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Category Archives: Stem Cells
$70 Million Alpha Stem Cell Clinic Project Garners Mainstream Media Attention
Posted: July 24, 2013 at 3:22 pm
California's $70 million plan for a
chain of “Alpha” stem cell clinics today received its first major
attention from the mainstream media.
chain of “Alpha” stem cell clinics today received its first major
attention from the mainstream media.
The story came in the state's largest
circulation newspaper, appearing this morning on the home page of the
website of Los Angeles Times.
circulation newspaper, appearing this morning on the home page of the
website of Los Angeles Times.
The Alpha project would create five clinics
around the state and a coordination/information center under a
concept that comes before the governing board of the state's $3
billion stem cell agency at its meeting tomorrow in Burlingame, Ca. Funds could be
awarded as early as a year from now. (For more information, see here
and here.)
around the state and a coordination/information center under a
concept that comes before the governing board of the state's $3
billion stem cell agency at its meeting tomorrow in Burlingame, Ca. Funds could be
awarded as early as a year from now. (For more information, see here
and here.)
Reporter Eryn Brown quoted Natalie
DeWitt, special projects officer for CIRM, as the stem cell agency is known, and Maria Millan, a CIRM
medical officer. Brown wrote,
DeWitt, special projects officer for CIRM, as the stem cell agency is known, and Maria Millan, a CIRM
medical officer. Brown wrote,
“Clinics to conduct trials of stem
cell therapies have different needs than clinics designed to deliver
conventional therapies, DeWitt and Millan said. They need special
facilities for handling the cells safely, as well as imaging
equipment to track the cells once they're delivered into a patient’s
body. Some of this infrastructure already exists, but other
parts of it still need to be perfected. Establishing clinics to
house multiple trials might create the critical mass needed to get
the infrastructure in place, they said....
"Additionally, they said, CIRM
hopes that such collaboration would encourage stem cell companies to
share information -- speeding their own work and also helping out
policymakers and insurers who are trying to figure out how they'll
pay for stem cell therapies in the future.”
The Times quoted the
California Stem Cell Report as saying last week,
California Stem Cell Report as saying last week,
“The Alpha clinics
are aimed at creation of a sturdy foundation for the stem cell
industry in California, capitalizing on the burgeoning, international
lure of stem cell treatments.”
The proposal envisions Alpha stem cell
clinics at major, established institutions around the state. It is
possible that two could be located in the Los Angeles area at
institutions such as UCLA, USC, Cedars-Sinai or the City of Hope, all
of which have representatives on the stem cell agency's governing
board. Other likely locations are in the San Francisco Bay area and
San Diego, again at facilities such as Stanford, UC San Francisco and
UC San Diego that have representation on the agency board.
clinics at major, established institutions around the state. It is
possible that two could be located in the Los Angeles area at
institutions such as UCLA, USC, Cedars-Sinai or the City of Hope, all
of which have representatives on the stem cell agency's governing
board. Other likely locations are in the San Francisco Bay area and
San Diego, again at facilities such as Stanford, UC San Francisco and
UC San Diego that have representation on the agency board.
Institutions competing for the grants,
including businesses, will be subject to closed-door. peer review
prior to final action by the full governing board.
including businesses, will be subject to closed-door. peer review
prior to final action by the full governing board.
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New study refutes existence and clinical potential of very small embryonic-like stem cells
Posted: July 24, 2013 at 2:43 pm
Public release date: 24-Jul-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Mary Beth O'Leary moleary@cell.com 617-397-2802 Cell Press
Scientists have reported that very small embryonic-like stem cells (VSELs), which can be isolated from blood or bone marrow rather than embryos, could represent an alternative to mouse and human embryonic stem cells for research and medicine. But their very existence is hotly debated, and a study appearing online on July 24th in the ISSCR's journal Stem Cell Reports, published by Cell Press, provides strong evidence against the existence of VSELs capable of turning into different cell types. The findings call into question current plans to launch a clinical trial aimed at testing whether VSELs can be used for regenerative medicine in humans.
