Category Archives: Stem Cells

March 14, 2014

Lee Rannals for redOrbit.com Your Universe Online

Japanese scientists who in January announced they developed a new method to create stem cells using blood cells and acid are considering retracting their study.

Scientists from the RIKEN Center for Developmental Biology in Kobe, Japan announced earlier this year that they had discovered that dipping blood cells into acid could turn them into stem cells. This study was considered ground-breaking research in the field, but now the scientists are not so sure of their findings.

The team initially discovered the method in mice, finding that by simply exposing blood cells to acidic liquids, they would turn into stimulus-triggered acquisition of pluripotency cells (STAP cells). They found that white blood cells in newborn mice were returned to a versatile state through the simple process. Creating stem cells in a lab this way would help grow cells to replenish organs damaged by disease or accident.

However, after the announcement of this discovery scientists from all over the world criticized the research because they could not repeat the method to create these cells. Other critics said photographs and sentences in the report were identical to those used in earlier theses.

RIKEN said it is establishing a third-party panel to investigate the content of the report and is planning to withdraw the claim about the achievement.

We are making considerations including the option of recommending that the paper be retracted, Ryoji Noyori, who jointly won the Nobel Prize for chemistry in 2001, told a press briefing in Tokyo, according to AFP.

On Friday, Japanese media reported that Haruko Obokata, who published the findings in January, agreed that the research should be pulled back. A joint statement signed by the group of researchers from RIKEN, including Obokata, said the three were considering a possible retraction.

The credibility of the papers have been brought into question, and from the perspective of research ethics, RIKEN is considering the possibility of retracting the two papers published in Nature, the statement said.

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Controversy Around Stem Cell Discovery May Lead To Retraction

AFP Japan institute admits it may retract 'game-changing' cell study

Tokyo (AFP) - A Japanese research institute said Friday that a study which promised a revolutionary way to create stem cells should be quashed after claims its data was faulty, dealing a huge blow to what was touted as a game-changing discovery.

Riken institute head, Ryoji Noyori, who jointly won the Nobel Prize for chemistry in 2001, also heaped criticism on lead researcher Haruko Obokata for her "sloppiness" and warned the controversy could shake the public's faith in research.

The findings, published by 30-year-old Obokata along with other Japanese researchers and a US-based scientist in the January edition of British journal "Nature", outlined a relatively simple way to grow transplant tissue in the lab.

But it faced hard questions as the respected institute, which sponsored the study, launched an inquiry last month over the credibility of its data used in the explosive findings.

Among key concerns was that researchers used erroneous images -- crucial to supporting the study -- which resembled those used in Obokata's doctoral dissertation in 2011.

"I apologise that the papers which Riken researchers recently announced in Nature caused an incident that could hurt the credibility of the scientific community," Noyori told a press briefing.

"This immature researcher handled and collected enormous amounts of research data, and handled it with sloppiness... This must never happen."

Riken did not offer an opinion on whether the results of the study were valid, citing a continuing probe. But the institute itself cannot unilaterally retract the paper.

"I have judged that what is most important was for the paper to be swiftly retracted and to conduct the research again. I have suggested that to the authors," said Masatoshi Takeichi, director of Riken's Centre for Developmental Biology.

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Japan institute admits it may retract 'game-changing' cell study

Combining nanodrug-based chemotherapy and cryoablation provides an effective strategy to eliminate cancer stem-like cells (CSCs) -- the root of cancer resistance and metastasis, which will help to improve the safety and efficacy of treating malignancies that are refractory to conventional therapies.

Cryoablation (also called cryosurgery or cryotherapy) is an energy-based, minimally invasive surgical technique that has been investigated to treat a variety of diseases including cancer, which is done by freezing the diseased tissue to subzero temperature to induce irreversible damage. It is particularly attractive for fighting against breast cancer due to its excellent cosmetic outcome to preserve the organ with unnoticeable scar formation on skin. However, cryoablation alone has limited effectiveness on eradicating cancer stem-like cells (CSCs), which may lead to cancer recurrence and/or metastasis post operation. A team of researchers from the Department of Biomedical Engineering and Comprehensive Cancer Center at The Ohio State University introduced an innovative strategy by combining cryoablation with nanoparticle-medicated chemotherapy and demonstrated that the combined therapy can significantly augment the destruction of CSCs, resulting in eliminating nearly all CSCs. This technology provides a new approach to overcome drug resistance of CSCs and improve the safety and efficacy of cancer cryoablation.

"This novel combined therapy of cryoablation and nanodrug is a significant step forward in improving the safety and efficacy of fighting against cancer. Our study provides the first account of minimizing cancer recurrence by destroying the cancer stem-like cells in the field of cryoablation for cancer treatment." said Xiaoming He, Ph.D., of The Ohio State University and senior author of this paper. "It is valuable to facilitate the clinical applications of cryoablation by eliminating the root of cancer resistance -- the cancer stem-like cells."

