Category Archives: Stem Cells

Former MNC employee Karthik Shankaran was diagnosed with leukaemia in January 2011.

By December that year, it seemed as if timely treatment had gotten rid of it, but a couple of weeks ago, he found his cancer had relapsed.

Forty-five-year-old Karthik now has two months to undergo a stem cell transplant, his most viable shot at recovery. But, quite a few hurdles lie ahead. For one, Karthik is yet to find a donor.

There is a 25 per cent chance of finding a match within the family, but there was nobody in mine. So I have to look for unrelated donors, says Karthik. This is where stem cell registries come in.

If the registry is large enough, finding a match is quite probable. In India however, there is no central registry. All the individual registries in the country put together probably have just about 50,000 samples, says Karthik.

In an ethnically diverse country like India, this is a very small number. As it turns out, Karthik was not able to find a match in the registries either.

This prompted Karthik and his wife Divya Mohan, a technical writer, to start Swab4Karthik.

Swab4Karthik is a website that emphasises the role of potential stem cell donors in helping patients of leukaemia.

Stem cells can be extracted from several parts of our body bone marrow, blood and cord blood. However, most of the stem cell transplants carried out today use peripheral blood, according to Raghu Rajagopal, co-founder and CEO of Datri, a stem cell registry.

(Peripheral blood is the circulating blood of the body. It is different from the blood that flows within the liver, bone marrow or the lymphatic system.)

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45-year-old leukaemia patient awaits stem cells

Featured Article Academic Journal Main Category: Stem Cell Research Also Included In: Bones / Orthopedics Article Date: 05 Apr 2013 - 12:00 PDT

Current ratings for: "Nanokicking" Stem Cells Offers Cheaper And Easier Way To Grow New Bone

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Matt Dalby from the Centre for Cell Engineering at the University of Glasgow, and colleagues, write about their work in a study that was published recently in the journal ACS Nano.

In a statement released this week, Dalby says their new method offers a simple way of "converting adult stem cells from the bone marrow into bone-making cells on a large scale without the use of cocktails of chemicals or recourse to challenging and complex engineering".

Scientists have found it is possible to grow these tissue types in the lab by isolating MSCs and culturing them in an environment that simulates that which occurs naturally in the human body.

But current methods of coaxing the stem cells to differentiate are notoriously problematic and require expensive and highly engineered materials or complex chemical cocktails.

Nanokicking replicates a vibration that occurs in the membranes of bone cells when they stick together to form new bone naturally in the body.

The vibration, which has a frequency of 1,000 times per second, is thought to promote bone formation by encouraging signals between bone cells.

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"Nanokicking" Stem Cells Offers Cheaper And Easier Way To Grow New Bone

Washington, April 5 (ANI): American researchers have for the first time isolated adult stem cells from human intestinal tissue.

The accomplishment provides a much-needed resource for scientists eager to uncover the true mechanisms of human stem cell biology. It also enables them to explore new tactics to treat inflammatory bowel disease or to ameliorate the side effects of chemotherapy and radiation, which often damage the gut.

The UNC study represents a leap forward for a field that for many years has had to resort to conducting experiments in cells from mice. While significant progress has been made using mouse models, differences in stem cell biology between mice and humans have kept researchers from investigating new therapeutics for human afflictions.

"While the information we get from mice is good foundational mechanistic data to explain how this tissue works, there are some opportunities that we might not be able to pursue until we do similar experiments with human tissue," lead study co-author Adam D. Gracz, a graduate student in Magness' lab. Megan K. Fuller, MD, was also co-lead author of the study.

The Magness lab was the first in the United States to isolate and grow single intestinal stem cells from mice, so they had a leg up when it came to pursuing similar techniques in human tissue. Plus the researchers were able to get sections of human small intestine for their experiments that otherwise would have been discarded after gastric bypass surgery at UNC.

