Category Archives: Stem Cells

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

20-May-2014

Contact: Mary Beth O'Leary moleary@cell.com 617-397-2802 Cell Press

The scientific progress that has made it possible to dream of a future in which faulty organs could be regrown from stem cells also holds potential as an ethical and greener source for meat. So say scientists who suggest in the Cell Press journal Trends in Biotechnology that every town or village could one day have its very own small-scale, cultured meat factory.

"We believe that cultured meat is part of the future," said Cor van der Weele of Wageningen University in The Netherlands. "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."

van der Weele and coauthor Johannes Tramper point out that the rising demand for meat around the world is unsustainable in terms of environmental pollution and energy consumption, not to mention the animal suffering associated with factory farming.

van der Weele said she first heard about cultured meat in 2004, when frog steaks were served at a French museum while the donor frog watched on (http://tcaproject.org/projects/victimless/cuisine). Tramper has studied the cultivation of animal cellsinsect cells mostlyin the lab for almost 30 years. In 2007, he published a paper suggesting that insect cells might be useful as a food source.

It is already possible to make meat from stem cells. To prove it, Mark Post, a professor of tissue engineering at Maastricht University, The Netherlands, presented the first lab-grown hamburger in 2013.

In the new Science & Society paper, van der Weele and Tramper outline a potential meat manufacturing process, starting with a vial of cells taken from a cell bank and ending with a pressed cake of minced meat. But there will be challenges when it comes to maintaining a continuous stem cell line and producing cultured meat that's cheaper than meat obtained in the usual way. Most likely, the price of "normal" meat would first have to rise considerably.

Still, the promise is too great to ignore.

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Stem cells as a future source for eco-friendly meat

Category: Science & Technology Posted: May 20, 2014 06:43AM Author: Guest_Jim_*

Stem cells are a very interesting and potentially important field for the future of medicine, as these cells can become the basis for any cell in our bodies. While embryonic stem cells, which are very early in development show perhaps the most promise, researchers have discovered that adult cells can be reprogrammed to be pluripotent, like the younger cells. Now researchers at the Center of Genomic Regulation (CRG) in Barcelona have discovered a means to improve the efficiency of reprogramming adult cells.

The exact process to create induced pluripotent stem cells from adult cells is not well understood currently, but many are working to reveal its secrets. The researchers at CRG found that the Wnt route appears to influence the process; the pathway frogs and lizards use to regenerate lost limbs. Even though humans lost the regenerative abilities the Wnt route offers, it is still present in us and plays a role in embryonic development and cell fusion. The researchers discovered that if it is inhibited at the beginning of the process to create the iPS cells and activated at the proper time at the end, the process will be more efficient and create more of the cells.

While the potential for iPS cells is definitely an important application for this research, it can also lead to advancements in other, Wnt route related areas. These include regenerative medicine and tumors that involve the Wnt pathway.

Source: Center for Genomic Regulation

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Towards Reprogramming Adult Cells

St. Petersburg, FL (PRWEB) May 20, 2014

A breakthrough for rejuvenating aging skin today includes topical stem cells rich in Growth Factors. These are non-embryonic stem cells.

Collagen is lost during the aging process as production slows down, a contributing factor in the formation of wrinkles, lines, sagging and thinning of skin.

"A very effective way to reduce wrinkles, improve skin quality and boost collagen levels is through Human Fibroblast Conditioned Media," says Kathy Heshelow, founder of Sublime Beauty. "Human Fibroblast Conditioned Media contains key ingredients for rejuvenation of skinespecially natural Growth Factors and other proteins."

2 reasons why these Growth Factors are key for anti-aging skin care:

1) Growth Factors, when used topically, stimulate skin to create more collagen. Results include smoother, healthier skin with diminished wrinkles. Collagen is the structure holding up skin, essential for smoothness.

2) Growth Factors help to replace and regenerate the nutrients needed by skin for rejuvenation. It promotes skin tissue repair and strengthens the elastic fibers which give the skin its softness and suppleness.

"We added our stem cell serum to the Sublime Beauty line for those that wanted a higher end, scientific formula," says Heshelow. "Our serum is of high purity with no fillers and is made in the U.S under strict conditions."

Expensive to make, Heshelow says the Sublime Beauty serum is less expensive than many similar serums found on the market, which can range from $300 to $500. "Our serum retails under $160," Heshelow says.

Use twice daily and see first results in about 2 weeks.

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2 Reasons Why Growth Factors and Stem Cells are a Breakthough for Aging Skin, Says Sublime Beauty

SALT LAKE CITY Researchers at the University of Utah are working to help people who suffer from multiple sclerosis, and so far their work has promising results among mice.

Researchers are using stem cells to treat mice with a condition similar to MS, and some of the mice were able to walk just days after they were treated.

Dr. Peter Jensen, a professor at the University of Utah and the chairman of the Department of Pathology, spoke about the findings.

Remarkably, animals that were paralyzed, could walk, he said.

Dr. Tom Lane is another professor of pathology involved in the project, and he said the results werent what they expected.

