Category Archives: Stem Cells

1 November 2012 Last updated at 23:09 ET By James Gallagher Health and science reporter, BBC News

Boys left infertile by childhood cancer treatment may one day be able to produce healthy sperm by using stored stem cells, monkey research suggests.

Chemotherapy and radiotherapy can kill tumours and the cells which make sperm.

A study, published in the journal Cell Stem Cell, extracted sperm-producing stem cells before cancer treatment and later placed them back into the monkey.

Sperm which could fertilise an egg were produced, which experts labelled a "milestone" in research.

Most men who have cancer treatment which could affect their fertility can choose to freeze sperm before their treatment starts. This is not an option for patients who have not yet gone through puberty.

These are issues we still must work through, but this study does show us the concept is feasible

However, they do have the spermatogonial stem cells which would start to produce sperm in their teenage years.

The researchers at the University of Pittsburgh and the Magee-Womens Research Institute took samples of the stem cells from macaques and stored them in a freezer.

The monkeys were then given a chemotherapy drug.

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Stem cell op may 'restore sperm'

By Helen Lawson

PUBLISHED: 03:59 EST, 3 November 2012 | UPDATED: 04:13 EST, 3 November 2012

Strenuous daily exercise could help to repair the heart of someone who has just suffered a heart attack, according to a new study.

Researchers at Liverpool John Moores University found that vigorous regular exercise led to dormant stem cells in the heart becoming active. This stimulated the development of new heart muscle.

The findings, published in the European Heart Journal, suggest that scientists could soon be able to improve the quality of life for people suffering from heart disease or heart failure.

Vigorous daily exercise could lead to the heart generating new heart muscle cells, according to a study funded by the British Heart Foundation

This is the first study of its kind to suggest that a basic exercise regime could have the same effect on the heart as injecting growth chemicals to stimulate stem cells to produce new tissue.

The team of scientists, funded by the British Heart Foundation, studied healthy male rats for up to four weeks by exercising them on an intensity-controlled treadmill for half an hour, four times a week.

The rats on a high-intensity programme showed the greatest increase in the size of their hearts, as expected, but also their aerobic capacity - how well the heart, lungs and blood vessels work.

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Daily exercise could help to repair damage from heart failure

November 2, 2012

[WATCH VIDEO: Stem Cells Show Promise For Treating Infertility]

Connie K. Ho for redOrbit.com Your Universe Online

Researchers from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and Magee-Womens Research Institute (MWRIF) recently discovered that a stem-cell based approach to treat infertility was successful in non-human primates and could possibly be used by cancer patients who have become infertile as a result of chemotherapy.

In particular, patients who undergo chemotherapy or radiation therapy often become infertile due to the treatments that damage dividing cells; these cells include both cancer cells and spermatogonial stem cells (SSCs), stem cells that later on become sperm.

Before undergoing cancer therapy, some patients have the option to cryopreserve their sperm and use the cells later on to have children. However, while adult males have this option, prepubertal boys do not as they have not yet reached the age where they produce mature sperm and, as such, cancer treatments can cause them to become permanently infertile.

Men can bank sperm before they have cancer treatment if they hope to have biological children later in their lives, explained senior investigator Kyle Orwig, an associate professor in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive medicine at the Pitt School of Medicine, in a press release. But that is not an option for young boys who havent gone through puberty, cant provide a sperm sample, and are many years away from thinking about having babies.

The preclinical study was recently published in the journal Cell Stem Cell.

This is the first study to demonstrate that transplanted spermatogonial stem cells can produce functional sperm in higher primates, remarked Orwig, who also serves as an investigator at the Magee-Womens Research Institute, in the statement. This is an important step toward human translation.

With the new findings, the scientists believe that the young male patients can possibly preserve their SSCs prior to having cancer therapy. These cells can later on be transplanted when they end their cancer treatment and when they reach the point of sexual maturity. The team of investigators examined this possible option by cyropreserving SSCs from monkeys prior to treatment of a chemotherapy drug.

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Stem Cells Help Preserve Sperm of Male Cancer Patients

ScienceDaily (Oct. 22, 2012) Duke Medicine researchers studying the interaction of blood stem cells and the niche where they reside have identified a protein that may be a long-sought growth factor for blood stem cells.

The protein is called pleiotrophin, and is produced by cells that line the blood vessels in bone marrow. In mouse studies conducted by the Duke researchers, the protein helps transplanted blood stem cells locate to the bone marrow, where they produce mature red and white blood cells in the body.

The finding, reported in the Oct. 18, 2012, issue of the journal Cell Reports, could lead to new treatments that speed recovery of healthy blood levels for patients receiving chemotherapy or undergoing bone marrow and cord blood transplants.

"Our hypothesis is that pleitrophin has the potential to promote blood stem cell growth in the manner that erythropoietin stimulates red blood cell precursors," said principal investigator John Chute, M.D., professor of Medicine, Pharmacology & Cancer Biology.

Many patients have benefitted from the discovery of erythropoietin (EPO), which stimulates the body to produce mature red blood cells. A synthetic form of EPO is commonly used to treat patients with anemia. Similarly, granulocyte colony stimulating factor (Neupogen), a growth factor for white blood cells, is used to remedy low white blood cell counts that often result from chemotherapy or radiation treatments for cancer.

"A principle objective in hematology for several decades is to identify a growth factor capable of promoting blood stem cells to grow without differentiating," Chute said.

Pleiotrophin may be one such growth factor. Pleiotrophin, which means "many forms," appears to make blood stem cells grow and promote production of all the mature blood lineages that are derived from the blood stem cell. Previously, Chute and his colleagues had shown that treatment with pleiotrophin promoted the expansion of mouse and human blood stems cells in cultures that were capable of engrafting in transplanted mice.

In the new research, lead researcher Heather Himburg, Ph.D., assistant professor of medicine, and Chute's research team showed that cells lining blood vessels in the bone marrow produce pleiotrophin, where it acts as a homing device to attract and retain stem cells. The researchers then demonstrated that genetically engineered mice missing the gene encoding pleiotrophin had decreased numbers of stem cells in their bone marrow, and had difficulty making new blood cells if depleted.

When the researchers treated normal mice with an anti-pleiotrophin antibody, it had the surprising effect of causing existing blood stem cells to be released from bone marrow and enter the blood stream. The finding was particularly exciting to the researchers, as the effect was similar to that observed when granulocyte-colony stimulating factor is used clinically to mobilize stem cells from a donor's bone marrow for use in blood stem cell transplants.

"The discoveries together suggest two possible therapeutic uses," said Chute. "Treatment with pleiotrophin may prove useful in helping patients more quickly regenerate their own blood forming cells after chemotherapy or bone marrow transplant. Second, anti-pleiotrophin antibodies may be useful in mobilizing stem cells to the peripheral blood."

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Ootent growth factor for blood stem cells identified