To develop their technique, the researchers investigated whether the approach they had taken in mice would work in human tissue. They first looked to see if the same molecules they had found stuck on the surface of mouse stem cells were also present on human stem cells. The researchers established that these specific molecules - called CD24 and CD44 -- were indeed the same between the two species. They then attached fluorescent tags to these molecules and used a special machine called a fluorescence activated cell sorter to identify and isolate the stem cells from the small intestine samples.

They found that not only could they isolate the human stem cells from human intestinal tissue, but that they also could separate different types of intestinal stem cells from each other.

These two types of stem cells - active and reserve - are a hot topic for stem cell researchers who are still trying to figure out how reserve stem cells cycle in to replenish active stem cells damaged by injury, chemotherapy or radiation.

The study was recently published in the journal Stem Cells. (ANI)

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Adult stem cells isolated from human intestinal tissue

4 April 2013 Last updated at 20:01 ET By Ken Macdonald BBC Scotland Science Correspondent

Are your stem cells not doing what you want them to? Give them a kicking.

That is the new technique developed by a Scottish research team, a technique which could help patients with spinal injuries grow new bone.

They call it "nanokicking". It plays on the potential our bodies' stem cells possess to turn into any other kind of tissue - blood, muscle or, in this case, bone.

Persuading stem cells to become bone has been done in the laboratory before. But existing techniques typically involve complex and expensive engineering or cocktails of chemicals.

The Scottish team, drawn from the universities of Glasgow, Strathclyde and the West of Scotland, is instead mimicking a natural process - when broken bones need to knit, they vibrate.

In his laboratory at Glasgow University, Dr Matt Dalby opens an incubator to show me how they do it.

"In here we have the cells being nanokicked," he says.

"Here in the Petri dishes, the stems cells are growing.

"The piezo ceramics that are attached underneath are kicking the cells a thousand times a second, by around about 20 nanometres."

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Stem cells 'kicked' to grow new bone

Public release date: 5-Apr-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Sam Wong sam.wong@imperial.ac.uk 44-207-594-2198 Imperial College London

Scientists have shed light on a common bleeding disorder by growing and analysing stem cells from patients' blood to discover the cause of the disease in individual patients.

The technique may enable doctors to prescribe more effective treatments according to the defects identified in patients' cells.

In future, this approach could go much further: these same cells could be grown, manipulated, and applied as treatments for diseases of the heart, blood and circulation, including heart attacks and haemophilia.

The study focused on von Willebrand disease (vWD), which is estimated to affect 1 in 100 people and can cause excessive, sometimes life-threatening bleeding. vWD is caused by a deficiency of von Willebrand factor (vWF), a blood component involved in making blood clot. vWF is produced by endothelial cells, which line the inside of every blood vessel in our body. Unfortunately, they are difficult to study because taking biopsies from patients is invasive and unpleasant.

A group led by Dr Anna Randi at the National Heart and Lung Institute, Imperial College London used a new approach to investigate the disease. Dr Richard Starke, a British Heart Foundation Intermediate Fellow and lead author of the study, took routine blood samples from eight patients with vWD, extracted stem cells called endothelial progenitor cells, and grew them in the lab to yield large numbers of endothelial cells.

By testing these cells, they were able to analyse each patient's disease in unprecedented detail. In some patients, the scientists found new types of defect, which may enable them to recommend improved treatments. Professor Mike Laffan, a collaborator in the study and in charge of patients with VWD at Hammersmith Hospital in West London, is looking to apply these findings to reduce severe bleeding in these patients.

Dr Randi believes that endothelial progenitor cells could become an invaluable resource for testing new drugs for vWD and other diseases. "We will be able to test the effects of a range of compounds in the patients' own cells, before giving the drugs to the patients themselves," she said.

This approach could have impact far beyond vWD. Endothelial cells derived from blood could also be isolated and reinjected into someone recovering from a heart attack, to help them grow new blood vessels and repair the injured heart tissue. Dr Starke says this approach avoids the main problem with transplant therapies, in which the immune system tries to destroy the foreign material. "The patients would receive their own cells, so they wouldn't face the problems of rejection," he said.

