Category Archives: Stem Cells

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SALT LAKE CITY, UT (KSL/NBC) - Using stem cells to regenerate body parts is no longer science fiction and may hold true inside people's mouths.

The new dean of the University of Utah's School of Dentistry projects regrowing teeth could become a reality within the decade.

According to Dr. Rena D'Souza, who now assumes her new role as the school's dean, "There are stem cells that lie in our adult teeth and our baby teeth, which we lose, that can be used to regenerate or regrow structures of the tooth that are lost to decay or trauma."

D'Souza sees an expanding program at the university for teaching, training and research. She believes dental research should be a collaborative effort.

Originally posted here:
Stem cells may help regrow teeth

Oct. 11, 2013 Stem cell therapy for heart disease is happening. Around the world, thousands of heart disease patients have been treated in clinical studies with some form of bone marrow cells or stem cells. But in many of those studies, the actual impact on heart function was modest or inconsistent. One reason is that most of the cells either don't stay in the heart or die soon after being introduced into the body.

Cardiology researchers at Emory have a solution for this problem. The researchers package stem cells in a capsule made of alginate, a gel-like substance. Once packaged, the cells stay put, releasing their healing factors over time.

Researchers used encapsulated mesenchymal stem cells to form a "patch" that was applied to the hearts of rats after a heart attack. Compared with animals treated with naked cells (or with nothing), rats treated with the capsule patches displayed increased heart function, reduced scar size and more growth of new blood vessels a month later. In addition, many more of the encapsulated cells stayed alive.

"This approach appears to be an effective way to increase cell retention and survival in the context of cardiac cell therapy," says W. Robert Taylor, MD, professor of medicine and director of the cardiology division at Emory University School of Medicine and professor in the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech and Emory. "It may be a strategy applicable to many cell types for regenerative therapy in cardiovascular disease."

The results were published October 10 in the Journal of the American Heart Association. The first author is cardiovascular research fellow Rebecca Levit, MD. She and her colleagues collaborated with the laboratory of Andres Garcia, PhD, in the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech at Emory University, in developing the patch used to apply the encapsulated cells.

When introduced into the heart after a heart attack, cells face both an inhospitable inflammatory environment and mechanical forces that act on them like fingers squeezing slippery watermelon seeds, Taylor says.

"These cells are social creatures -- they like to be together," he says. "From some studies of cell therapy after myocardial infarction, one can estimate that more than 90 percent of the cells are lost in the first hour. With numbers like that, it's easy to make the case that retention is the first place to look to boost effectiveness."

Encapsulation keeps the mesenchymal stem cells together in the heart and keeps them happy. It allows them to sense the outside environment and release smaller proteins such as the growth factors the cells produce, while preventing larger proteins such as antibodies from coming in and spoiling the party.

Alginate, the material used to encapsulate the stem cells, has plenty of biomedical and culinary uses already. It's a cooking tool in the hands of inventive chefs, and it's part of wound dressings and the goop dentists use to take impressions of someone's teeth. Collin Weber, MD, a diabetes researcher at Emory and a co-author on the paper, has been using alginate to encapsulate insulin-producing islet cells, and alginate-encapsulated islets are being tested in clinical trials for diabetes.

Encasing cells in a gel does prevent cells from becoming part of the cardiac muscle tissue and replacing cells that have died -- but mesenchymal stem cells aren't really expected to do that anyway.

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Packaging stem cells in capsules for heart therapy

Allie #39;s Voice Podcast: ViaCyte Stem Cells for T1D
Podcast: http://www.alliesvoice.com/2013/04/12/viacyte-stem-cells-for-t1d/ Subscribe: http://www.alliesvoice.com/ The JDRF is funding research efforts of ViaCyte to bring us closer to a T1D...

By: Allie Beatty

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Allie's Voice Podcast: ViaCyte Stem Cells for T1D - Video

TORONTO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Please replace the release with the following corrected version due to multiple revisions.

HIGH-FREQUENCY ULTRASOUND CONFIRMS STEM CELLS GRAFTED IN BEATING MICE HEARTS RESTORES NORMAL RHYTHMS

Mayo Clinic researchers use advanced ultrasound software to document microscopic, regenerative improvements to damaged cardiac motion for published study

Using high-frequency ultrasound and special cardiac-assessment software by FUJIFILM VisualSonics, Inc., researchers have been able to implant engineered stem cells into the damaged heart tissue of mice and, over time, observe the regeneration of healthy cardiac rhythms.