"To know when a stem cell discovery is true, it must meet several criteria," says senior study author Irving Weissman of Stanford University School of Medicine. "First, the work must be published in a peer-reviewed journal; second, other labs in the field should be able to repeat the findings; third, the phenomenon should be so robust that other experimental methods must reveal it; and fourth, in the stem cell field, the regeneration that occurs must be rapid, robust, and lifelong. In our study, we did not find evidence supporting the second, third, and fourth requirements."
In 2006, a group of researchers first reported the presence of VSELs in mice. Subsequent studies have provided evidence that these cells also exist in human blood and bone marrow and could turn into specialized cells such as lung cells, a finding which may be useful for replacing damaged tissue. But other labs have failed to replicate these findings. Nonetheless, a biopharmaceutical company called Neostem, which acquired the exclusive license to VSEL technology, plans to apply for Food and Drug Administration approval to carry out a first-in-man trial to test whether VSELs can regenerate bone.
In light of these conflicting results, Weissman and his team made the most rigorous effort yet to replicate the original VSEL findings. Although they used a variety of protocols, they failed to find VSELs derived from mouse bone marrow that could turn into specialized blood cells. Instead, the "VSELs" appeared to be artifacts such as cell debris and fragments from dying cells. "Our findings clearly refute the basis in mouse studies that VSELs have the potentials claimed, and therefore call into question claims that these cells have potential for clinical application in humans," Weissman says.
Another article that will be published on the same day in the journal Cell Stem Cell reviews the controversy surrounding VSELs and includes wide-ranging commentary from experts in the field.
###
Stem Cell Reports, Miyanishi et al.: "Do pluripotent stem cells exist in adult mice as very small embryonic stem cells?."
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New study refutes existence and clinical potential of very small embryonic-like stem cells
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Doubt cast over tiny stem cells
Posted: July 24, 2013 at 2:43 pm
Mariusz Ratajczak first reported finding very small embryonic-like stem cells in 2006.
University of Louisville Health Sciences Center
Does a rare and minuscule cell type with the potential to repair almost any tissue in the body really exist?
Proponents of very small embryonic-like cells (VSELs) extracted from bone marrow say that the cells have the potential to transform regenerative medicine. A trial has begun in Poland, and cell-therapy company Neostem in New York is planning another in Michigan.
But in a major blow to the field, a paper published on 24 July in Stem Cell Reports suggests that the diminutive stem cells are not real1. Led by Irving Weissman, a prominent stem-cell researcher at Stanford University in California, the study is the fourth to refute the cells existence and the most thorough yet.
Weissmans evidence is a clincher it is the end of the road for VSELs, believes Rdiger Alt, head of research at Vita 34, a private bank for umbilical cord blood in Leipzig, Germany, who last year published the first failure to replicate claims for the cells2.
Robin Smith, chief executive at Neostem, disagrees. She compares the attacks on VSELs to those suffered by Charles Darwin and Nicolaus Copernicus when they proposed their world-changing scientific theories.
The battle over VSELs has been raging for more than two years, and has covered ground from the United States to Vatican City and Poland. The cells were first described3 in mouse bone marrow in 2006, by a team led by Mariusz Ratajczak at the University of Louisville in Kentucky. His group and a few others have since generated a literature that characterizes VSELs as rare components of bone marrow and other tissues, less than 6micrometres in diameter and able to turn into a diverse range of cell types, including blood, bone, muscle and nerve.
Ratajczak was given a joint position at the Pomeranian Medical University in Szczecin, Poland, in 2006. From there, he obtained 10.6million (US$14 million) from European Union sources for a VSEL research network involving five institutions. The network last year registered the first human trial of a VSEL preparation, which aims to treat 60 people who have severe angina. Around one-quarter of the participants have already been injected with the preparation.
But the network became rattled after one collaborator, Jzef Dulak at the Jagiellonian University in Krakow, failed to find traces of VSELs in his experiments. When he published his findings in May4, Ratajczak tried to force him out of the consortium. Dulak, like Weissman, found no molecular signatures associated with pluripotency in any mouse bone-marrow cells smaller than 7micrometres across. Weissmans more extensive analysis now also reports that in his experiments, the small cells did not aggregate into spheres in vitro, as pluripotent cells do; nor could they differentiate into blood cells, the adult tissues that such cells are most likely to become.
