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Category Archives: Stem Cells

Skin cells become ‘grandparents’

Posted: October 5, 2012 at 2:25 am

4 October 2012 Last updated at 18:31 ET By James Gallagher Health and science reporter, BBC News

Stem cells made from skin have become "grandparents" after generations of life were created in experiments by scientists in Japan.

The cells were used to create eggs, which were fertilised to produce baby mice. These later had their own babies.

If the technique could be adapted for people, it could help infertile couples have children and even allow women to overcome the menopause.

But experts say many scientific and ethical hurdles must be overcome.

Stem cells are able to become any other type of cell in the body from blood to bone, nerves to skin.

Last year the team at Kyoto University managed to make viable sperm from stem cells. Now they have performed a similar feat with eggs.

They used stem cells from two sources: those collected from an embryo and skin-like cells which were reprogrammed into becoming stem cells.

I just thought wow! The science is quite brilliant

The first step, reported in the journal Science, was to turn the stem cells into early versions of eggs.

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Pluristem unveils portable stem cells thawing device

Posted: October 4, 2012 at 11:19 am

Pluristem Therapeutics Ltd. (Nasdaq:PSTI; DAX: PJT: PLTR) today announced that it has developed a portable instrument for thawing its placenta-based stems cell (PLX cells) on-site before they are administered to patients.

Pluristem will ship its off-the-shelf PLX cell therapy product candidates, which will be stored in multiple dose vials that require thawing prior to use. The vial will be placed into the proprietary thawing device and PLX cells will be ready for a convenient intramuscular injection. The company said that if the trials of the instrument are successful, it will be used as the final step in bringing high quality, clinical grade PLX cell products to patients around the globe.

"Pluristem understands the importance of providing a standardized product with every dose of these living drug delivery devices," said Pluristem chairman and CEO Zami Aberman. "If we are successful, we want our PLX cell products, once developed, to be an easy-to-use therapy. This thawing device will give us better control of several variables in our clinical trials and in treating patients after our products have been approved assuming we are successful. This instrument is an additional step in our vision to bring PLX cells as first-line therapies for a variety of indications and to think about the cell delivery process all the way from mass manufacturing to the patient's bedside."

Pluristem's share price rose 4.3% on the TASE today to NIS 16.05, after the announcement, after rising 4.4% on Nasdaq yesterday to $4.07, giving a market cap of $193 million.

Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - http://www.globes-online.com - on October 4, 2012

Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2012

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UCI stem cell center awes students

Posted: October 3, 2012 at 9:16 pm

IRVINE High school sophomore Derek Le said he's always been interested in science. But it wasn't until he saw how researchers could use stem cells to repair tissue damaged by heart attacks that Le thought science could be his future career.

"Wow, this is so amazing," said Le, a student from Westminster High. "They can create cells to fix people's hearts. I think I want to do something like this."

Emily Nordhoff, Junior Research Specialist is harnessed in a body weight support system that is used to measure walking patterns. More than 250 high school students took a tour of UC Irvine's Stem Cell program to learn about stem cell research.

CHRISTINE COTTER, FOR THE REGISTER

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The center was established at UC Irvine in 2010 with help of a $10 million endowment from PIMCO founder and his wife.

Mission

The center's goals include training new researchers, providing state-of-the-art tissue culture labs and equipment, and testing new technologies and products related to stem cells research.

Accomplishments

Recent accomplishments include: securing first federally approved embryonic stem cell based therapy to go to clinical trial; developing of bone marrow stem cell treatment for stroke patients; and development of treatments for retinitis pigmentosa and macular degeneration.

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Verastem to Present at BIO Investor Forum and Participate in Cancer Stem Cell Panel

Posted: October 3, 2012 at 9:16 pm

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Verastem, Inc., (VSTM) a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering and developing drugs to treat cancer by the targeted killing of cancer stem cells, announced that members of the management team will present at the BIO Investor Forum on October 9, 2012, at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco, CA.

The company presentation is at 8:30 am PT in the Presidio room and Jonathan Pachter, Ph.D., Verastem Vice President and Head of Research, will participate on a cancer stem cell panel from 10:30-11:25 am PT in the Twin Peaks room.

The panel will bring together scientific experts who are at the forefront of developing novel medicines targeting cancer stem cells. Dr. Pachter will discuss the potential of this approach to create durable clinical responses for patients with cancers that are typically refractory to conventional treatments. Verastem is translating basic science into clinical products based on the seminal publications in Cell and PNAS by Robert Weinberg, Ph.D., Verastem co-founder and chair of the Scientific Advisory Board.

