPSCs that was the basis for the newly patented biotechnology.

iPSCs are currently the subject of intense biological and biomedical research. These artificially produced stem cells provide the research capabilities of human embryonic stem cells (hESCs). But since their production does not involve human embryos, iPSCs do not pose ethical concerns. However, because of their genetic defects and propensity for forming tumors, also like hESCs, it is unlikely that iPSCs will ever be of sufficient quality and safety for use in regenerative medicine therapies.

Despite the problems preventing direct application of iPSCs for medical therapies, their use to develop biological surrogate cells for difficult-to-obtain cells for diseased human tissues for research is unparalleled (e.g., living brain cells from children with autism). For this reason, new technologies, like those represented by the ASCTCs new patent, are important for leading the way to more efficient production of higher quality iPSCs.

Unlike the recently discredited reports of acidic conditions as a single non-genetic agent for producing iPSCs, the ASCTCs technology has a well-established historical record and biological rationale. The method was originally proposed in the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Directors Pioneer Award research of ASCTC Director Sherley, when he was a research professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

The active agent, xanthine, is a naturally occurring normal compound found in the bodys blood and tissues. In earlier ASCTC studies, xanthine was shown active for expanding adult tissue stem cells. Xanthine is a member of a class of compounds called purines that regulate the action of a well-known cancer-protective gene called p53. The p53 gene has also been shown by several laboratories to be an important factor in the efficiency of iPSC cell production.

For the ASCTC technology, xanthine-expanded adult tissue stem cells are placed in commonly used iPSC culture medium supplemented with xanthine as the only additive. The usual introduction of specific genes or their experimental manipulation is not required. The new single-agent technology yields iPSCs at efficiencies similar to methods that require direct genetic manipulation.

The ASCTCs iPSC production technology was described in an earlier issue of the Journal of Biomedicine and Biotechnology (Par, J.-F., and Sherley, J. L. 2011. Culture Environment-Induced Pluripotency of SACK-Expanded Tissue Stem Cells, J. Biomed. Biotechnol. vol. 2011, Article ID 312457, 12 pp., 2011. doi:10.1155/2011/312457). Thus far, the method has only been applied to purine-expanded mouse pancreatic tissue stem cells. It also has not been evaluated for combined effects with other iPSC production methods. Director Sherley notes that, wider evaluation of the new technology will help to establish its range as an advantageous new reagent for producing higher quality iPSCs more efficiently.

************************************************************************************************************* The Adult Stem Cell Technology Center, LLC (ASCTC) is a Massachusetts life sciences company established in September 2013. ASCTC director and founder, James L. Sherley, M.D., Ph.D. is the foremost authority on the unique properties of adult stem cells. The companys patent portfolio contains biotechnologies that solve the two main technical problems production and quantification that have stood in the way of successful commercialization of human adult tissue stem cells for cell medicine and drug development. Currently, ASCTC is employing its technological advantage to pursue commercialization of mass-produced therapeutic human liver cells and facile assays for screening-out drug candidates that are toxic to adult tissue stem cells.

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The Adult Stem Cell Technology Center, LLC Announces Patent for Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells Produced with a Single ...

The discovery of a new therapeutic target for certain kinds of myeloproliferative disease is, without doubt, good news. This is precisely the discovery made by the Stem Cell Physiopathology group at the CNIC (the Spanish National Cardiovascular Research Center), led by Dr. Simn Mndez-Ferrer. The team has shown that the microenvironment that controls hematopoietic stem cells can be targeted for the treatment of a set of disorders called myeloproliferative neoplasias, the most prominent of which are chronic myelomonocytic leukemia (CMML), juvenile myelomonocytic leukemia (JMML), and atypical chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML).

The findings, published today in Nature, demonstrate that these myeloproliferative neoplasias only appear after damage to the microenvironment that sustains and controls the hematopoietic stem cells -- the cells that produce the cells of the blood and the immune system. Protecting this microenvironment, or niche, has thus emerged as a new route for the treatment of these diseases, for which there is currently no fully effective treatment.

"In normal conditions, the microenvironment is able to control the proliferation, differentiation and migration of the hematopoietic stem cell. A specific genetic mutation in these cells results in inflammatory injury to the microenvironment and this control breaks down. What our work shows is that this damage can be prevented or reversed by treatments that target the niche," explained Dr. Mndez-Ferrer.