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Doubt cast over tiny stem cells
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‘Embryonic-like’ stem cells can’t be found: US study
Posted: July 24, 2013 at 2:43 pm
A US company that promoted its stem cell discovery in partnership with the Vatican has come under fresh scrutiny by independent scientists who said Wednesday the cells do not exist.
Scientists at Stanford University said in the journal Stem Cell Reports they could not replicate NeoStem's findings of very small embryonic-like cells (VSELs) in the bone marrow of lab mice.
These cells have been touted by the New York-based company as an ethical alternative to stem cells requiring the destruction of human embryos, with the same regenerative ability to transform into other cell types in the body.
Earlier this year, NeoStem announced plans to launch the first human trials of the cells for bone growth.
"We tried as hard as we could to replicate the original published results using the methods described and were unable to detect these cells in either the bone marrow or the blood of laboratory mice," said lead author Irving Weissman, who directs Stanford's Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine.
Weissman's study is the first to evaluate the biological potency of the cells, and it found they could not transform into blood cells and contained very little DNA.
Instead, researchers found that what purported to be VSELs -- about five micrometers in diameter -- were either debris or dead cells.
"A true pluripotent cell would be able to differentiate into any tissue type," said Weissman. "But we couldn't confirm that cells of that size or phenotype could generate hematopoietic cells with any reliability."
In response, NeoStem chairman and CEO Robin Smith said the company has studies in progress that will "confirm whether or not VSEL(s) have characteristics of a pluripotent stem cell."
"We acknowledge that there is controversy in the VSEL field but this is not unusual for most new scientific discoveries and theories (Darwin and evolution, Copernicus and earth orbiting the sun as examples)," Smith said in a statement emailed to AFP.
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'Embryonic-like' stem cells can't be found: US study
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UCLA Researcher Calls for Easing of Restrictions on Stem Cell Lines Derived from Eggs From Paid Providers
Posted: July 24, 2013 at 10:07 am
A UCLA researcher has spoken out in
support of a proposal to allow use of California stem cell agency
funds to purchase stem cell lines derived from eggs provided by women
who have been paid for the service.
support of a proposal to allow use of California stem cell agency
funds to purchase stem cell lines derived from eggs provided by women
who have been paid for the service.
Kathrin Plath, an associate professor, said in a letter to the agency that she and her colleagues would like to use a line from the Oregon SCNT
experiment by Shoukhrat Mitalipov in which human stem cells were cloned. Currently agency funds cannot be used for that purpose as
a result of regulations that are the extension of a state law that
bars use of agency funds for payment for eggs.
experiment by Shoukhrat Mitalipov in which human stem cells were cloned. Currently agency funds cannot be used for that purpose as
a result of regulations that are the extension of a state law that
bars use of agency funds for payment for eggs.
The agency's standards group meets later today to consider changing those regulations. The proposal will
then go before the full board tomorrow.
then go before the full board tomorrow.
Plath, who has received $5 million from CIRM, said,
“In my lab, we are ... interested in
understanding what happens to the somatically silenced X chromosome
when differentiated cells are reprogrammed by SCNT. The key question
is: are these SCNT-ESCs more similar to iPSCs or
fertilization-derived ESCs with respect to the epigenetic state of
the X chromosome. Furthermore, it has been shown in mouse
reprogramming that the active X chromosome becomes deregulated during
SCNT-based reprogramming, and we would like to address this problem
in the human system as well.
“We believe that the comparison of
the epigenetic states between fertilization-derived ESCs, SCNT-ESCs
and human iPSCs is important for a better characterization of these
cells and understanding of their epigenetic nature.”
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Stem cells turned into photoreceptors could treat vision loss
Posted: July 23, 2013 at 4:49 am
LONDON, July 22 (UPI) -- British scientist say embryonic stem cells turned into photoreceptors can integrate into a live retina, possibly promising new treatments for eye diseases.
Writing in the journal Nature Biotechnology, researchers from University College London report producing rod-like photoreceptors from embryonic stem cells and successfully transplanting them into the retinas of mice.
