Category Archives: Stem Cells

Inhibition of a prostaglandin with nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs has been found to cause stem cells to leave marrow, where they could be harvested for patients with blood disorders

Tino Soriano/National Geographic Society/Corbis

Aspirin-like drugs could improve the success of stem-cell transplants for patients with blood or bone-marrow disorders, a study suggests. The compounds coax stem cells from bone marrow into the bloodstream where they can be harvested for use in transplantation and they do so with fewer side effects than drugs now in use.

For patients with blood disorders such as leukemia, multiple myeloma or non-Hodgkins lymphoma, transplantation of haematopoietic stem cells precursor cells that reside in the bone marrow and give rise to all types of blood cell can be an effective treatment.

Previous work has shown that prostaglandin E2, or PGE2, a lipid known to regulate multiple bodily reactions including pain, fever and inflammation, also has a role in keeping stem cells in the bone marrow. In the latest study, researchers show that in mice, humans and baboons, inhibition of PGE2 with non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) causes stem cells to leave the bone marrow.

Releasing the stem cells The team gave baboons and humans an NSAID called meloxicam. They saw a subsequent increase in the numbers of haematopoietic stem cells in the bloodstream.

The researchers think that the departure of stem cells is caused by the disturbance of a group of bone-forming cells called osteoblasts. These cells secrete a protein called osteopontin that hooks the stem cells to the bone marrow. Inhibiting PGE2 would disrupt the production of osteopontin.

At present, doctors use a drug called filgrastim to mobilize haematopoietic stem cells in donors or in patients undergoing autotransplantation (in which they receive their own stem cells). In patients with multiple myeloma or non-Hodgkins lymphoma, however, and in some donors, stem cells dont mobilize well with filgrastim and other drugs in its class. Using NSAIDs such as meloxicam could enhance filgrastims efficacy, says lead author Louis Pelus of the Indiana University School of Medicine in Indianapolis. The study appears in Nature.

Meloxicam also has comparatively few side effects, says Pelus. He and his colleagues found that other NSAIDs, including aspirin and ibuprofen, can also mobilize haematopoietic stem cells, but these drugs can cause gastrointestinal upset in patients. PGE2 controls the secretion of hydrochloric acid in the stomach, and when you block that youve reduced your ability to control acid secretion. Meloxicam doesnt do that as badly as many of the other [drugs] do, he says.

For Charles Craddock, director of the blood and marrow transplant unit at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham, UK, the results might also hold clues about how to mediate the tricky process of getting cells back to the bone marrow once transplanted. If youre beginning to understand what mediates cells moving out, you might be able to understand what mediates cells moving in. If you can make bone marrow more sticky, when you put cells back, you might be able to keep them in.

Go here to see the original:
Painkillers Could Prove Helpful in Stem-Cell Transplants

In an effort to bring clarity to one of the most controversial and confusing scientific findings in recent memory, three Japanese scientists have released a detailed protocol explaining step by step how to create stem cells with a simple acid bath. A leading stem cell scientist at Boston Childrens Hospital is working directly with the scientist who led the work to try and repeat the technique.

The surprising report in January by Boston and Japanese scientists that stem cells, with the ability to develop into any cell in the body, could be created with the seemingly straightforward technique sparked a raging and very public debate in the scientific community.

Within a month, a problem with images in one of the papers was revealed, which the scientists have said will be corrected. Other possible problems have been pointed out on online forums. An investigation by the Japanese scientists institution has been ongoing, spurred by questions raised by outside scientists.

What can be easy to forget is that it is not unusual for a new technique that upsets conventional knowledge to be carefully and critically vetted. That process is appropriate and part of how science works; its just usually hidden from public view. Only rarely are discoveries so unexpected and high-profile that they trigger this level of public skepticism. The ultimate test of the stem cell-creation technique, as with any other scientific discovery, will be whether it can be repeated by other scientists.

The doubts have gushed out over the last month. Laboratories across the world have been trying to replicate the result, and people have shared reports of initial failures, although many of those were using different types of cells than those the authors reported using in their paper.