Following a heart attack, scarred and infarcted (dead) tissue can interfere with the heart's ability to regain is regular synchronized motion. Findings published in the September Journal of Physiology by Mayo Clinic researchers reveal that, when mice underwent the grafting of stem cellsspecifically, induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cellsinto their damaged hearts, cardiac motion was resynchronized.

"A high-resolution ultrasound revealed harmonized pumping where iPS cells were introduced to the previously damaged heart tissue," says Satsuki Yamada, MD, PhD, first author of the study: Induced pluripotent stem cell intervention rescues ventricular wall motion disparity, achieving biological cardia resynchronization post-infarction (Yamada S, Nelson T, Kane G, et al., Journal of Physiology 591 (17), 4335-4349).

This first-time discovery offers a significant step towards validating the potential in stem cell-based regenerative solutions to cardiac dyssynchrony. It was captured in ultrasound imaging and hard data through "speckle tracking echocardiography" made possible by VevoStrain Advanced Cardiac Analysis Software manufactured by VisualSonics of Toronto, Ontario. This software provides advanced imaging and quantification capabilities for studying sensitive movements in heart muscles and is the only commercial cardiac-strain package optimized for assessing cardiovascular function in preclinical rodent studies.

Dr. Yamada and her co-researchers utilized this highly specialized software during the implantation and observation of the stem cells within the beating mice hearts. The software documented the following:

By analyzing the data (specifically, measuring strain rate and time to peak analyses in systole), researchers were able to confirm that the irregular rhythms were corrected in those hearts engrafted with the iPS cells: homogenous wall motion was recovered; cell-mediated correction of dyssynchrony and discoordination occurred; and abnormal post-infarction ultrasound speckle patterns were normalized.

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CORRECTING and REPLACING: High-Frequency Ultrasound Confirms Stem Cells Grafted in Beating Mice Hearts Restores Normal ...

Public release date: 10-Oct-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]

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

Human skin must cope with UV radiation from the sun and other harmful environmental factors that fluctuate in a circadian manner. A study published by Cell Press on October 10th in the journal Cell Stem Cell has revealed that human skin stem cells deal with these cyclical threats by carrying out different functions depending on the time of day. By activating genes involved in UV protection during the day, these cells protect themselves against radiation-induced DNA damage. The findings could pave the way for new strategies to prevent premature aging and cancer in humans.

"Our study shows that human skin stem cells posses an internal clock that allows them to very accurately know the time of day and helps them know when it is best to perform the correct function," says study author Salvador Aznar Benitah an ICREA Research Professor who developed this project at the Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG, Barcelona), and who has recently moved his lab to the Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona). "This is important because it seems that tissues need an accurate internal clock to remain healthy."

A variety of cells in our body have internal clocks that help them perform certain functions depending on the time of day, and skin cells as well as some stem cells exhibit circadian behaviors. Benitah and his collaborators previously found that animals lacking normal circadian rhythms in skin stem cells age prematurely, suggesting that these cyclical patterns can protect against cellular damage. But until now, it has not been clear how circadian rhythms affect the functions of human skin stem cells.

To address this question, Benitah teamed up with his collaborators Luis Serrano and Ben Lehner of the Centre for Genomic Regulation. They found that distinct sets of genes in human skin stem cells show peak activity at different times of day. Genes involved in UV protection become most active during the daytime to guard these cells while they proliferatethat is, when they duplicate their DNA and are more susceptible to radiation-induced damage.

"We know that the clock is gradually disrupted in aged mice and humans, and we know that preventing stem cells from accurately knowing the time of the day reduces their regenerative capacity," Benitah says. "Our current efforts lie in trying to identify the causes underlying the disruption of the clock of human skin stem cells and hopefully find means to prevent or delay it."

###

Cell Stem Cell, Janich et al.: "Human epidermal stem cell function is regulated by circadian oscillations."