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Stem cells enable personalized treatment for bleeding disorder

A recent Harper's Bazaar article discusses a new skin care treatment that utilizes one's own stem cells to eliminate the visual signs of aging. Dr. Simon Ourian of Epione Beverly Hills says there needs to be more research done before hed offer the treatment to his patients.

Los Angeles, California (PRWEB) April 06, 2013

I appreciate the work of other physicians pushing the boundaries of skin care and science, says Dr. Ourian, Medical Director of Epione Beverly Hills. In this instance, I would need to see additional positive data before Id offer the treatment to my patients.

Those choosing this new skin therapy undergo a type of liposuction with an approved plastic surgeon. A few ounces of fat tissue are removed from the body, placed in a cooler, and sent to a lab. There the stem cells are separated from the rest of the fatty tissue obtained during the liposuction procedure. The cells are then cultured in a growth solution, with the final product being a client specific skin care product.

Over the last several years, aesthetic practitioners have been using autologous fat transfers in which fatty tissue taken from one area of a client's body is transplanted into another part of the body. This procedure can make faces and lips look healthier and fuller. The treatment in the report is the first to use one's own stem cells to cultivate a personalized skin care product to stimulate the skin's healing abilities.

According to the article, users of this new line say that the product effectively reduces wrinkles and fine lines. Further, researchers found that out of 19 clients, 95 percent reported improved skin texture within just 4 weeks of using the product, reduction in fine lines that was visible was reported by 81 percent, and 87 percent of clients reported a more youthful appearance.

Critics point out that a major drawback of this procedure is its costly nature, with procedures such as Botox and dermal fillers in the same price range. I have to say that, for now, Im in agreement with the critics, says Dr. Ourian. Why pay for something you hope will work when for the same money you can receive a treatment we know will be effective?

Dr. Ourian has been a pioneer in laser technology and non-invasive aesthetic procedures including Restylane, Juvderm, Radiesse and Sculptra. These treatments are used for the correction or reversal of a variety of conditions such as acne, acne scars, skin discoloration, wrinkles, stretch marks, varicose veins, cellulite, and others. More information about stem cell skin care treatments can be found on Epiones website.

Grace Russell Epione Medical Corporation (888) 951-3377 Email Information

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Stem Cells Skin Care – Does it Work?

Cocovanol, from Diana Plant Sciences.

Diana Plant Sciences, based in Portland, OR, has brought to market what it says is the first nutraceutical ingredient produced completely in a bioreactor via plant stem cell technology.

The ingredient, a cocoa powder containing a high level of flavanols the company has branded as Cocovanol, debuted recently at the Natural Products Expo West trade show in Anaheim, CA. The powder is indistinguishable at a glance from standard cocoa powder, save for its lighter color. Except in this case, a process of controlled growth within a bioreactornot photosynthesisis the prime input that resulted in the ingredient.

So far as company officials are aware, it is the first nutraceutical ingredient to come to market via the technology, said Marc Philouze, president of Diana Plant Sciences.

There are quite a number of companies that advertise plant stem technology, mostly in the cosmetic industry. Whats really valuable is we dont emphasize so much the stem cells, we care more about the active metabolites within the cells that provide the benefits, Philouze told NutraIngredients-USA.

Diana first identifies a substance of interest, and then drills down to find out which cells within the plant are producing the compounds shown by the scientific literature to have health benefits. They can then culture just the wheat so to speakthose specific cells (in the case of Cocovanol, the cells within the cacao beans that synthesize the flavanols) without having to harvest the chaff, namely all of the thousands of other types of cells within the cacao bean or any other plant of interest that produce other compounds incidental to the health benefit associated with that ingredient.

