Category Archives: Stem Cells

Johns Hopkins #39; Erika Matunis on Stem Cells and Why Science Must Stay Healthy
Stem cell biologist Erika Matunis on why fruit flies are great system for cell biology, stem cells and women. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/institute_basic_...

By: Johns Hopkins Medicine

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Johns Hopkins' Erika Matunis on Stem Cells and Why Science Must Stay Healthy - Video

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

27-May-2014

Contact: Gesine Paul-Visse Gesine.Paul-Visse@med.lu.se 46-462-220-525 Lund University

Two years ago, a new type of stem cell was discovered in the brain that has the capacity to form new cells. The same research group at Lund University in Sweden has now revealed that these stem cells, which are located in the outer blood vessel wall, appear to be involved in the brain reaction following a stroke.

The findings show that the cells, known as pericytes, drop out from the blood vessel, proliferate and migrate to the damaged brain area where they are converted into microglia cells, the brain's inflammatory cells.

Pericytes are known to contribute to tissue repair in a number of organs, and the researchers believe that their reparative properties could also apply to the brain. The study shows for the first time that pericytes are directly involved in the reaction of the brain tissue after stroke.

"Pericytes are a fascinating cell type with many different properties and found at high density in the brain. It was surprising that a pericyte subtype is so strongly activated after a stroke. The fact that pericytes can be converted into microglia, which have an important function in the brain after a stroke, was an unexpected finding that opens up a new possibility to influence inflammation associated with a stroke", said Gesine Paul-Visse, neurologist at Lund University and senior author of the study.

Using a green fluorescent protein bound to the pericytes, the researchers were able to track the cells' path to the damaged part of the brain. The migration takes place within a week after a stroke. When the cells reach the site of damage they are converted into microglia cells, the 'cleaners' of the central nervous system. Inflammation can, however, have both positive reparative effects and negative effects on the damaged tissue. The exact role of microglia cells in the regeneration after a stroke is not entirely clear, but we do know that pericytes play an important role in protecting the brain against disease and injury.

"We now need to elucidate how pericytes affect the brain's recovery following a stroke. Our findings put pericytes in focus as a new target for brain repair and future research will help us understand more about the brain's own defence and repair mechanisms."

There is an urgent need for new drugs that can alleviate the harmful effects of a stroke as current treatment possibilities using thrombolysis are limited to the first hours following a stroke.

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Migrating stem cells possible new focus for stroke treatment

DMD Mauritian Boy Basic Evaluation Pre-Stem Cells
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By: Stem Cell India

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DMD Mauritian Boy Basic Evaluation Pre-Stem Cells - Video

30 Lecture 30 Stem Cells Cloning 2

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30 Lecture 30 Stem Cells Cloning 2 - Video

"Ive felt a big difference. It hasnt cured my knee but its certainly helped it out": Trent Hodkinson. Photo: Getty Images

A $10,000 experimental medical procedure has helped saved the careers of two NSW players.

Stem cells placed into the knees of Trent Hodkinson and Aaron Woods have helped resurrect their careers and has allowed them to leap into the representative arena. They both had severe knee problems which could have forced them into early retirement.Hodkinson had the procedure in 2012, Woods at the end of last season.

Former long-term Wests Tigers doctor Donald Kuah performed the Regeneus HiQ procedure on Woods where a persons own fat tissue via liposuction is injected into an affected joint or tendon.

Grateful: Aaron Woods. Photo: Getty Images

The aim is to accelerate the regeneration of damaged cartilage.Kuah had no doubt Woods would have been forced into premature retirement had the operation failed.He probably mightve had cortisone injections which would last six weeks or so at a time, Kuah said. To be honest, he might be able to do one season and then he probably would have had to retire at the end of that.

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"He started last season strong but as the season went on he wasnt getting the miles in his legs because he couldnt train with the team.Players seem to get symptom relief [from the stem cells operation]. I dont think it cures them as such but it buys them some time and it can reverse some of the damages to their knee.

Kuah described the surgery as experimental. It costs about $10,000 and is not covered by Medicare or private health insurance.

Woods said the surgery had given his life back after battling through the pain last year. Both he and Hodkinson said they could barely walk up stairs and Woods spent a large chunk of time icing and treating the knee after games.My knee would swell up on the outside, thats where I hurt the lateral meniscus, Woods said. I would have to get 50 millilitres of yellow fluid drained from my knee because the knee was in so much stress.Now I have nothing, no pain at all. I couldnt believe it when I started to run pain free.

