Category Archives: Stem Cells

After three and a half years, Johnson & Johnson is ducking out of a partnership with Capricor Therapeutics focusedon the use of stem cells to treat cardiovascular disease.

The decision by J&J's Janssen unit not to pursue a license comes as little surprise. The therapy at the center of their end-2013 dealCAP-1002 (off-the-shelf cardiosphere-derived cells)has already been marked up as missing the target in a phase 1/2 study involving patients who had suffered a heart attack, although the data remains under wraps.

Added to that, in April, interim results from a trial in Duchenne muscular dystrophy revealed promising activity, and prompted Capricor to upgrade the importance of the new indicationwhich lies outside the scope of its license with J&J.

The California biotech has already said it plans to start a second trial in DMD in the latter half of the year. But while the back-up indication is a comfort to investors, there is no question that the company will miss the financial backing from J&J, which included $12.5 million upfront and up to $325 million in milestone payments, as well as the kudos of a big pharma partner in a sector that has failed so far to live up to early promise.

Weak or scarred heart muscle is a major cause of heart failure, so using stem cells to repair scar tissue appears to be a logical way of improving outcomes. Attempts to show a benefit have met with marginal success, however. Last year for example, Celyad's 271-patient trial of its C-Cure stem cell therapy revealed no improvement compared to a sham procedure.

Capricor's CEO Linda Marbn, Ph.D. accentuated the positive of claiming full rights to CAP-1002, including not only the DMD data but also work with Janssen on developing a commercial-scale manufacturing process for the cell therapy, to which it now has a "fully paid-up nonexclusive license."

She also said it settled "uncertainty concerning the scope of the license for CAP-1002" and frees the company to seek partners elsewhere.

"We discussed potential product registration strategies for this indication at our recent meeting with the U.S. FDA, and we look forward to providing an update on our clinical development plans in DMD very shortly," continued Marbn.

Capricor also announced in an SEC filing that it is filingfor resale of up to 1.2 million shares of its common stock but would not be receiving any proceeds from the transaction. It ended the first quarter with $2.75 million in cash.

Shares in the biotech fell after the announcement but had rebounded at the time of writing, though they are still in penny stock territory at $0.80.

See the article here:
Capricor yo-yos as J&J dumps stem cell partnership - FierceBiotech

Stem cells have the remarkable potential to develop into many different cell types in the body during early life and growth. In addition, in many tissues they serve as a sort of internal repair system, dividing essentially without limit to replenish other cells as long as the person or animal is still alive. When a stem cell divides, each new cell has the potential either to remain a stem cell or become another type of cell with a more specialized function, such as a muscle cell, a red blood cell, or a brain cell.

Stem cells are distinguished from other cell types by two important characteristics. First, they are unspecialized cells capable of renewing themselves through cell division, sometimes after long periods of inactivity. Second, under certain physiologic or experimental conditions, they can be induced to become tissue- or organ-specific cells with special functions. In some organs, such as the gut and bone marrow, stem cells regularly divide to repair and replace worn out or damaged tissues. In other organs, however, such as the pancreas and the heart, stem cells only divide under special conditions.

Until recently, scientists primarily worked with two kinds of stem cells from animals and humans: embryonic stem cells and non-embryonic "somatic" or "adult" stem cells. The functions and characteristics of these cells will be explained in this document. Scientists discovered ways to derive embryonic stem cells from early mouse embryos more than 30 years ago, in 1981. The detailed study of the biology of mouse stem cells led to the discovery, in 1998, of a method to derive stem cells from human embryos and grow the cells in the laboratory. These cells are called human embryonic stem cells. The embryos used in these studies were created for reproductive purposes through in vitro fertilization procedures. When they were no longer needed for that purpose, they were donated for research with the informed consent of the donor. In 2006, researchers made another breakthrough by identifying conditions that would allow some specialized adult cells to be "reprogrammed" genetically to assume a stem cell-like state. This new type of stem cell, called induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), will be discussed in a later section of this document.

Stem cells are important for living organisms for many reasons. In the 3- to 5-day-old embryo, called a blastocyst, the inner cells give rise to the entire body of the organism, including all of the many specialized cell types and organs such as the heart, lungs, skin, sperm, eggs and other tissues. In some adult tissues, such as bone marrow, muscle, and brain, discrete populations of adult stem cells generate replacements for cells that are lost through normal wear and tear, injury, or disease.

Given their unique regenerative abilities, stem cells offer new potentials for treating diseases such as diabetes, and heart disease. However, much work remains to be done in the laboratory and the clinic to understand how to use these cells for cell-based therapies to treat disease, which is also referred to as regenerative or reparative medicine.

Laboratory studies of stem cells enable scientists to learn about the cells essential properties and what makes them different from specialized cell types. Scientists are already using stem cells in the laboratory to screen new drugs and to develop model systems to study normal growth and identify the causes of birth defects.

Research on stem cells continues to advance knowledge about how an organism develops from a single cell and how healthy cells replace damaged cells in adult organisms. Stem cell research is one of the most fascinating areas of contemporary biology, but, as with many expanding fields of scientific inquiry, research on stem cells raises scientific questions as rapidly as it generates new discoveries.