It is also is not uncommon for an experiment to not work when it is first attempted, so reports of a failure dont mean the technique is wrong or doesnt work. The new protocol will provide scientists a careful recipe to followallowing them to rule out that differences in their technique might be causing them to fail.

In Boston, there are several scientists who are working to repeat the technique. I asked Dr. George Q. Daley, a stem cell scientist at Childrens Hospital and the Harvard Stem Cell Institute, what his experience has been so far.

Daley said he is working directly with Dr. Charles Vacanti, the anesthesiologist at Brigham and Womens Hospital who was the senior author on the paper describing the technique. Although many have been quick to air their doubts about whether the method is just too good to be true, Daley said he would like to feed the evidence base and not the rumor mill. Vacanti, he said, has been very helpful and cooperative.

If the technique is robust and highly reproducible it will be replicated quickly. If there are subtleties and nuances of the technique, then it will take longer. Only time will tell, and this is how science works, Daley wrote. If there is some fatal flaw in the technique, then it will be revealed in time. I am concerned about the rush to use blogging and social media to report early experience with a complex biological experiment. Most scientific experiments take time and many replications to work confidently, and early reporting may reflect a negative bias.

In an e-mail, Vacanti said that the reason he is not a coauthor on the protocol that has been posted by the Japanese RIKEN Institute where many of his coauthors work is because he was not asked to take part.

See the rest here:
Efforts to repeat controversial stem cell technique intensify

Researchers at London's Great Ormond Street Hospital aim to grow a human ear via stem cells taken from a patient's fat tissue. Relatively little attention has been given to the reconstruction of damaged cartilage around the cranial area, however the new method is hoped to modernize this area of reconstructive surgery.

Currently to repair damaged or non-existent cartilage in the ear, an operation is usually carried out when the patient is a child. Cartilage is extracted from the patient's ribs and painstakingly crafted into the form of an ear, before being grafted back onto the individual.

Whilst this method of reconstruction achieves good results, it also has some unpleasant side effects. The patient is left with a permanent defect around the area from where the cells were harvested, as the cartilage between the ribs does not regenerate. Since any operation to replace the cartilage in the ear is for cosmetic purposes only, curing one defect by creating another (albeit in a less obvious place) is not an optimal solution.

The cartilage cells used in the new technique are engineered from mesenchymal stem cells, extracted from the child's abdominal adipose tissue (fat). The benefit of this new system is that unlike the cartilage in the ribs, the adipose tissue regenerates, therefore leaving no long-term defect to the host. There is also the potential to begin reconstructive treatment with stem cells derived from adipose tissue earlier than previously possible, as it takes time for the ribs to grow enough cartilage to undergo the procedure.

Dr. Patrizia Ferretti, a researcher working on the project, told Gizmag, One of the main benefits in using the patients own stem cells is that there is no need for immune suppression which would not be desirable for a sick child, and would reduce the number of severe procedures a child needs to undergo."

To create the form of the ear, a porous polymer nano-scaffold is placed in with the stem cells. The cells are then chemically induced to become chondrocytes (cartilage cells) while growing into the holes in the scaffold to create the shape of the ear.

"Cellularized scaffolds integrate much better than fully synthetic implants, which are more prone to extrusion and infection," Dr. Ferretti explained.

The new, and potentially more advantageous technique would replace the current set of procedures in the treatment of defects in cartilage in children such as microtia, a condition which prevents the ear from forming correctly.

Dr. Ferretti continued that While we are developing this approach with children with ear defects in mind, it could ultimately be utilized in other types of reconstructive surgery both in children and adults." Such reconstructive technology has the potential to be invaluable in improving the quality of life of those who have been involved in a disfiguring accident or even those injured in the line of service.

Source: Journal of Nanomedicine

Go here to see the original:
Researchers hope to grow human ears from fat tissue

University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers recently demonstrated advancements in the differentiation of human embryonic stem cells, according to a university press release.

The researchers presented their findings in a paper centered around the geometries of substrates, molecules that bind with acting enzymes to allow chemical reactions to occur, as they relate to stem and heart-muscle cells, according to the release.

The research focused on the development of stem cells into mature-heart muscle

cells, otherwise known as cardiomyocytes, and the optimization of the these cells function.