"The nanoparticles used in this study were optimized for effective drug delivery." said Wei Rao, Ph.D., the lead author of the paper. According to the researchers, an optimized size of the nanodrug facilitates its uptake by cancer cells via endocytosis. A positively charged nanodrug has high electrostatic affinity to the negatively charged cell plasma membrane, which should further facilitate its uptake by cancer cells. Moreover, materials on the nanoparticles have high affinity to CD44 that is one of the common protein complexes overexpressed on cancer stem-like cells. Therefore, the use of nanodrug can help to achieve much-enhanced bioavailability of anticancer drug to cancer stem-like cells compared to conventional chemotherapy using free drug. This particularly attractive feature meets the demand of targeted delivery and therapy and could minimize the drug systemic toxicity. Its combination with cryoablation can significantly augment cryoinjury to ensure complete destruction of all cancer stem-like cells.

Currently, research on the combined therapy of cryoablation and nanodrug showed promising results using 3D mammosphere model at the microscale. Future research will focus more on in vivo studies to monitor tumor relapse after the combined treatment and further translate this technology into the clinic. Although more research is required to ascertain its safety and efficacy, this study provides a novel strategy of combining cryoablation and nanodrug that demonstrates great potential to eliminate cancer from its root -- the cancer stem-like cells.

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The above story is based on materials provided by World Scientific. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.

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Cancer stem cells destroyed with cryoablation and nanoparticle-encapsulated anticancer drug

A quick method to generate stem cells in the lab that caused a big splash earlier this year is not looking so hot after all. In January, researchers from Japan published details in the journa l Nature abo ut how stressing mouse cells by exposing them to acid could reprogram them to act like stem cells.

The announcement of this stimulus-triggered acquisition of pluripotency (STAP) method generated much excitement: if it worked it could provide another and relatively easy route to generate stem cells in the lab without needing to source them from embryonic tissues.

It was one of those discoveries that looked a bit too good to be true, and now the dust has settled, it seems that it is.

Scientists have reported having difficulty in generating stem cells using the procedure, there were apparent irregularities in the published work and it is now reported that an author on one of the January papers is calling for it to be pulled from the scientific record.

Prof Frank Barry, who directs the Regenerative Medicine Institute (Remedi) at NUI Galway, has serious reservations about the work.

When it was first published in January I was a bit sceptical that it could apparently be done do easily, he says.

I wondered why cells in the stomach, for instance, didnt become reprogrammed because they are exposed to acid conditions. And it seems that the methods cannot be reproduced, despite many efforts in other labs around the world one of our colleagues at Remedi tried to make STAP cells and also failed.

If the method works, then it will be a benefit to those of us interested in stem cells. If it doesnt work, it will be remembered only as a frustrating and wasteful distraction at at time when we really need to get on with developing stem cell therapies.

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Quickie stem cells? Not so fast

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

12-Mar-2014

Contact: Camille Gamboa camille.gamboa@sagepub.com 805-410-7441 SAGE Publications

Los Angeles, CA (March 12, 2014) Researchers have found that sutures embedded with stem cells led to quicker and stronger healing of Achilles tendon tears than traditional sutures, according to a new study published in the March 2014 issue of Foot & Ankle International (published by SAGE).

Achilles tendon injuries are common for professional, collegiate and recreational athletes. These injuries are often treated surgically to reattach or repair the tendon if it has been torn. Patients have to keep their legs immobilized for a while after surgery before beginning their rehabilitation. Athletes may return to their activities sooner, but risk rerupturing the tendon if it has not healed completely.

Drs. Lew Schon, Samuel Adams, and Elizabeth Allen and Researchers Margaret Thorpe, Brent Parks, and Gary Aghazarian from MedStar Union Memorial Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland, conducted the study. They compared traditional surgery, surgery with stem cells injected in the injury area, and surgery with special sutures embedded with stem cells in rats. The results showed that the group receiving the stem cell sutures healed better.

"The exciting news from this early work is that the stem cells stayed in the tendon, promoting healing right away, during a time when patients are not able to begin aggressive rehabilitation. When people can't fully use their leg, the risk is that atrophy sets in and adhesions can develop which can impact how strong and functional the muscle and tendon are after it is reattached," said Dr. Schon. "Not only did the stem cells encourage better healing at the cellular level, the tendon strength itself was also stronger four weeks following surgery than in the other groups in our study," he added.

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For further information on how to take care of your feet and ankles, or to find a local orthopaedic foot and ankle surgeon, visit the American Orthopaedic Foot & Ankle Society patient website at http://www.footcaremd.org.

"Stem Cell-Bearing Suture Improves Achilles Tendon Healing in a Rat Model" by Samuel B. Adams, Jr, MD; Margaret A. Thorpe, BS; Brent G. Parks, MSc; Gary Aghazarian, BS; Elizabeth Allen, MD; and Lew C. Schon, MD in the March 2014 Foot & Ankle International.

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Stem cells inside sutures could improve healing in Achilles tendon injuries

Hutchins Society: #39;Renal Failure Stem Cells #39;
Courtesy of WCGS Photographers #39; Society *******************************************************

By: WCGS Photographers #39; Society

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Hutchins Society: 'Renal Failure & Stem Cells' - Video

Stem Cell | Skeletal muscle source of stem cells
Skeletal muscle stem cells... another alternative? Matsumoto and colleagues, in an article published in Arthritis and Rheumatism, looked at a rat model of os...