The result suggests embryonic stem cells may one day lead to treatment for eye diseases sush retinitis pigmentosa, macular degeneration or other degenerative conditions that can cause loss of vision.
The researchers say they've developed a new method for growing embryonic stem cells that allows them to become immature eye cells and self-organize into three-dimensional structures similar to those seen in a developing retina.
In laboratory tests, the structures were transplanted into the retinas of night-blind mice where they integrated with the natural cells of the eye and formed synaptic connections, the MIT Technology Review reported Monday.
While the technique is probably years away from human trials, embryonic stem cells are already being tested in clinical trials in Japan for macular degeneration.
Researchers there say an alternative source of stem cells, dubbed induced pluripotent stem cells, will soon move into human trials as a treatment for eye disease.
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Stem cells turned into photoreceptors could treat vision loss
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Magnetised carriers help steer stem cells to therapy sites
Posted: July 23, 2013 at 4:49 am
23 July 2013
Magnets could be a tool for directing stem cells to treat conditions such as heart or vascular disease.
By feeding stem cells particles made of magnetised iron oxide, scientists at Emory University and the Georgia Institute of Technology believe they can then use magnets to attract the cells to a particular location in the body after intravenous injection.
The results are published online in the journal Small and will appear in an upcoming issue. The paper was a result of collaboration between the laboratories of W. Robert Taylor of Emory, and Gang Bao of Georgia Tech. Taylor is professor of medicine and biomedical engineering and Bao is professor in the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech and Emory University.
The study used mesenchymal stem cells that can be obtained from adult tissues such as bone marrow or fat and are capable of becoming bone, fat and cartilage cells, but not other types of cell such as muscle or brain. They secrete a variety of nourishing and anti-inflammatory factors, which could make them valuable tools for treating conditions such as cardiovascular disease or autoimmune disorders.
Magnetized iron oxide nanoparticles are already US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved for diagnostic purposes with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Other scientists have tried to load stem cells with similar particles, but found that the coating on the particles was toxic or changed the cells properties.
The nanoparticles used in this study have a polyethylene glycol coating that protects the cell from damage. Another feature is that the Emory/Georgia Tech team used a magnetic field to push the particles into the cells, rather than chemical agents used previously.
We were able to load the cells with a lot of these nanoparticles and we showed clearly that the cells were not harmed, Taylor said in a statement. The coating is unique and thus there was no change in viability and perhaps even more importantly, we didnt see any change in the characteristics of the stem cells, such as their capacity to differentiate. This was essentially a proof of principle experiment. Ultimately, we would target these to a particular limb, an abnormal blood vessel or even the heart.
The particles are coated with the non-toxic polymer polyethylene glycol, and have an iron oxide core that is about 15 nanometres across. For comparison, a DNA molecule is two nanometres wide and a single influenza virus is at least 100 nanometres wide.
The particles appear to become stuck in cells lysosomes, which are parts of the cell that break down waste. The particles stay in one place for at least a week and leakage cannot be detected. The scientists measured the iron content in the cells once they were loaded up and determined that each cell absorbed roughly 1.5 million particles.
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Magnetised carriers help steer stem cells to therapy sites
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Stem cells could help reverse some blindness
Posted: July 23, 2013 at 4:49 am
Scientists in Britain have taken a significant step towards the possibility of reversing certain forms of blindness using stem cells.
For the first time, researchers have successfully grown light sensitive mouse retina cells from embryonic stem cells in the lab and transplanted them into night-blind mice.
Following the transplantation, the cells appeared to develop normally, by integrating into the existing retina and forming nerve connections needed to transmit visual information to the brain.
The findings are published in the latest edition of Nature Biotechnology.
It is not yet clear how the technique would work in humans.
There are two types of photoreceptors in the eyes, known as rods and cones.
Rods are important for night vision.
Using a new technique involving 3D culture and differentiation of mouse stem cells recently developed in Japan, the team grew retinas containing all the different nerve cells needed for sight.
They then transplanted 200,000 of the artificially grown photoreceptor cells into retina of the night blind mice.