Wendy Crone, a professor of engineering physics, biomedical engineering and material science, and lead author of the paper said cardiomyocytes derived from stem cells could be groundbreaking in the scientific and medical field.

Im hoping that our research will be able to help better treatments for disease and particularly heart disease, Crone said.

Moreover, Crones study could lead to progress in tissue engineering and drug research.

We can use [the cells] for things like testing out the side effects for drugs, Crone said. Frequently new drugs have negative impact on heart function.

Crone also expressed in the release one of her teams biggest challenges was finding a suitable environment for the stem cells to exist outside of the body.

Its really hard to culture stem cells effectively and to provide them with an environment thats going to help them to thrive and differentiate in the way you want, Crone said in the release.

Here is the original post:
UW-Madison researchers advance understanding of stem cells, heart-muscle cells

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

4-Mar-2014

Contact: Jen Middleton jen.middleton@ed.ac.uk 44-131-650-6514 University of Edinburgh

Horses suffering from neurological conditions similar to those that affect humans could be helped by a breakthrough from stem cell scientists.

Researchers who are the first to create working nerve cells from horse stem cells say the advance may pave the way for cell therapies that target conditions similar to motor neurone disease.

The research could also benefit horses affected by grass sickness, a neurological condition that affects around 600 horses a year in the UK.

Little is known about the disease, which causes nerve damage throughout the body. It is untreatable and animals with the most severe form usually die or have to be put down.

The advance by the University of Edinburgh's Roslin Institute will provide a powerful tool for those studying horse diseases. It will also help scientists to test new drugs and treatments.

The researchers took skin cells from a young horse and turned them into stem cells using a technique that was originally developed for human cells. The reprogrammed cells are pluripotent, which means they can be induced to become any type of cell in the body.

The team used them to create nerve cells in the laboratory and tested whether they were functional by showing that they could transmit nerve signals in a test tube.

Read the rest here:
Horses set to gain health benefits from stem cell advance

Current ratings for: Reconstructing faces using human stem cells from fat

Public / Patient:

5 3 ratings

Health Professionals:

0 0 ratings

Researchers in London, UK, are investigating the effectiveness of stem cell therapies for facial reconstruction.

A joint team, from London's Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children and University College London's Institute of Child Health, has published the findings of their research in the journal Nanomedicine.

This follows the recent news that another UK-based team, of The London Chest Hospital, has begun the largest ever trial of adult stem cells in heart attack patients.

Great Ormond Street has a proven track record in facial reconstruction, particularly with regard to treating children with a missing or malformed ear - a condition called microtia. This kind of reconstructive surgery involves taking cartilage from the patient's ribs to craft a "scaffold" for an ear, which is then implanted beneath the skin.

Despite successes with this method, the researchers thought the treatment may be improved by bringing stem cells into the process.

More:
Reconstructing faces using human stem cells from fat

A team of University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers has induced human embryonic stem cells (hESC) to differentiate toward pure-population, mature heart muscle cells, or cardiomyocytes.

Wendy Crone

A substrate patterned with a precisely sized series of channels played a critical role in the advance.

Published online in the journal Biomaterials, the research could open the door to advances in areas that include tissue engineering and drug discovery and testing.

Researchers currently can differentiate hESC into immature heart muscle cells. Those cells, however, don't develop the robust internal structures repeating sections of muscle cells called sarcomeres that enable cardiomyocytes to produce the contracting force that allows the heart to pump blood. Other cell components that allow heart muscle cells to communicate and work together also are less developed in immature cardiomyocytes.

One barrier to efforts to produce more mature cells is the culture surface itself; hESC are notoriously finicky. "It's really hard to culture stem cells effectively and to provide them with an environment that's going to help them to thrive and differentiate in the way you want," says lead author Wendy Crone, a professor of engineering physics, biomedical engineering and materials science and engineering at UW-Madison.

Recently, three-dimensional and micropatterned substrates have emerged as more accurately mimicking the cells' physiological environment. However, the majority of previous research studies using patterning were conducted using cells from rats, says Max Salick, a Ph.D. student in materials science at UW-Madison and first author on the paper.