Which was a complete surprise to us because we started the experiment with a completely different idea in mind, so this was really a happy accident, he said of the animals walking again.

Lane made the discovery after injecting human stem cells into the spinal cords of the mice. He said he was hoping to discover why the immune systems of mice often reject human stem cells, but what he found was that the stem cells were repairing the damaged nerves in the disabled mice.

In essence, youre regenerating the function of damaged nerves and gives hope for a potential therapy down the road to actually reverse the symptoms that were permanent or otherwise previously permanent in patients with MS, Jensen said.

The current procedure is invasive, as doctors must operate on the spinal cord in order to get results. But they hope further tests will lead to a less invasive method.

What we hope to do is to find out what these cells are secreting that actually change the environment within the diseased tissue, and if we can identify what factor or factors are being secreted, then we could potentially make this druggable so that it could be injected into people that have MS, or the long term goal would be to make it into a pill form so they could take it orally, Lane said.

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U of U researchers studying stem cells inadvertently cure mice of paralysis

Dr. Broyles #39; Cartilage Regeneration: Why Bone Marrow Stem Cells?
Dr. Broyles highlights the differences between Dr. Saw #39;s methods and his own, including FDA regulations in the US regarding autologous stem cells. For more information visit - http://www.cartilageregenera...

By: boneandjointclinicbr

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Dr. Broyles' Cartilage Regeneration: Why Bone Marrow Stem Cells? - Video

Concerns that stem cells could cause cancer in recipients are fading further with a new study

New bone formation (stained bright green under ultra-violet light) was seen in monkeys given their own reprogrammed stem cells. Courtesy of Nature magazine

A major concern over using stem cells is the risk of tumors: but now a new study shows that It takes a lot of effort to get induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells to grow into tumors after they have been transplanted into a monkey. The findings will bolster the prospects of one day using such cells clinically in humans.

Making iPS cells from an animal's own skin cells and then transplanting them back into the creature also does not trigger an inflammatory response as long as the cells have first been coaxed to differentiate towards a more specialized cell type. Both observations, published inCell Reports today, bode well for potential cell therapies.

It's important because the field is very controversial right now, saysAshleigh Boyd,a stem-cell researcher at University College London, who was not involved in the work. It is showing that the weight of evidence is pointing towards the fact that the cells won't be rejected.

Pluripotent stem cells can be differentiated into many different specialized cell types in culture and so are touted for their potential as therapies to replace tissue lost in diseases such as Parkinsons and some forms of diabetes and blindness. iPS cells, which are made by reprogramming adult cells, have an extra advantage because transplants made from them could be genetically matched to the recipient.

Researchers all over the world are pursuing therapies based on iPS cells, and a group in Japan began enrolling patients for a human study last year. But work in mice has suggested controversially that even genetically matched iPS cellscan trigger an immune response, and pluripotent stem cells can also form slow-growing tumors, another safety concern.

Closer to human Cynthia Dunbar, a stem-cell biologist at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, who led the new study, decided to evaluate both concerns in healthy rhesus macaques. Human stem cells are normally only studied for their ability to form tumors in mice as a test of pluripotency if the animals immune systems are compromised, she says.

We really wanted to set up a model that was closer to human. It was somewhat reassuring that in a normal monkey with a normal immune system you had to give a whole lot of immature cells to get any kind of tumour to grow, and they were very slow growing.

Dunbar and her team made iPS cells from skin and white blood cells from two rhesus macaques, and transplanted the iPS cells back into the monkeys that provided them. It took 20 times as many iPS cells to form a tumor in a monkey, compared with the numbers needed in an immunocompromised mouse. Such information will be valuable for assessing safety risks of potential therapies, Dunbar says. And although the iPS cells did trigger a mild immune response attracting white blood cells and causing local inflammation iPS cells that had first been differentiated to a more mature state did not.

Excerpt from:
New Stem Cell Finding Bodes Well for Future Medical Use in Humans

Mice crippled by version of MS could walk again after less than two weeks Were previously so disabled they couldn't stand long enough to be fed Researchers say they had not expected the stem cell treatment to work These cells may have worked as they were grown in a crowded lab dish

By Anna Hodgekiss

Published: 03:28 EST, 16 May 2014 | Updated: 03:50 EST, 16 May 2014

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Progress: The brain of someone with MS, which in later stages, can leave patients unable to walk

Stem cells could hold the key to treating people paralysed by multiple sclerosis, landmark research has revealed.

Treatment with human stem cells has allowed mice crippled by a version of MS to walk again after less than two weeks.

Scientists admit to being astonished by the result and believe it opens up a new avenue of research in the quest for solutions to MS.

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Could stem cells help people paralysed by MS? Scientists reveal they are 'astonished' by landmark study

THURSDAY, May 15, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- Although the very concept of cancer stem cells has been controversial, new research provides proof that these distinct types of cells exist in humans.

Using genetic tracking, researchers found that a gene mutation tied to cancer's development can be traced back to cancer stem cells. These cells are at the root of cancer and responsible for supporting the growth and progression of the disease, the scientists report.

Cancer stem cells are able to replenish themselves and produce other types of cancer cells, just as healthy cells produce other normal cells, the study's British and European authors explained.