Indeed, the same team of researchers has demonstrated the efficacy of a possible new treatment, which has been patented through the CNIC. The treatment involves an innovative use of clinically approved treatments for other diseases, so that, according to the authors, "it shouldn't be associated with adverse side effects." The new treatment route has been tested in animals and has received financial backing for a multicenter phase II clinical trial. "This study has a very strong translational and clinical potential," emphasized study first author Dr. Lorena Arranz, who added that "current treatment for myeloproliferative neoplasias is largely symptomatic and directed at preventing thrombosis and fatal cardiovascular events."

The only real cure available today is a bone marrow transplant, which is not advisable in patients over 50 years old. "This makes it important to identify new therapeutic targets for the development of effective treatments," the investigators conclude.

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The above story is based on materials provided by Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Cardiovasculares. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.

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Microenvironment of hematopoietic stem cells can be a target for myeloproliferative disorders

San Francisco, California (PRWEB) June 23, 2014

The global market for stem cells is expected to reach USD 170.15 billion by 2020, according to a new study by Grand View Research, Inc. Growing prevalence of chronic diseases such as cardiovascular and liver disease, diabetes and cancer coupled with the presence of high unmet medical needs in these disease segments is expected to drive market growth during the forecast period. Moreover, increasing government support pertaining to funding R&D initiatives and the growing demand for medical tourism and stem cell banking services is expected to boost the demand for stem cells over the next six years. The future of this market is expected to be driven by opportunities such as the growing global prevalence of neurodegenerative diseases, increasing demand for contract research outsourcing services and the substitution of animal tissues by stem cells.

The stem cells technology market was valued at USD 12.88 billion in 2013 and is expected to grow at a CAGR of over 12.0% during the forecast period. This market was dominated by the cell acquisitions technology segment in terms of share in 2013 owing to the fact that this technology serves as the foremost step to process involving stem cells culture. The global stem cell acquisition technology market is expected to reach USD 10.88 billion by 2020, growing at a CAGR of over 14.0% over the next six years.

The report Stem Cells Market Analysis By Product (Adult Stem Cells, Human Embryonic Cells, Pluripotent Stem Cells), By Application (Regenerative Medicine, Drug Discovery and Development) And Segment Forecasts To 2020, is available now to Grand View Research customers at http://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/stem-cells-market.

Request Free Sample of This Report @ http://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/stem-cells-market/request.

Further key findings from the study suggest:

For the purpose of this study, Grand View Research has segmented the global stem cells market on the basis of product, application, technology and region:

Request Sample of This Report @ http://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/stem-cells-market/request.

About Grand View Research

Grand View Research, Inc. is a market research and consulting company that provides off-the-shelf, customized research reports and consulting services. To help clients make informed business decisions, we offer market intelligence studies ensuring relevant and fact-based research across a range of industries, from technology to chemicals, materials and energy. With a deep-seated understanding of varied business environments, Grand View Research provides strategic objective insights. For more information, visit http://www.grandviewresearch.com/.

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Global Stem Cells Market is Expected to Grow at a CAGR of over 12.0% to 2020 New Market Research Report Published By ...

SOFTWARE used to keep bugs out of Microsoft Windows programs has begun shedding light on one of the big questions in modern science: how stem cells decide what type of tissue to become.

Not only do the results reveal that cellular decision-making is nowhere near as complicated as expected, they also raise hopes that the software could become a key tool in regenerative medicine.

"It is a sign of the convergence between carbon and silicon-based life," says Chris Mason, a regenerative medicine specialist at University College London. "World-class stem cell scientists and a world-class computer company have found common ground. It is work at such interfaces that brings the big breakthroughs."

Stem cells are the putty from which all tissues of the body are made. That means they have the potential to repair damaged tissue and even grow into new organs.

Embryonic stem cells hold particular promise as they can either renew themselves indefinitely or differentiate into any kind of cell in the body a property known as pluripotency.

The process that sets a stem cell on the path to either self-renewal or differentiation was thought to be a highly complex web of genetic and environmental interactions. That web is known as the interactome.