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Circadian rhythms in skin stem cells protect us against UV rays

TORONTO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Using high-frequency ultrasound and special cardiac-assessment software by FUJIFILM VisualSonics, Inc., researchers have been able to implant engineered stem cells into the damaged heart tissue of mice and, over time, observe the regeneration of healthy cardiac rhythms.

Following a heart attack, scarred and infarcted (dead) tissue can interfere with the heart's ability to regain is regular synchronized motion. Findings published in the September Journal of Physiology by Mayo Clinic researchers reveal that, when mice underwent the grafting of stem cellsspecifically, induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cellsinto their damaged hearts, cardiac motion was resynchronized.

"A high-resolution ultrasound revealed harmonized pumping where iPS cells were introduced to the previously damaged heart tissue," says Satsuki Yamada, MD, PhD, first author of the study: Induced pluripotent stem cell intervention rescues ventricular wall motion disparity, achieving biological cardia resynchronization post-infarction (Yamada S, Nelson T, Kane G, et al., Journal of Physiology 591 (17), 4335-4349).

This first-time discovery offers a significant step towards validating the potential in stem cell-based regenerative solutions to cardiac dyssynchrony. It was captured in ultrasound imaging and hard data through "speckle tracking echocardiography" made possible by VevoStrain Advanced Cardiac Analysis Software manufactured by VisualSonics of Toronto, Ontario. This software provides advanced imaging and quantification capabilities for studying sensitive movements in heart muscles and is the only commercial cardiac-strain package optimized for assessing cardiovascular function in preclinical rodent studies.

Dr. Yamada and his co-researchers utilized this highly specialized software during the implantion and observation of the stem cells within the beating mice hearts. The software documented the following:

By analyzing the data (specifically, measuring strain rate and time to peak analyses in systole), researchers were able to confirm that the irregular rhythms were corrected in those hearts engrafted with the iPS cells: homogenous wall motion was recovered; cell-mediated correction of dyssynchrony and discoordination occurred; and abnormal post-infarction ultrasound speckle patterns were normalized.

The VevoStrain software augments high-resolution imaging capabilities of the Vevo 2100 Imaging system manufactured by VisualSonics for preclinical, in vivo research. VisualSonics regularly attends conferences within the medical and scientific research industry, such as the annual American Heart Association (AHA) Scientific Sessions where visitors can see the VevoStrain software tool in action at the company's booth.

To learn more about VevoStrain software, go to: http://www.visualsonics.com/vevostrain.

About FUJIFILM VisualSonics, Inc.

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High-Frequency Ultrasound Confirms Stem Cells Grafted in Beating Mice Hearts Restores Abnormal Rhythms

Public release date: 10-Oct-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Michael C. Purdy purdym@wustl.edu 314-286-0122 Washington University School of Medicine

New research has shown that the stomach naturally produces more stem cells than previously realized, likely for repair of injuries from infections, digestive fluids and the foods we eat.

Stem cells can make multiple kinds of specialized cells, and scientists have been working for years to use that ability to repair injuries throughout the body. But causing specialized adult cells to revert to stem cells and work on repairs has been challenging.

Scientists from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and Utrecht Medical Center in the Netherlands report in the new study that a class of specialized cells in the stomach reverts to stem cells more often than they thought.

"We already knew that these cells, which are called chief cells, can change back into stem cells to make temporary repairs in significant stomach injuries, such as a cut or damage from infection," said Jason Mills, MD, PhD, associate professor of medicine at Washington University. "The fact that they're making this transition more often, even in the absence of noticeable injuries, suggests that it may be easier than we realized to make some types of mature, specialized adult cells revert to stem cells."

The findings are published Oct. 10 in Cell.

Chief cells normally produce digestive fluids for the stomach. Mills studies their transformation into stem cells for injury repair. He also is investigating the possibility that the potential for growth unleashed by this change may contribute to stomach cancers.

In the new report, Mills, graduate student Greg Sibbel and Hans Clevers, MD, PhD, a geneticist at Utrecht Medical Center, identify markers that show a small number of chief cells become stem cells even in the absence of serious injury.

If a significant injury is introduced in cell cultures or in animal models, more chief cells become stem cells, making it possible to fix the damage.