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Stem cells give new life to Blues pair

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

22-May-2014

Contact: Shawna Williams shawna@jhmi.edu 410-955-8236 Johns Hopkins Medicine

Working with mice, Johns Hopkins researchers report they have identified chemical signals that certain breast cancers use to recruit two types of normal cells needed for the cancers' spread. A description of the findings appears in the online early May edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

"Blocking one of these cell-recruiting signals in a mouse's tumor made it much less likely to metastasize or spread," says Gregg Semenza, M.D., Ph.D., a professor and director of the Vascular Biology Program in the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine's Institute for Cell Engineering. "If a drug can be found that safely blocks the same signal in humans, it could be a very useful addition to current breast cancer treatment particularly for patients with chemotherapy-resistant tumors."

Semenza's research group studies a chemical signal called hypoxia-inducible factor 1 (HIF-1), which cells release to help them cope with low-oxygen conditions. Earlier, the group determined that HIF-1 helps breast tumor cells survive the low-oxygen conditions in which they often live, and spread to other parts of the body such as the lungs. "In breast cancer, it's not the original tumor that kills patients, but the metastases," says Semenza.

Also in a previous study, Semenza's group found that HIF-1 induced adult stem cells called mesenchymal stem cells release a signal to nearby breast cancer cells, which made them more likely to spread. The researchers suspected this communication might run both ways and that the stem cells' presence might also help the cancer to recruit the host animal's white blood cells. Breast cancers need the support of several types of host cells in order to metastasize, including mesenchymal stem cells and one type of white blood cell, Semenza notes.

Studying tumor cells grown in a dish, Semenza's team used chemicals that blocked the functions of various proteins to map a web of signals flying among breast cancer cells, menenchymal stem cells and white blood cells. One positive feedback loop brought mesenchymal stem cells close in to the breast cancer cells. A separate loop of signals between the stem cells and cancer cells caused the cancer cells to release a chemical "beacon" that drew in white blood cells. The concentrations of all the signals in the web were increased by the presence of HIF-1 and ultimately, by low-oxygen conditions.

The team then used genetic engineering to reduce the levels of the cell-recruiting signals in breast cancer cells and implanted those cells into female mice. Compared with unaltered breast cancer cells, those with reduced recruiting power grew into similar-sized tumors, Semenza says, but were much less likely to spread.

All of the breast cancer cells used in the study were so-called triple-negative, meaning they lack receptors for estrogen, progesterone and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2, so they do not respond to therapies that target those receptors. In people, triple-negative breast cancers also tend to be more deadly than other breast cancers because they contain more HIF-1, Semenza says. "This study adds to the evidence that a HIF-1 inhibitor drug could be an effective addition to chemotherapy regimens, especially for triple-negative breast cancers," he says. Several potential drugs of this kind are now in the early stages of development, he notes.

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Signals found that recruit host animals' cells, enabling breast cancer metastasis

San Francisco, California (PRWEB) May 22, 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 in the

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:

Browse All Biotechnology Market Reports @ http://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry/biotechnology

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:

Latest Reports Published By Grand View Research:

Global Polymethyl Methacrylate (PMMA) Market Expected to Reach USD 10.87 Billion by 2020 (https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/polymethyl-methacrylate-pmma-industry)

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Stem Cells Market By Application (Regenerative Medicine), By Technology (Acquisition, Sub-Culture), By Product (Adult ...

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

22-May-2014

Contact: Luise Dirscherl presse@lmu.de 49-892-180-3243 Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitt Mnchen

Slight modifications in their genome sequences play a crucial role in the conversion of pluripotent stem cells into various differentiated cell types. A team at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaet (LMU) in Munich has now identified the factor responsible for one class of modification.

Every cell contains stored hereditary information, encoded in the sequence of nucleobases that make up its DNA. However, in any given cell type, only a fraction of this information is actually used. Which genes are activated and which are turned off is in part determined by a second tier of information which is superimposed on the nucleotide sequences that provide the blueprints for protein synthesis. This so-called epigenetic level of control is based on the localized, and in principle reversible, attachment of simple chemical tags to specific nucleotides in the genome. This system plays a major role in the regulation of gene activity, and enables the selective expression of different functions in differentiated cell types.

This explains why such DNA modifications play a major role in the differentiation of stem cells. "Several unusual nucleobases have been found in the genomes of stem cells, which are produced by targeted chemical modification of the known building blocks of DNA. These 'atypical' bases are thought to be important in determining what types of differentiated cells can be derived from a given stem cell line," says Professor Thomas Carell from the Department of Chemistry at LMU. All of the unconventional bases so far discovered are derived from the same standard base cytosine. Furthermore, Carell and his team have shown in earlier work that so-called Tet enzymes are always involved in their synthesis.

Base oxidation regulates gene activity

In cooperation with colleagues at LMU, as well as researchers based in Berlin, Basel and Utrecht, Carell and his group have now shown, for the first time, that a standard base other than cytosine is also modified in embryonic stem cells of mice. Moreover, Tet is at work here too. "During the development of specialized tissues from stem cells, enzymes belonging to the Tet family also oxidize the thymidine base, as we have now shown with the aid of highly sensitive analytical methods based on mass spectrometry. The product of the reaction, hydroxymethyluracil, was previously and as it now turns out, erroneously thought to be synthesized by a different pathway," Carell explains.