"One of the unique aspects of our research is that it observes human cardiomyocytes' response to micropatterning geometries," he says.

Working in laboratories in the Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery, the UW-Madison researchers focused on finding the pattern, including the right size scale, that suits the human stem cells.

Link:
Stem cell advance yields mature heart muscle cells

Jesse Freeman, 71, suffered a major heart attack at home Had surgery to repair a blocked artery and to insert a stent to keep it open He was then asked to take part in a new study into the use of stem cells These are 'master cells' which can turn into almost any other type of cell in the body, replacing damaged cells He had bone marrow removed from his hip and infused into his heart It is hoped this will regenerate to help heal his damaged heart

By Emma Innes

PUBLISHED: 08:36 EST, 3 March 2014 | UPDATED: 08:52 EST, 3 March 2014

A British man has become the second patient in a Europe to have pioneering stem cell treatment in a bid to prolong his life.

Jesse Freeman, 71, was invited to take part in the landmark trial after suffering a major heart attack at home.

Surgeons repaired a blocked artery and inserted a stent to keep it open after he was rushed to hospital.

Jesse Freeman (pictured with his wife, Christine) has become the second person in Europe to have pioneering stem cell treatment after a heart attack. It is hoped the procedure will cause his damaged heart muscle to regenerate and that it could eventually become common practice in the treatment of heart attack patients

But while recovering in hospital, he was asked to take part in the major new study to see if heart attack patients can benefit from being treated with their own stem cells.

These are 'master cells' which can turn into almost any other type of cell in the body, replacing damaged cells.

Doctors at the London Chest Hospital, in Bethnal Green, removed bone marrow from Mr Freeman, a grandfather, without general anaesthetic and the cells were then infused into his heart.

Read the rest here:
Is this the heart attack treatment of the future? British grandfather has stem cells taken from his hip and injected ...

An advanced surgery was performed at TOSH hospital on Saturday to treat a patient with knee arthritis, with the damaged cartilage in the knee regenerated using stem cells.

Prof. A.A. Shetty, director of minimally invasive surgery and stem cell research at Canterbury Christchurch University, UK, who performed the surgery, said all the Indian Council of Medical Researchs guidelines were adhered to while performing the procedure. He was speaking at a press meet on Saturday.

Under an earlier version of this technique, stem cells harvested in the bone marrow had to be cultured in the lab and then injected into the knee after six weeks. There were several disadvantages with this technique longer hospital stay, increased chances of infection, lower success rates and increased costs, he said.

However, under the new technique, the stem cells are harvested and centrifuged within the operation theatre. The stem cell concentrate is then mixed with a special fibrin gel and inserted directly at the site of the damaged cartilage through a keyhole procedure.

This surgery is less expensive, at around Rs. 75,000, and the patient can go home the next day. Its failure rate is only 10 to 15 per cent and it can also be performed on patients with advanced osteoarthritis, Prof. Shetty said.

A 49-year-old woman, on whom the surgery has been performed, is currently recovering at the hospital.

Prof. Seok Jung Kim, director of the regenerative medical system, South Korea, and S.H. Jaheer Hussain, orthopaedic and trauma surgeon, TOSH hospital, also participated in the meet.

See original here:
Chennai TOSH hospital treats knee arthritis with stem cells

Scientists have managed to use body fat and turned it into cartilage It is now hoped technique could help patients born with microtia At the moment, doctors take cartilage from other parts of the body

By Daily Mail Reporter

PUBLISHED: 06:43 EST, 2 March 2014 | UPDATED: 06:46 EST, 2 March 2014

1,179 shares

24

View comments

British scientists are aiming to grow ears and noses in a laboratory to transplant then into humans.

Scientists from Great Ormond Street Hospital and University College London have managed to use abdominal body fat and turn it into cartilage.

It is now hoped that the technique could help patients who have been born with microtia, which means the ear fails to develop properly, or who have been in an accident.

Scientists from Great Ormond Street Hospital are aiming to grow ears and noses in a laboratory to transplant then into humans

Read the original:
Ears and noses to be grown in lab from stem cells for human transplants thanks to revolutionary technique