Three weeks later a much smaller number of the cells had integrated into the mouse retina and had begun looking like normal mature rod cells.
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Stem cells could help reverse some blindness
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Using Stem Cells To Treat Blindness
Posted: July 23, 2013 at 4:49 am
July 22, 2013
A new study published in the journal Nature Biotechnology represents a major step forward in curing certain types of blindness.
Described to the BBC News as a significant breakthrough, the UK-based study outlined a groundbreaking technique developed by doctors at Moorfields Eye Hospital and University College London that uses stem cell therapy to replace photoreceptors that may have died as a result of Stargardts disease or age-related macular degeneration.
While previous efforts have successfully focused on keeping the photoreceptors support cells alive, the new treatment aims to replace the retinas key cells directly. These cells sense light and are connected to other cells that relay the visual information to the brain.
The new technique expands on work done by Japanese researchers who used mice stem cells to fashion new retinas. The London team created photoreceptor cells and placed them in the eyes of blind mice.
After being injected, the new cells were able to connect with the mices existing framework albeit at a relatively low level of effectiveness. Approximately 1,000 of the 200,000 transplanted cells were able to connect with the rest of the eye.
This is a real proof of concept that photoreceptors can be transplanted from an embryonic stem cells source and it give us a route map to now do this in humans, said lead researcher Robin Ali, a professor of Human Molecular Genetics at the University College of London. Thats why were so excited, five years is now a realistic aim for starting a clinical trial.
The eye is one of the most promising candidates for stem cell therapy because there is only one type of intermediary cell between photoreceptors and the brain, unlike other organs which require far more connections between newly generated cells. A relatively small number tens of thousands of stem cells could improve vision, a number that would not make much of a difference in the liver or brain.
The eyes relatively weak local immune system also makes it an ideal candidate for stem cell therapy. A weak immune system means a lower chance of transplanted cells being rejected.
While experts described the study as a huge leap forward, some expressed concerns about the stem cells relatively low connection rate.
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Using Stem Cells To Treat Blindness
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Light-Detecting Retina Cells Made from Stem Cells
Posted: July 23, 2013 at 4:49 am
Scientists turn embryonic stem cells into photoreceptors that can integrate into a live retina.
Transplanted photoreceptors derived from embryonic stem cells (green) integrate into the damaged retina of an adult mouse and touch the next neuron in the retinal circuit (red).
Scientists in the U.K. have produced rod-like photoreceptors from embryonic stem cells, and successfully transplanted them into the retinas of mice. The work suggests that embryonic stem cells could perhaps one day be used as a treatment for patients who have lost their vision to retinitis pigmentosa, macular degeneration, or other degenerative conditions in which the light-detecting rods and cones of the retina die over time.
Currently, there are few treatment options for these conditions; electronic implanted devices are available for some patients in some countries, but their efficacy is limited (see A Second Artificial Retina Option for the E.U. and What Its Like to See Again with an Artificial Retina).The new work,reported in Nature Biotechnology on Sunday, offers hope for a more effective, comprehensive treatment.
The researchers used a new method for growing embryonic stem cells that enables them to turn into immature eye cells and self-organize into three-dimensional structures similar to those seen in a developing retina (see Growing Eyeballs). Immature light-detecting cells were harvested from this culture and transplanted into the retinas of night-blind mice. There, the cells integrated with the natural cells of the eye and formed synaptic connections. The work did not involve testing how well the mice could see after the cells were implanted.
While this particular technique is probably years away from human trials, embryonic stem cells are already being tested in clinical trials for macular degeneration and Stargardts macular dystrophy. Last week, in fact, Japanese authorities announced that an alternative source of stem cells will soon move into human trials as a treatment for eye disease.The BBC reported that Japan has approved the first clinical trial of induced pluripotent stem cells, or iPS cells. These stem cells are made by reprogramming normal adult cells so that they return to a more embryonic-like state so that they can then be converted into other cell types, such as retinal cells. In the clinical trial, doctors will collect a patients own cells, which will then be used in an experimental treatment for age-related macular degeneration. The trial will start with around six patients.
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Light-Detecting Retina Cells Made from Stem Cells
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