Embryonic stem cells are currently being trialled as a way to restore vision and treat spinal injury. But these trials, and others in the pipeline, are hampered by the fact that no one really knows what determines the fate of any particular stem cell. Today's techniques for making a stem cell differentiate into a certain tissues are hit-and-miss, says Mason.

What's needed is a more deterministic, reliable method, says Sara-Jane Dunn, a computational biologist at Microsoft Research in Cambridge. One approach is to frame the problem in the language of computation. The genetic and environmental cues that determine the cell's fate can be thought of as inputs, with the cell itself as the processor, Dunn says.

Stem cells' capacity to renew themselves is the simplest of the two possible paths out of the pluripotent state. To find the program behind this, Dunn, along with stem cell scientists Graziano Martello at the University of Padua in Italy, and Austin Smith at the University of Cambridge, tried to isolate the genetic and environmental processes at work in mouse embryonic stem cells.

They used a technique pioneered at Smith's lab that uses cultures of various inhibitory proteins to keep embryonic stem cells continually renewing themselves rather than differentiating into other cells. The team immersed the stem cells in four different types of these cultures and analysed which genes they expressed in which environment, and to what extent.

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Windows bug-testing software cracks stem cell programs

Haruko Obokata at the Riken Center for Developmental Biology in Kobe, Japan, claimed to have discovered an easy and straightforward way to reprogramme adult cells to become stem cells.

Soon after publication in "Nature" in January, problems and accusations arose with fellow scientists saying they could not replicate the results. Obokata was accused of having plagiarized passages of text and of having used duplicated images.

The Riken Research Center urged her to retract the papers. Obokata refused - until this week.

No surprise

"Couldn't we see that this news would follow when we first read the news of the discovery?" a reader writes in a forum at German news magazine "Spiegel Online."

Indeed: the results were too good to be true.

Especially where stem cells are concerned, sudden miracles tend to fall flat when they are checked rigorously by peers.

Cloning specialist Hwang Woo-suk fabricated results

The story of South Korean veterinarian Hwang Woo-suk is similar. In 2006 he claimed to have created human embryonic stem cells by cloning, but was later dismissed from Seoul National University when it was revealed that he had faked his results.

And in the field of physics, a German researcher called Jan Hendrik Schn became prominent with his groundbreaking experiments on semiconductors, until 2002 when it turned out his results were a fraud.

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From stem cells to physics fraudulent science results are plenty but hard to find

Stem cells are the future of healthcare for the human race, as we've studied them more we've found out all the different ways that they could be used to take care of many of the problems facing people today, from baldness to Alzheimer's research, they've become the miracle cure that society has wanted to badly for so many years. (christianitytoday) The biggest problem people have had with stem cell treatment is that when it began the primary source of stem cells was via embryonic stem cells, this put the majority of people off the process as they weren't willing to support aborted embryos in order to progress medically. (frc) With the advancement in the process and the ability to generate stem cells from adult tissue the battle over the ethics of using said cells to treat the many illnesses and injuries that have embattled the human race for ages, making it more palatable for those who were once torn over the research. (childrenshospital) As the debate rages on over the benefits and risks of stem cell treatment the benefits keep growing and the negatives seem to be slowly passing by the wayside, as a result using stem cells to take care of our ailments is gaining steam and with any luck it'll change everything for the better. (nih)

One of the most common medical problems that has faced people since the begging of time is dental work, while we've made progress in this field we're still somewhat archaic in it as well, relying on drills and pliers to repair damage that has accrued over time. (acedentalresource) There have been tests in order to regrow teeth and surrounding tissue using stem cells for some time now, with positive results it's seemed that stem cell treatment would be the next step in taking care of our teeth and we would finally get past the need for dentures or implants, although the question is how long that may take. (reuters) Last year the move to regrow teeth saw an advancement through the use of stem cells that were derived from urine, not quite the process people want to envision the process happening but it seemed like the most likely way to avoid painful implants or terrible fitting dentures. (nydailynews) A new evolution seems to be on the horizon now using low level lasers and stem cells to regenerate teeth instead of having to replace them, this is a huge development and as someone with dental concerns myself and a severe phobia of dentists, I'm looking forward to the future on this one. (iflscience)

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Lasers and Stem Cells Regrowing Teeth