The precise function of hydroxymethyluracil remains unclear. However, using an innovative method for the identification of factors capable of binding to and "reading" the chemical tags that characterize unconventional DNA bases, Carell and colleagues have shown that stem cells contain specific proteins that recognize hydroxymethyluracil, and could therefore contribute to the regulation of gene activity in these cells. "We hope that these new insights will make it possible to modulate the differentiation of stem cells causing them to generate cells of a particular type," says Carell. "It would be wonderful if we were one day able to generate whole organs starting from differentiated cells produced, on demand, by stem cell populations."

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Stem-cell research: A new genetic switching element

If the notion of biting into a hamburger made from lab-cultured stem cells doesn't make your mouth water, perhaps your brain can find it appetizing.

That's the view of two Dutch professors who argue that meat grown in enormous test tubes, or bioreactors, can provide an ever more prosperous world with a plentiful, environmentally friendly and humane source of protein.

Cultured meat, they say, is the food of the future.

"Rising global demand for meat will result in increased environmental pollution, energy consumption and animal suffering," the Wageningen University professors wrote Tuesday in the journal Trends in Biotechnology.

"As large parts of the world become more prosperous, the global consumption of meat is expected to rise enormously in the coming decades," they wrote.

This growing demand for meat necessitates a "protein transition," according to bioethicist Cor van der Weele and bioprocessing engineer Johannes Tramper. This transition will probably involve substituting some vegetable products for meat, keeping fewer animals on factory farms and possibly eating insects.

The authors envision a day when "every village" maintains a cultured meat facility in which muscle stem cells from pigs, cows, chicken, fish or any other animal are allowed to grow and reproduce in 5,200-gallon processing tanks.

The reproducing cells are suspended in a growth medium that provides them with nutrition, while mechanical paddles agitate the solution.

When the cell population reaches the desired density -- perhaps in a month, the authors say -- an enzyme and binding protein are added to the solution. At that point, the agitation stops and the tissue cells form small clumps and settle to the bottom of the tank.

Finally, the authors say, the tank is drained of the growing medium and the remaining "meat slurry" is pressed into a mincemeat-type cake and sold.

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Hungry for a helping of test tube meat? Maybe you should be

May 21, 2014

redOrbit Staff & Wire Reports Your Universe Online

The same scientific advances that have made it possible to cultivate stem cells into laboratory-grown organs could one day be used to develop eco-friendly meat products, according to new research appearing in the latest edition of the journal Trends in Biotechnology.

According to researchers from Wageningen University in The Netherlands, producing in vitro meat in an animal-cell cultivation process is a technically feasible alternative lacking these disadvantages, provided that an animal-component-free growth medium can be developed. Small-scale production looks particularly promising, not only technologically but also for societal acceptance. Economic feasibility, however, emerges as the real obstacle.

Provided a cost-effective way to develop cultured meat can be discovered, the researchers explain that it would provide a source of meat that is both ethical and greener, limiting pollution and energy consumption while also preventing the suffering experienced by animals as part of the factory farming industry. Ultimately, they hope that every town and community could be home to its own small-scale cultured meat production facility.

We believe that cultured meat is part of the future, explained study author Cor van der Weele. Other parts of the future are partly substituting meat with vegetarian products, keeping fewer animals in better circumstances, perhaps eating insects, etc. This discussion is certainly part of the future in that it is part of the search for a protein transition. It is highly effective in stimulating a growing awareness and discussion of the problems of meat production and consumption.

She and coauthor Johannes Tramper noted that the rising demand levels for meat are unsustainable in terms of environmental pollution and energy usage. Van der Weele explained that she initially learned about cultured meat in 2004, when frog steaks were served by a French museum all while the amphibian that donated the cells for the culinary feast watched on.

Scientists have already proven that meat can be made from stem cells. In 2013, Maastricht University Prof. Mark Post created and consumed a lab-grown burger created using muscle cells taken from a cow. Those cells were cultured in a lab and placed in a nutrient solution to stimulate muscle tissue growth.

The tissue is grown by placing cells in a cylindrical tube around a hub of gel, and then grown into small strands of meat. As many as 20,000 strands are required to create a five-ounce burger, and according to Post, the muscle cells have not been altered in any way. He explained that this beef could potentially provide the answers to major problems that the world faces, but for it to succeed, it needs to feel and hopefully taste like the real thing.

Post and his colleagues began growing pork in laboratory environments in 2006 as part of the In-vitro Meat Consortium, a group publicly funded Dutch research institutions conducting cultured meat-related experiments. Other nations have been pursuing similar research, including a team of US researchers who were funded by NASA and set out to find a way to allow astronauts to grow their own meat in space.

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In Vitro Techniques Could Produce Environmentally Friendly Meat Products