"It's like having dandelions in your lawn. You can pull out as many as you want, but if you don't get the roots they'll come back," study first author Dr. Petter Woll, of the MRC Weatherall Institute for Molecular Medicine at the University of Oxford, said in a university news release.

The researchers, led by a team of scientists at Oxford and the Karolinska Institute in Sweden, said their findings could have significant implications for cancer treatment. They explained that by targeting cancer stem cells, doctors could not only get rid of a patient's cancer but also prevent any remaining cancer cells from sustaining the disease.

The study, published May 15 in Cancer Cell, involved 15 patients diagnosed with myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), a type of cancer that often develops into acute myeloid leukemia, a form of blood cancer.

The researchers examined the cancer cells in the patients' bone marrow. Four of the patients were also monitored over time. One patient was followed for two years. Two patients were followed for 30 months and another patient was monitored for 10 years.

According to the researchers, in prior studies citing the existence of cancer stem cells, the lab tests that were used to identify these cells were considered by many to be unreliable.

However, "In our studies we avoided the problem of unreliable lab tests by tracking the origin and development of cancer-driving mutations in MDS patients," explained study leader Sten Eirik Jacobsen, of Oxford's MRC Molecular Haematology Unit and the Weatherall Institute for Molecular Medicine.

According to the research, a distinct group of MDS cells had all the characteristics of cancer stem cells, and only these particular cancer cells appeared able to cause tumor spread.

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Scientists get closer to the stem cells that may drive cancers

Posted: Thursday, May 15, 2014, 12:00 PM

THURSDAY, May 15, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- Mice disabled by a multiple sclerosis-like condition were able to walk again a few weeks after receiving human neural stem cell transplants, a new study shows.

While research in mice often fails to pan out in humans, the researchers believe the finding hints at new ways to treat people with MS.

The mice with the MS-like condition had to be fed by hand because they could not stand long enough to eat and drink on their own. But within 10 to 14 days of receiving the human neural stem cells, the rodents regained the ability to walk, along with other motor skills. This improvement was still evident six months later, the researchers said.

The study authors said they were surprised by the results of what they believed was to be a routine experiment. They had expected that the transplanted cells would be rejected by the mice.

"My postdoctoral fellow Dr. Lu Chen came to me and said, 'The mice are walking.' I didn't believe her," study co-senior author Tom Lane, a professor of pathology at the University of Utah, said in a university news release.

The study was published online May 15 in the journal Stem Cell Reports.

"This result opens up a whole new area of research for us to figure out why it worked," co-senior author Jeanne Loring, director of the Center for Regenerative Medicine at The Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, Calif., said in the news release.

The next step on the road toward possible clinical trials in people is to assess the safety and durability of the stem cell therapy in mice.

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Stem Cells Reverse MS-Like Illness in Mice

April Flowers for redOrbit.com Your Universe Online

Nearly two million Americans a year suffer from ischemia reperfusion injuries. A wide variety of scenarios can be caused by these injuries that result in restricted blood flowfrom traumatic limb injuries, to heart attacks, to donor organs. Restoring the blood flow to an injured leg, for example, seems like it would be a good idea. A new study from Georgia Regents University, however, suggests that restoring the flow could cause additional damage that actually hinders recovery.

Rather than promoting recovery, restoring blood flow actually heightens inflammation and cell death for many of these patients.

Think about trying to hold onto a nuclear power plant after you unplug the electricity and cannot pump water to cool it down, said Dr. Jack Yu, Chief of MCGs Section of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery. All kinds of bad things start happening.

Yu collaborated with Dr. Babak Baban, immunologist at the Medical College of Georgia and College of Dental Medicine at Georgia Regents University. Their study, published in PLOS ONE, reveals that one way stem cell therapy appears to intervene is with the help of an enzyme also used by a fetus to escape rejection by the mothers immune system.

Baban notes that previous studies have found a correlation between stem cells and recovery. The stem cells both enable new blood vessel growth and by turning down the now-severe inflammation. The new findings reveal that ndoleomine 2,3 dioxygenase, or IDO, widely known to dampen the immune response and create tolerance, plays an important role in regulating inflammation in that scenario. IDO is expressed by stem cells and numerous other cell types.

Stem cell efficiency was boosted by approximately one-third when tested on animal models comparing the therapy in normal mice versus mice missing IDO.Decreased expression of inflammatory markers, swelling and cell death were all observed. These are all associated with shorter, improved recoveries.

We dont want to turn off the immune system, we want to turn it back to normal, Baban said.

Even a brief period of inadequate blood flow, and the resulting lack of nutrients, can start problems that result in the rapid accumulation of destructive acidic metabolites, free radicals, and damage to cell structures. Mitochondria, which are the cells power plants, should be producing the energy source ATP. Instead, they quickly become fat, leaky and dysfunctional in this situation.

The mitochondria are sick; they are very, very sick, Yu said. Enormous additional stress is added to these sick powerhouses when blood flow is restored.

Originally posted here:
A Fetal Enzyme Helps Stem Cells Recover From Limb Injuries