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Stomach cells naturally revert to stem cells

Public release date: 9-Oct-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Sally Garneski pressinquiry@facs.org 312-202-5409 American College of Surgeons

WASHINGTON, DCResearchers at the University of Michigan Department of Surgery have begun testing an alternative to embryonic stem cells that could one day regenerate muscle tissue for babies with congenital heart defects. A research-in-progress report on this new approach, which uses amniotic stem cells, was presented today at the 2013 Clinical Congress of the American College of Surgeons. Although this research is still in an early phase, this new approach has the potential to one day help thousands of babies born each year with congenital heart defects.

Typically, a pregnant woman can have a fetal ultrasound performed to find out the sex of her baby between 18 and 20 weeks gestation. But each year during pregnancy or after birth, 40,000 women also find out that their babies have birth defects in their hearts, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.*

Babies with congenital heart defects often go through multiple heart operations or even a transplant before their first birthday. But Shaun Kunisaki, MD, a pediatric surgeon and assistant professor of surgery at the University of Michigan, and his surgical team are testing a new method of regenerating defective heart tissue so that one day these multiple operations may no longer be necessary.

"We know that the baby's heart cells are functioning, but the muscle has developed abnormally," lead study author Dr. Kunisaki said. "We have to find the right source of new cells to replace the damaged cells or generate new tissue to augment the damaged heart."

Stem Cell Shortfalls

Until now embryonic stem cells have shown potential to morph into various types of organ tissues, but the ethics surrounding the process of having to destroy the embryo to achieve this outcome has drawn controversy.

Stem cells from bone marrow have also seemed promising, but such cells are obviously hard to obtain from a fetus. Furthermore, getting bone marrow from a donor brings about the same risk as having a heart transplanthaving to suppress the newborn infant's immune system so that its body doesn't reject the foreign cells. "Also, bone marrow cells are not made to function like heart muscle cells, but rather to protect against inflammation," Dr. Kunisaki explained.

Cardiac stem cells, which are in the heart, have also been considered, but the heart contains a very limited number of these stem cells.

Continued here:
Amniotic stem cells show promise in helping to repair cardiac birth defects

Stem Cells injected into Caleb #39;s spinal cord
This video was taken during the injection process of Caleb #39;s stem cell treatment. It was shot by Dr. Zannos Grekos on Friday, September 27, 2013 in the Domin...

By: Caleb Bartlett

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Stem Cells injected into Caleb's spinal cord - Video

A German government-funded research project is using laser tomography to help scale-up stem cell production for anticipated new therapies.

Work on the Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF)-backed Ultrasensitive Verification and Manipulation of Cells and/or Tissue and their molecular Substances started in July and will receive 4.1million over the course of three years.

Central to the project is a technique known as scanning laser optical tomography (SLOT), developed and patented by Laser Zentrum Hannover, while other project partners with optics expertise include the advanced microscopy specialist LaVision BioTec and lens maker Sill Optics.

The SLOT technique is used to monitor cell cultures consisting of so-called pluripotent stem cells (hPSC). Once isolated from an embryo, these cells have the ability to turn into virtually any cell type.

In the new TOMOSphere project, SLOT will, for the first time, be used to monitor quantitatively the absolute number of cells in cultured, endogenous groups. The results are expected improve understanding of the physiology of hPSC and other stem cells, as well continuous control of their characteristics.

Light combination LZH scientists have previously used SLOT to generate optical images similar to those produced by a familiar X-ray computed tomography (CT) scanner. Having already created detailed images of a rodents lung, they are also working to develop the technology for human use.

The technique is able to simultaneously record transmitted, scattered and fluorescent light, generating high-resolution, three-dimensional images. In a separate project, LZH and collaborators are working to speed up the image generation process to make SLOT more practically useful.

For the stem cell application, SLOT enables cell biologists to classify and then sort the aggregates into specific cell types.

The BMBF-funded project is working on an incubation system where SLOT will provide marker-free identification of intrinsic cell and tissue-specific characteristics. It also enables monitoring of the fluctuation of critical biological species, for example calcium ions, as well as imaging different types of micro- and nanoparticles in cell aggregates.

SLOT works by scanning cell aggregates inside a cuvette with a narrow beam. A projection image for each scanning position is generated from a combination of scattered, transmitted and fluorescent light that is collected.

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Laser tomography aids 'mass production' of stem cells