A webcast of the company presentation can be accessed by visiting the investors section of the Companys website at http://www.verastem.com. A replay of the webcast will be archived on the Verastem website for two weeks following the presentation date.

About Verastem, Inc.

Verastem, Inc. (VSTM) is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering and developing drugs to treat cancer by the targeted killing of cancer stem cells. Cancer stem cells are an underlying cause of tumor recurrence and metastasis. Verastem is developing small molecule inhibitors of signaling pathways that are critical to cancer stem cell survival and proliferation: focal adhesion kinase (FAK), PI3K/mTOR and Wnt. For more information, please visit http://www.verastem.com.

Forward-looking statements:

Any statements in this press release about future expectations, plans and prospects for the Company constitute forward-looking statements. Actual results may differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements. The Company anticipates that subsequent events and developments will cause the Companys views to change. However, while the Company may elect to update these forward-looking statements at some point in the future, the Company specifically disclaims any obligation to do so.

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Study Shows Epigenetics Of Adult Stem Cells Influences Organ Creation

Posted: October 3, 2012 at 9:16 pm

October 3, 2012

Alan McStravick for redOrbit.com Your Universe Online

Ask a handful of people about their thoughts and feelings on the use of stem cells for research and therapeutic means and you will find that they each have strong and varying positions on the topic. Outside the scientific community, however, little is known about this highly complex field of research.

The politicization of stem cell research accompanied the 1998 discovery that embryonic stem cells, the building blocks of organ, tissue, bone and brain cells, could be extracted for study and medical use. In 2001, with an order to limit the lines of stem cell research to those already in possession of the scientific community, President George W. Bush largely hampered the development of this field in the United States by limiting government funding for stem cell research. Adult stem cells, or somatic stem cells, were unaffected by this order, but the prevailing wisdom of the genetic community was that adult stem cells were not as dynamic and couldnt be used in the same way as their embryonic cousins.

With a report published Monday in the American Journal of Pathology, that truth no longer seems to be the case. A team led by Manel Esteller, director of the Cancer Epigenetics and Biology Program in the Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL), was able to identify epigenetic changes that occur in the somatic stem cells to generate different body tissues.

The use of somatic or adult stem cells had been a regular occurrence since their discovery in the 1950s. It was then that researchers found that bone marrow contains two different kinds of stem cells. The first, called hematopoietic stem cells, form all the types of blood cells in the body. The second, known as bone marrow stromal stem cells, were discovered only a few years later and are effective in the generation of bone, cartilage, fat and fibrous connective tissues.

One thing that has been understood is that the genome of each cell in the human body is identical. This is true regardless of their appearance and function. It is for this reason that certain anomalies, such as cancer, are seemingly incomprehensible as they are unable to be explained by the genome of the host. To better understand such complex genetic deviations, something more is required.

Researchers in this current study offer an explanation via analogy. Epigenetics is defined as the inheritance of DNA activity that does not depend on the strict sequence of it. According to the team, if genetics is the alphabet, spelling would be the epigenetics, referring to chemical changes in our genetic material as well as the proteins that regulate and control their activity.

We now know that somatic stem cells have enormous potential to regenerate damaged organs. By investigating how to use them more effectively in different types of therapies, the research team postulates that it will become easier to steer clear of any sticky ethical complications that might arise from working with embryonic stem cells.

In this study, the team was able to isolate somatic stem cells from body fat, allowing them to transform them into muscle and bone cells. Through their study, they observed the resemblance of the cells created in the laboratory to those of the host individual. They were also able to determine that the cells were biologically secure enough that they might be implanted into waiting patients. Overall, the study was able to show that the epigenome of the cells obtained and maintained in culture closely resembled skeletal and muscle cells that are spontaneously present in nature, though not completely identical.

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Radiation and chemotherapy may help create dangerous cancer stem cells

Posted: October 2, 2012 at 7:23 pm

Common cancer treatments such as radiation therapy and chemotherapy may have the undesirable effect of helping to create cancer stem cells, which are thought to be particularly adept at generating new tumors and are especially resistant to treatment, according to researchers.

The finding might help explain why late-stage cancers are often resistant to both radiation therapy and chemotherapy, and it could point to new strategies to fight tumors.

Past studies hint that cancer stem cells give rise to new tumors and researchers suggested that they are ultimately responsible for the recurrence of cancers and the dangerous spread of a cancer throughout the body.

