Category Archives: Stem Cells

LOS ANGELES UCLA researchers have discovered a type of cell that is the "missing link" between bone marrow stem cells and all the cells of the human immune system, a finding that will lead to a greater understanding of how a healthy immune system is produced and how disease can lead to poor immune function.

The research was done using human bone marrow, which contains all the stem cells that produce blood during post-natal life.

"We felt it was especially important to do these studies using human bone marrow, as most research into the development of the immune system has used mouse bone marrow," said the study's senior author, Dr. Gay Crooks, co-director of UCLA's Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research and a co-director of the cancer and stem-cell biology program at UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center. "The few studies with human tissue have mostly used umbilical cord blood, which does not reflect the immune system of post-natal life."

The research team was "intrigued to find this particular bone marrow cell, because it opens up a lot of new possibilities in terms of understanding how human immunity is produced from stem cells throughout life," said Crooks, a professor of pathology and pediatrics.

Understanding the process of normal blood formation in human adults is a crucial step in shedding light on what goes wrong during the process that results in leukemias, cancers of the blood.

The findings appeared Sept. 2 in the early online edition of the journal Nature Immunology.

Before this study, researchers had a fairly good idea of how to find and study the blood stem cells of the bone marrow. The stem cells live forever, reproduce themselves and give rise to all the cells of the blood. In the process, the stem cells divide and produce cells in intermediate stages of development called progenitors, which make various blood lineages, like red blood cells or platelets.

Crooks was most interested in the creation of the progenitors that form the entire immune system, which consists of many different cells called lymphocytes, each with a specialized function to fight infection.

"Like the stem cells, the progenitor cells are also very rare, so before we can study them, we needed to find the needle in the haystack," said Lisa Kohn, a member of the UCLA Medical Scientist Training Program and first author of the study.

Previous work had found a fairly mature type of lymphocyte progenitor with a limited ability to differentiate, but the new work describes a more primitive type of progenitor primed to produce the entire immune system, Kohn said.

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'Missing link' ties blood stem cells, immune system

This morning, StemCells, Inc. (STEM) released six-month interim results for the first group of patients in its Phase I/II trial, testing the company`s HuCNS-SC (human neural stem cells) treatment candidate in patients with spinal cord injury - previous coverage available here. Shares are trading up nearly 20% in pre-market, and are likely to maintain momentum on the positive news. The interim data showed that thus far, HuCNS-SC treatment led to considerable gains in sensory function in two of three patients vs. their baseline levels of sensation prior to cell transplantation. The company also noted that the treatment continues to exhibit a favorable safety profile. The trial represents the first time that neural stem cells have been transplanted as a potential therapeutic agent for spinal cord injury, and the sensory gains observed have developed in a progressive pattern below the level of injury. Impressively, gains in sensation are not generally expected in spinal cord injury patients, particularly given the severity of injury seen in patients admitted to the Phase I/II study. According to STEM, sensory function of all patients observed thus far was stable before cell transplantation, therefore, the reappearance of sensation is a very positive sign that the treatment is having a beneficial effect. While the third patient did not experience an increase in sensation, that patient`s level of sensation remains stable. PropThink notes that another small-cap stem cell company, PluriStem Therapeutics (PSTI) is also moving in pre-market trading, likely in sympathy with the STEM news.

To see this article at PropThink.com, click here.

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PropThink: Interim Data In Spinal Cord Injury Driving STEM Higher; PSTI Reacting in Sympathy

DUBLIN--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/cwsq7k/stem_cells) has announced the addition of John Wiley and Sons Ltd's new book "Stem Cells" to their offering.

This third in the Current Topics in Molecular Cell Biology and Molecular Medicine Series contains a careful selection of new and updated, high-quality articles from the well-known Meyer's Encyclopedia, describing new perspectives in stem cell research. The approximately 40 chapters are divided into four sections: Basic Biology, Stem Cells and Disease, Stem Cell Therapy Approaches, and Laboratory Methods, with the authors chosen from among the leaders in their respective fields.

The two volumes represent an essential guide for students and researchers seeking an overview of the field.

Key Topics Covered:

Introduction to Stem Cells

Basic Biology

Stem Cells, Embryonic

Stem Cells, Adult

Stem Cells in the Adult Brain: Neurogenesis

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Research and Markets: Stem Cells - Current Topics in Molecular Cell Biology and Molecular Medicine Series

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- One of the most promising and exciting treatment avenues for multiple sclerosis is the use of a patient's own stem cells to try to stop -- or even repair -- some of the disease's brain tissue damage.