By: Nathan Wei

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Stem Cell | Skeletal muscle source of stem cells - Video

A number of scientists have been grumbling for weeks about a pair of breakthrough stem cell studies that seemed too good to be true. Now one of the senior researchers who worked on the papers agrees that they may be right.

The studies, which were published in January by the journal Nature, described a surprisingly simple method of transforming mature cells into pluripotent stem cells capable of regenerating any type of tissue in the body. The key was to stress them out by soaking them in an acid bath for 30 minutes, prompting genetic changes that made the cells more flexible. The researchers dubbed their technique stimulus triggered acquisition of pluripotency, or STAP.

But Teruhiko Wakayama, a senior author of one of the papers and coauthor on the other, said he had lost confidence in the studies and was "no longer sure the STAP cells were actually created, according to NHK.

Wakayama, a professor at the University of Yamanashi in Kofu, Japan, told Japanese media Monday that he had asked his collaborators to withdraw the studies until the results could be verified by independent scientists. He added that he is ready to provide cell samples and detailed data to anyone who is willing to try, NHK reported.

RELATED: New method makes stem cells in about 30 minutes, scientists report

Wakayama also echoed concerns raised by others that some of the images used in the Nature papers may have been published previously. According to Japan News, an English-language website from Yomiuri Shimbun, Wakayama said the images look almost identical to images that appear in the PhD thesis of Haruko Obokata, the lead author of both Nature studies. Her thesis was about pluripotent stem cells in humans, but the cells in the Nature STAP paper were supposedly from mice.

Anonymous posters to a website called PubPeer have flagged several images in the Nature papers that they say look suspiciously like pictures in a 2011 study led by Obokata. That study, published in the journal Tissue Engineering, purports to show that cells removed from various tissues of adult mice could be coaxed to grow into other kinds of cells.

Duplicated images arent the only problem skeptics have flagged. A Japanese blog post has noted striking similarities in the words used to describe some of the methods used in one of the Nature papers and the words in a 2005 paper published in a journal called In Vitro Cellular & Developmental Biology Animal. In the blog post, the overlapping language is highlighted in red.

There sure seems to be a lot of overlap in text in the two papers, Paul Knoepfler, a stem cell researcher at UC Davis, wrote on his blog.

Ive heard people react to this by saying 'no big deal, its just a methods section,' while Ive heard others say 'this is misconduct,' Knoepfler added. Im sure many people fall somewhere in the middle.

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Scientist who created STAP stem cells says studies should be withdrawn

TOKYO: A co-author of a Japanese study that promised a revolutionary way to create stem cells has called for the headline-grabbing research to be retracted over claims its data was faulty.

The findings, published by Japanese researcher Haruko Obokata and US-based scientists, outlined a simple and low-tech approach in the quest to grow transplant tissue in the lab.

The study was touted as the third great advance in stem cells -- a futuristic field that aims to reverse Alzheimer's, cancer and other crippling or lethal diseases.

But it faced hard questions as the Japan-based Riken institute, which sponsored the study, launched a probe last month over the credibility of data used in the explosive findings.

At issue are allegations that researchers used erroneous image data for an article published in the January edition of British journal Nature.

Teruhiko Wakayama, a Yamanashi University professor who co-authored the article, called for a retraction.

"It's hard to believe the findings anymore after so many mistakes in the data," he told broadcaster Nippon Television late Monday.

On Tuesday, the institute said it was mulling whether to pull back the study.

"We are considering whether to retract the report based on its credibility and research ethics, even though our investigation is still underway," it said.

In an e-mailed statement, the journal said: "Issues relating to this paper have been brought to Nature's attention and we are conducting an ongoing investigation. We have no further comment at this stage."

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Japanese stem cell scientist calls for retraction of study

TOKYO: A co-author of a Japanese study that promised a revolutionary way to create stem cells has called for the headline-grabbing research to be retracted over claims its data was faulty.

The findings, published by Japanese researcher Haruko Obokata and US-based scientists, outlined a simple and low-tech approach in the quest to grow transplant tissue in the lab.

The study was touted as the third great advance in stem cells a futuristic field that aims to reverse Alzheimers, cancer and other crippling or lethal diseases.

But it faced hard questions as the Japan-based Riken institute, which sponsored the study, launched a probe last month over the credibility of data used in the explosive findings.

At issue are allegations that researchers used erroneous image data for an article published in the January edition of British journal Nature.

Teruhiko Wakayama, a Yamanashi University professor who co-authored the article, called for a retraction.

Its hard to believe the findings anymore after so many mistakes in the data, he told broadcaster Nippon Television late Monday.

On Tuesday, the institute said it was mulling whether to pull back the study.

We are considering whether to retract the report based on its credibility and research ethics, even though our investigation is still underway, it said.

In an e-mailed statement, the journal said: Issues relating to this paper have been brought to Natures attention and we are conducting an ongoing investigation. We have no further comment at this stage.

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Japan stem cell scientist calls for retraction of study