Scientists also have found that cancer stem cells are more likely than other cancer cells to survive chemotherapies and radiation therapies, probably because their "stemness" allows them to self-replenish by repairing their damaged DNA and removing toxins.

The exact origin of cancer stem cells is debated. One possibility is that normal stem cells which are valued for their ability to give rise to other cell types in the body mutate to become cancerous. Another is that regular cancer cells somehow acquire stem cell properties.

The new study suggests regular cancer cells can indeed give rise to cancer stem cells, and that the radiation commonly used to treat cancer can trigger their stemness.

"Radiotherapy has been a standard treatment for cancer for so long, so we were quite surprised that it could induce stemness," Live Science quoted study researcher Dr. Chiang Li, of Harvard Medical School in Boston, as saying.

The scientists exposed regular cancer cells to gamma-rays, one form of ionizing radiation. They found that under the conditions that normally foster stem cell growth, regular cancer cells formed balls of cells a hallmark of cancer stem cells.

Additionally, analysis of these irradiated cancer cells revealed activity of genes linked with stem cell behaviors, according to the findings the scientists detailed online in the journal PLoS ONE.

Chemotherapy may have similar effects, according to previous findings that Li and his colleagues detailed in July in the journal Cell Cycle.

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Radiation and chemotherapy may help create dangerous cancer stem cells

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Adult stem cells change their epigenome to generate new organs

Posted: October 2, 2012 at 7:23 pm

Public release date: 2-Oct-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Ral Toran comunicacio@idibell.cat IDIBELL-Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute

The team led by Manel Esteller, director of the Cancer Epigenetics and Biology Program in the Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL), Professor of Genetics at the University of Barcelona and ICREA researcher, has identified epigenetic changes that occur in adult stem cells to generate different body tissues. The finding is published this week in The American Journal of Pathology.

The genome of every single cell in the human body is the same, regardless of their appearance and function. Therefore the activity of the tissues and organs and its disorders in complex diseases, such as cancer, cannot be fully explained by the genome. It is necessary something more, and part of the explanation is provided by epigenetics, which is defined as "the inheritance of DNA activity that does not depend on strict sequence of it." That is, if genetics is the alphabet, spelling would be the epigenetics, which refers to chemical changes in our genetic material and their regulatory proteins. The most known epigenetic mark is the addition of a methyl group to DNA. Thus, the epigenome is getting all the epigenetic marks of a living being.

Adult stem cells have an enormous potential to regenerate damaged organs and their use also avoids ethical complications involving embryonic stem cells, as well as technical problems arising from induced stem cells. In this study, researchers have isolated stem cells from body fat and transformed them into muscle and bone cells. Then, it was necessary to know how much resembled are the cells created in the laboratory with those present in one individual and if they were biologically secured enough to be implanted in patients. The study shows that the epigenome of the cells obtained in culture closely resembles that of skeletal muscle cells and they are spontaneously present in nature, although not completely identical.

A key point of the study is that muscle and bone cells produced in the laboratory do not have the tumour epigenome derived from these tumour tissues (rhabdomyosarcoma and osteosarcoma, respectively) so they are safe from a biological perspective. The study coordinator, Manel Esteller, stresses that the research "demonstrates the usefulness of epigenetics in determining the degree of maturity and biosecurity of differentiated tissues used in regenerative medicine against different diseases."

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Article reference

DNA Methylation Plasticity of Human Adipose-Derived Stem Cells in Lineage Commitment. Berdasco M, Melguizo C, Prados J, Gomez A, Alaminos M, Pujana MA, Setien F, Ortiz R, Zafra I, Aranega A, Esteller M. The American Journal of Pathology, published online 01 October 2012.

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GeneCell International, Miami’s Only and Preferred Cord Blood Laboratory, Participates in The Stem Cells USA & World …

Posted: October 1, 2012 at 10:18 am

Directors of GeneCell International, a cutting-edge facility specialized in the processing and cryogenic preservation of umbilical cord blood, cord tissue, dental pulp and adipose stem cells, attends the Stem Cells USA & World Cord Blood Congress 2012.