But injecting a patient with a dose of his or her own bone-marrow stem cells was actually a pretty crude method of treating the disease, because no one was quite sure how or why it worked. Last year, doctors at the Cleveland Clinic, University Hospitals Seidman Cancer Center and Case Western Reserve University began trying this for MS patients in a Phase 1 clinical trial after positive results were seen in mice.

Multiple sclerosis is an autoimmune disease in which the immune system attacks the myelin sheaths that surround and protect nerve cells. When myelin is damaged, the nerve cells are exposed and unable to do their job, which is sending signals to the brain and back. This results in the loss of motor skills, coordination and cognitive abilities.

Like many other researchers using stem cells, the local group didn't know exactly how their treatment worked, but they knew that when they gave these human mesenchymal stem cells, or MSCs, to mice with a mouse version of the disease, the mice got better.

Figuring out why the mice improved could help researchers see if the MSC injection will work well in a particular patient before the patient is injected, and possibly augment or improve the treatment as well.

In May, the research group at CWRU, headed up by neurosciences professor Robert Miller, discovered exactly what it is in the stem-cell soup that has a healing effect: a large molecule called hepatocyte growth factor, or HGF. The team published their results in Nature Neuroscience.

Miller's group knew that it could be the stem cells themselves, by coming in physical contact with the myelin damage, that were having a healing effect. Or it could be something the stem cells secreted into the surrounding liquid culture, or media, they were grown in, that was key. HGF is secreted by the stem cells, Miller said.

The team identified the HGF by first injecting only the liquid the stem cells were grown in, but not the stem cells themselves, into the mice they were studying. The mice got better, so the team knew whatever was helping was in the media.

Next, they isolated the small, medium and large molecules from the media and tried each size on the mice. Only the large-molecule treatment had the healing effect, meaning that whatever was helping was somewhere in that mix, Miller said.

"The molecule that jumped out at us was HGF," he said, because it is the right size, is made by MSCs, and in a couple of studies had been shown to be involved in myelin repair.

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Cleveland researchers find key to stem-cell therapy for MS patients: Discoveries

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) - Cases of autism have soared in recent years: one in every 88 children is diagnosed with the disorder. Now, a groundbreaking clinical trial will test whether a childs own stem cells the building blocks of the body might help.

Dr. Michael Chez of the Sutter Neuroscience Institute wants to look at the relationship between the immune system and the central nervous system, and it is his hope that he will be able to use stem cells to help behavioral and developmental issues in autistic children.

Elisa Rudgers son, Rydr, was diagnosed with cerebral palsy at 11 months, he couldnt sit up on his own and required feeding tubes to eat. At 15 months, doctors gave Rydr his first infusion of banked cord blood stem cells that his parents saved while he was a newborn. His developmental delays diminished quickly.

After the first infusion after three months, he was crawling, six months he was standing, and nine months he was walking. said Rudgers.

Rudgers said that her 4-year-old son likes the spotlight because hes become something of a medical marvel. Hes gotten lots of attention.

Rydrs stem cells apparently helped at least partly rebuild his damaged brain. Now, Rydrs doctor is enrolling patients in a clinical trial to see if the same treatment thats helped this little boy, can help treat autism. Dr. Chez believes it can.

Theres enough encouraging evidence to think there may have a role to play here, but were opening a new door and thats the giant step. he said.

Can Rydrs reversal be repeated?

Many experts are skeptical, saying its unclear what or where the brain defect in autism actually is. Dr. Chez says stem cells could regenerate missing brain cells or help repair faulty connections between brain cells.

Either way, Ryders mom says, its worth a try.

Read more:
Clinical Trial With Stem Cells Creates Hope For Parents Of Autistic Children

Professor Armin Curt, leading the study, described the result as fundamental.

He said: To find something that can repair the spinal cord is a huge breakthrough. If we can show that something has changed for the better [as a result of stem cell therapy] thats fundamental.

He presented the findings at the annual conference of the International Spinal Cord Society in London on Monday.

Prof Curt was working in partnership with StemCells Inc., a Californian company which also has a base in Cambridge.

Dr Stephen Huhn, from the firm, said: We think these stem cells are one of the first tools we have for actually repairing the central nervous system.

"To see this kind of change in patients who truly have the worst-of-the-worst type of injury to the spinal cord is very exciting."

The three patients, who all had complete spinal injury where they could feel nothing below the break, were each given a dose of 20 million adult neural stem cells about six months ago.