Non GMO approach

Its a reductionist approach, Philouze acknowledges, one that has led the technology to be applied in the research and manufacture of pharmaceuticals. One big difference between Dianas approach and those of the drug researchers, though, is that in the pharmaceutical realm there is no special issue surrounding genetic modification technology to tweak the stem cells to deliver the desired compounds. Diana explicitly rejects that approach for the production of its nutracuetical ingredients.

This is a non GMO process. We dont intervene at that level, Philouze said.

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Diana Plant Sciences debuts cocoa ingredient derived from plant stem cells

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Stem cells may transform the way doctors treat heart failure

By Ferris Jabr

HEART REPAIR: Harvesting semispecialized stem cells from an ailing heart, helping them to make millions of copies of themselves and injecting those cells into the heart enable the organ to break down scar tissue and grow new muscle. Image: Bryan Christie

In early 2009 Mike Jones bought a newspaper at a convenience store in Louisville, Ky., and read about a local doctor who wanted to try something unprecedented: healing an ailing heart by harvesting and multiplying its native stem cellsimmature cells with regenerative powers. Jones, then 65, had congestive heart failure: his heart was no longer pumping blood efficiently. He contacted the doctor, Roberto Bolli of the University of Louisville, and in July of that year Jones became the first person in the world to receive an infusion of his own cardiac stem cells.

This article was originally published with the title A Change of Heart.

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A Change of Heart: Stem Cells May Transform Treatment for Heart Failure (preview)

Apr. 1, 2013 Using the same strategy that a common virus employs to evade the human immune system, researchers at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center's Institute for Regenerative Medicine have modified adult stem cells to increase their survival -- with the goal of giving the cells time to exert their natural healing abilities.

"Basically, we've helped the cells be 'invisible' to the body's natural killer cells, T cells and other aspects of the immune system, so they can survive to promote healing," said Graca Almeida-Porada, M.D., Ph.D., senior author and professor of regenerative medicine at Wake Forest Baptist.

The research, reported in the current issue of PLOS ONE, a peer-reviewed, open access journal, involves mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), found in bone marrow, peripheral and cord blood and fetal liver and lung tissue. These cells are known for their ability to migrate to damaged tissues and contribute to healing. However, like all cells, they are susceptible to being killed by the body's complement system, a part of the immune system involved in inflammation and organ rejection.

"These cells have a natural ability to help modulate the immune response, so if we can increase their survival, they theoretically could be a therapy to decrease inflammation and help transplant patients avoid organ rejection," said Almeida-Porada.

In the study, the researchers evaluated the potential of human cytomegalovirus (HCMV), a member of the herpes virus family, to help increase the survival of MSCs. While the HCMN virus infects between 50 percent and 80 percent of people in the U.S., it normally produces no symptoms and remains latent in the body over long periods.

"We wanted to take advantage of the virus' ability to evade the immune system," said Almeida-Porada. "Our strategy was to modify the cells to produce the same proteins as the HCMV virus so they could escape death and help modulate inflammation and promote healing."

MSCs were purified from human fetal liver tissue. They were then engineered to produce specific proteins expressed by the HMCV virus. Through this process, the scientists identified the protein that was most effective at increasing cell survival. Specifically, the team is the first to show that overexpression of the US2 protein made the cells less recognizable to the immune system and increased cell survival by 59 percent (+/- 13 percent).

"The research showed that modifying the cells indeed improves their survival," said Almeida-Porada. "Next, we hope to evaluate the healing potential of these cells in conditions such as bowel disease, traumatic brain injury and human organ transplant." The research was supported by National Institutes of Health grants HL73737 and HL97623.

Almeida-Porada's co-researchers were Melisa A. Soland, Ph.D., and Christopher Porada, Ph.D., Wake Forest Baptist; Mariana Bego, Ph.D., Institut de Recherches Cliniques de Montreal, Canada; and Evan Colletti, Ph.D, Esmail Zanjani, Ph.D., and Stephen S. Jeor, Ph.D., University of Nevada.

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Researchers first to use common virus to 'fortify' adult stem cells