Miami, FL (PRWEB) October 01, 2012

The event was attended by 300+ notable and prominent doctors, scientists and regulators in the field of stem and featured numerous keynote speakers. The program kicked-off with the chairmans opening remarks on the perspective on the cord blood market. Entities involved in the collection, processing, cryopreservation, transplantation and research shared their and experiences with the rapidly evolving future of cord blood stem cells and related tissues. Some presentation topics included were:

Umbilical cord blood preservation is a process by which blood is collected from the umbilical cord of a newborn baby and is stored cryogenically in a specially-designated bank. According to the National Marrow Donor Program, cord blood contains cells that can be transfused to a patient to treat various diseases, including lymphoma and leukemia. Currently, there are approximately 80 treatable diseases and the list of illnesses continue to grow. Cord blood is rich in stem cells and there is less risk for the recipients immune system to reject the cells, because certain immune cells found in the cord blood are not mature. Cord blood can be used to treat the child from whom the blood was collected as well as some first-degree relatives who are a close genetic match, such as family members. Additionally, patients can get the treatment in about three weeks - as opposed to six to eight for bone marrow from an adult donor.

A persons blood stem cell type is inherited, which means a patient is more likely to find a matched donor from within their own ethnic group, said GeneCells Director of Operations, Jose Cirino. More than half of cord blood donations and privately banked cord blood in the United States are from Caucasians while minorities remain underrepresented. By increasing the awareness of cord blood advantages among minorities, there is a potential for increased access to therapies for more people.

The shortage, or lack of availability, affects patients of African, Asian, Hispanic and Native American Indian descent. Since patients who need a transplant are more likely to find a match within their own race, Cirino adds it is important that the pool of donors reflects the overall community.

Why isn't everyone banking these cells? What transpires is that people are not informed about stem cell banking and some have never even heard of it. Most people are not aware they have stem cells in their body, they believe that stem cells only come from human embryos since that is what is mainly discussed in politics and the news. However, this is not the case. These cells are found in adults and there are no moral, ethical or political issues surrounding these cells.

The amazing thing about these cells, aside from their potential to treat a variety of different diseases, is that for the most part they can be harvested from the individual through relatively minimally invasive procedures and can be cryogenically frozen (at a temperature of -321 F) and stored for decades until a disease manifests or they are needed for cell-based therapies added GeneCells Director of Research & Laboratory Operations, Dr. Todd R. Flower.

GeneCell International specializes in the collection, transport, processing and cryogenic storage of adult stem cells from various sources including; umbilical cord blood, cord tissue, dental pulp and adipose tissue (fat) that can later be used to treat a variety of diseases. The laboratory is also involved in scientific research and development with a range of stem cells from various adult tissues. The facility is governed and inspected by the FDA as well several other regulating bodies to ensure the safety of these cellular therapies.

Alongside its commitment to educating the public on the benefits of cord blood preservation, GeneCell is committed to being on the forefront of stem cell research. GeneCell International is the only Cord Blood, Cord Tissue and Dental Pulp Processing and Cryogenic Storage Laboratory to offer this cutting-edge, regenerative medicine technology in Miami, Florida.

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Fortune Magazine on California Stem Cell Agency: Warm, Personal and Favorable

Posted: September 30, 2012 at 3:54 pm


California's $3 billion stem cell
research effort today garnered a handsome dollop of favorable
national news coverage– a lengthy piece in Fortune magazine that
spoke of looming stem cell cures and the leading role of the state
stem cell agency.

The article led the Fortune web page online at one point this morning and
likely will be read by tens of thousands of persons, although it was not the cover story on the print product. 
Written by a former senior editor of
the magazine, Jeffrey O'Brien of Mill Valley, Ca., the piece was warm
and personal. He began with the story of his 95-year-old
grandmother and her health issues, ranging from arthritis to macular
degeneration. And he wrote,

“The citizens of California have
spoken. If my grandmother and I had the power to get the rest of the
country to follow, we would.”

O'Brien also discussed the science and
finances of the stem cell business. He said,

“To be clear, the earliest stem cell
therapies are almost certainly years from distribution. But so much
progress has been made at venerable research institutions that it now
seems possible to honestly discuss the possibility of a new medical
paradigm emerging within a generation. Working primarily with rodents
in preclinical trials, MDs and Ph.D.s are making the paralyzed walk
and the impotent virile. A stem cell therapy for two types of macular
degeneration recently restored the vision of two women. Once they
were blind. Now they see!

“Some experts assert that AMD could
be eradicated within a decade. Other scientists are heralding a
drug-free fix for HIV/AIDS. Various forms of cancer, Parkinson's,
diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and ALS have already been eradicated
in mice. If such work translates to humans, it will represent the
type of platform advancement that comes along in medicine only once
in a lifetime or two. The effect on the economy would be substantial.
Champions of stem cell research say it would be on the order of the
Internet or even the transistor.”