This was primarily a safety trial, and Prof Curt said monitoring had shown a very good safety profile.

But detailed questioning and objective tests also showed signals were passing up the injured spine to the brain, when they had not before.

One of the patients, Knut lstad, a 46-year-old Norwegian financial consultant, said: Ive noticed changes. When somebody touches my stomach, I can feel something. I cant be specific, but I can sense it.

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Stem cells help paraplegics regain feeling

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

Contact: Kim Irwin kirwin@mednet.ucla.edu 310-206-2805 University of California - Los Angeles Health Sciences

UCLA researchers have discovered a type of cell that is the "missing link" between bone marrow stem cells and all the cells of the human immune system, a finding that will lead to a greater understanding of how a healthy immune system is produced and how disease can lead to poor immune function.

The studies were done using human bone marrow, which contains all the stem cells that produce blood during postnatal life.

"We felt it was especially important to do these studies using human bone marrow as most research into the development of the immune system has used mouse bone marrow," said study senior author Dr. Gay Crooks, co-director of the Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regenerative Medicine and a co-director of the Cancer and Stem Cell Biology program at UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center. "The few studies with human tissue have mostly used umbilical cord blood, which does not reflect the immune system of postnatal life."

The research team was "intrigued to find this particular bone marrow cell because it opens up a lot of new possibilities in terms of understanding how human immunity is produced from stem cells throughout life," said Crooks, a professor of pathology and pediatrics.

Understanding the process of normal blood formation in human adults is a crucial step in shedding light on what goes wrong during the process that results in leukemias, or cancers of the blood.

The study appears Sept. 2 in the early online edition of Nature Immunology.

Before this study, researchers had a fairly good idea of how to find and study the blood stem cells of the bone marrow. The stem cells live forever, reproduce themselves and give rise to all the cells of the blood. In the process, the stem cells divide and produce intermediate stages of development called progenitors, which make various blood lineages like red blood cells or platelets. Crooks was most interested in the creation of the progenitors that form the entire immune system, which consists of many different cells called lymphocytes, each with a specialized function to fight infection.

"Like the stem cells, the progenitor cells are also very rare, so before we can study them we needed to find the needle in the haystack." said Lisa Kohn, a member of the UCLA Medical Scientist Training Program and first author in the paper.

Continue reading here:
UCLA researchers discover missing link between stem cells and immune system

ScienceDaily (Aug. 31, 2012) UCLA researchers have discovered a type of cell that is the "missing link" between bone marrow stem cells and all the cells of the human immune system, a finding that will lead to a greater understanding of how a healthy immune system is produced and how disease can lead to poor immune function.

The studies were done using human bone marrow, which contains all the stem cells that produce blood during postnatal life.

"We felt it was especially important to do these studies using human bone marrow as most research into the development of the immune system has used mouse bone marrow," said study senior author Dr. Gay Crooks, co-director of the Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regenerative Medicine and a co-director of the Cancer and Stem Cell Biology program at UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center. "The few studies with human tissue have mostly used umbilical cord blood, which does not reflect the immune system of postnatal life."

The research team was "intrigued to find this particular bone marrow cell because it opens up a lot of new possibilities in terms of understanding how human immunity is produced from stem cells throughout life," said Crooks, a professor of pathology and pediatrics.

Understanding the process of normal blood formation in human adults is a crucial step in shedding light on what goes wrong during the process that results in leukemias, or cancers of the blood.

The study appears Sept. 2 in the early online edition of Nature Immunology.

Before this study, researchers had a fairly good idea of how to find and study the blood stem cells of the bone marrow. The stem cells live forever, reproduce themselves and give rise to all the cells of the blood. In the process, the stem cells divide and produce intermediate stages of development called progenitors, which make various blood lineages like red blood cells or platelets. Crooks was most interested in the creation of the progenitors that form the entire immune system, which consists of many different cells called lymphocytes, each with a specialized function to fight infection.

"Like the stem cells, the progenitor cells are also very rare, so before we can study them we needed to find the needle in the haystack." said Lisa Kohn, a member of the UCLA Medical Scientist Training Program and first author in the paper.

Previous work had found a fairly mature type of lymphocyte progenitor with a limited ability to differentiate, but the new work describes a more primitive type of progenitor primed to produce the entire immune system, Kohn said

Once the lymphoid primed progenitor had been identified, Crooks and her team studied how gene expression changed during the earliest stages of its production from stem cells.

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'Missing link' between stem cells and the immune system