O'Brien continued,

“The obstacles along the road from
lab rat to human patients are many, of course, but the biggest by far
is money. With the dramatic events in the lab, you might think that a
gold rush would be under way. That's far from true. Long time
horizons, regulatory hurdles, huge R&D costs, public sentiment,
and political headwinds have all scared financiers. Wall Street isn't
interested in financing this particular dream. Most stem cell
companies that have dared go public are trading down 90% or more from
their IPOs. Sand Hill Road is AWOL. The National Venture Capital
Association doesn't even have a category to track stem cell
investments.”

As for the California stem cell agency
itself, the article contained remarks from its Chairman J.T.Thomas,
President Alan Trounson and former chairman Robert Klein about the origins and progress of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM).
O'Brien wrote, 

“The $1.7 billion awarded so far has made one obvious mark on the state: a dozen gleaming research institutions. CIRM has proved adept at getting billionaires to donate funds to the cause.”

O'Brien interviewed a several
prominent businessmen who have contributed tens of millions of
dollars to stem cell research “about the prospects of a legitimate industry emerging.” One was “bond genius” Bill Gross, who has
contributed to UC Irvine. Gross replied.

“Goodness, you're talking to the
wrong guy. Our donation had nothing to do with business.”

Eli Broad, another big stem cell donor,
said pretty much the same thing. And Andy Grove, the former chairman
of Intel, was “surprisingly full of doom and gloom.” O'Brien
wrote,

“For close to two hours, Grove argues
passionately about how the FDA is enabling predatory offshore
industries by impeding progress and the many reasons financiers want
no part of stem cells. "VCs aren't interested because it's a
shitty business," he says. Big Pharma? Forget it. CIRM? "There
are gleaming fucking buildings everywhere. That wasn't necessary."
When I press him to be constructive, he wearily offers one possible
solution. Rather than courting billionaires to put their names on
buildings, we need a system of targeted philanthropy in which the 99%
can sponsor the individual stem cell lines that matter to them.”

O'Brien said, however,

“It was clear during our talk that
Grove wants an economic model for stem cell research and development
to emerge, even if he's not willing to bet money on its happening.
And that puts him in good company.”

While the Fortune article has its
negative points about stem cell research, it is about as laudatory as
it is going to get at this point for the California stem cell agency.
The piece recognizes and even celebrates much of the work of the
agency. The article clearly details the void in financing
for commercialization of stem cell research, bolstering support for
efforts like those in California. Importantly, it also helps to push
the activities of the stem cell agency more fully into the national
discussion of stem cell research and its future. That should pay off
again and again in future news coverage and also benefit the stem
cell agency as it explores the possibility of additional funding –
either private or public – after the cash for new awards runs out
in 2017.

(The story is in the Oct. 8, 2012, edition of Fortune.)

Source:
http://californiastemcellreport.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default?alt=rss

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$700,000 Blue-ribbon Study of CIRM All But Finished

Posted: September 30, 2012 at 3:54 pm


The $700,000 study of the $3 billion
California stem cell agency is nearly concluded and is expected to be
released sometime in November.

A draft of the report has been sent out
for “peer review” and no additional public meetings are
scheduled, according to a spokeswoman for the Institute of
Medicine(IOM)
, which is conducting the study. The IOM did not respond
to questions from the California Stem Cell Report about the number of peer reviewers or how they were selected.
The study began last year under a contract with the stem cell agency, which commissioned the effort, in
part, because agency directors hoped the findings by the blue-ribbon
panel would bolster efforts to win voter approval of another multi-billion dollar state bond issue. More recently the agency has
explored the possibility of private financing to continue operations.
The agency is expected to run out of
funds for new awards in 2017. It currently has something in the
neighborhood of $700 million for awards that is not already committed
in one fashion or another.
Christine Stencel, senior media
relations officer for the IOM, said in an email,

There will be no
further information-gathering meetings. The committee members have
finished drafting their report and it is now undergoing peer review.
Reviewers are anonymous to study staff and committee members; they
will be listed in the front matter of the report when it’s finished
and released.”

She said the stem
cell agency will not be given an opportunity to comment further.
Stencel said,

Sponsors are not
treated as peer reviewers; that is, they’re not afforded an
opportunity to comment on IOM draft reports prior to public release.
IOM is aiming for a public release in November (the exact time frame
will hinge on the duration of the peer review, which is influenced by
people’s schedules and adherence to deadlines). IOM is looking at
options for how best to hold this release, whether there will be an
event of some sort. Once plans are set, they’ll be noted on the
project web pages and IOM will alert the various stakeholders and
interested parties of the plans. The study is moving along and we’re
looking forward to the report’s debut in the not too distant
future.”

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