I.Introduction|Next

See the original post:
Stem Cell Basics I. | stemcells.nih.gov

StemCells, Inc. is engaged in clinical development of its proprietary HuCNS-SC (purified human neural stem cells) platform technology to treat disorders of the central nervous system (CNS). Learnmore

Spinal cord injury (SCI) is the second leading cause of paralysis in the U.S. Transplantation of HuCNS-SC cells holds much promise. Learnmore

StemCells, Inc. has been very professional. They have given me all the support that I need.

Phase I/II SCI Clinical Trial Patient Learnmore

StemCells, Inc. being controlled by a U.S. company, and the way they were following up with their patients, just made me feel safer.

Phase I/II SCI Clinical Trial Patient Learnmore

Age-related Macular Degeneration (AMD) is the leading cause of vision loss in developed countries. HuCNS-SC cells may be a viable therapy. Learnmore

I was not ready to give in and say I was going to be blind I was ready to be a pioneer.

Phase I/II AMD Clinical Trial Patient Learnmore

As a patient with a cervical SCI, you may be eligible to participate in a clinical research study called the Pathway Study. The study is evaluating human neural stem cell transplantation as a potential therapy for SCI.

Learn more about this clinical trial

2000 - StemCells, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Photography may be 2010 Lou Jones, StemCells, Inc. or others.

See the original post here:
StemCells, Inc. : Groundbreaking Science. Breakthrough ...

Contemporary Examples

PLUS: Neurobiologist Maureen L. Condic fact-checks 11 stem cell arguments and asks, does research really need human embryos?

He has no regrets on banning the use of federal funds for most stem cell research.

Bush may have discouraged some of the best graduate students from going into the stem cell research field.

stem cell differentiation involves a plethora of regulatory factors and signals that are in a constant state of flux.

One of Obama's first acts must be to overturn Bush's ignorant ban on federal funding for stem cell research.

stem cell research, the bullet train, reversing global warming?

He also came out strongly in favor of stem cell research, again using a personal family story to underline his commitment.

British Dictionary definitions for stem cell Expand

(histology) an undifferentiated cell that gives rise to specialized cells, such as blood cells

stem cell in Medicine Expand

stem cell n. An unspecialized cell that gives rise to a specific specialized cell, such as a blood cell.

stem cell in Science Expand

stem cell in Culture Expand

A cell from which a variety of other cells can develop through the process of cellular differentiation. Stem cells can produce only a certain group of cells (as with skin stem cells) or any cell in the body (as with embryonic stem cells).

Read more here:
Stem cell | Define Stem cell at Dictionary.com

Embryonic stem cells (ESCs) are stem cells derived from the undifferentiated inner mass cells of a human embryo.

Embryonic stem cells are pluripotent, meaning they are able to grow (i.e. differentiate) into all derivatives of the three primary germ layers: ectoderm, endoderm and mesoderm.

In other words, they can develop into each of the more than 200 cell types of the adult body as long as they are specified to do so.

Embryonic stem cells are distinguished by two distinctive properties: their pluripotency, and their ability to replicate indefinitely.

ES cells are pluripotent, that is, they are able to differentiate into all derivatives of the three primary germ layers: ectoderm, endoderm, and mesoderm.

These include each of the more than 220 cell types in the adult body.

Pluripotency distinguishes embryonic stem cells from adult stem cells found in adults; while embryonic stem cells can generate all cell types in the body, adult stem cells are multipotent and can produce only a limited number of cell types.

Additionally, under defined conditions, embryonic stem cells are capable of propagating themselves indefinitely.

This allows embryonic stem cells to be employed as useful tools for both research and regenerative medicine, because they can produce limitless numbers of themselves for continued research or clinical use.

Because of their plasticity and potentially unlimited capacity for self-renewal, ES cell therapies have been proposed for regenerative medicine and tissue replacement after injury or disease.

Diseases that could potentially be treated by pluripotent stem cells include a number of blood and immune-system related genetic diseases, cancers, and disorders; juvenile diabetes;

Parkinson's; blindness and spinal cord injuries.

Besides the ethical concerns of stem cell therapy, there is a technical problem of graft-versus-host disease associated with allogeneic stem cell transplantation.

However, these problems associated with histocompatibility may be solved using autologous donor adult stem cells, therapeutic cloning, stem cell banks or more recently by reprogramming of somatic cells with defined factors (e.g. induced pluripotent stem cells).

Other potential uses of embryonic stem cells include investigation of early human development, study of genetic disease and as in vitro systems for toxicology testing.

See more here:
Embryonic stem cell - Science Daily

Most Recent

Two research groups have devised small-molecule recipes to directly transform fibroblasts into neurons.

0 Comments

By Anna Azvolinsky | May 6, 2015

Researchers isolate an easy-to-manipulate, stable, and spatially distinct pluripotent cell type.

0 Comments

By Jef Akst | February 26, 2015

A screen of 9,000 small molecules identifies a treatment that improves the targeting of mesenchymal stem cells to sites of damaged tissue.

1 Comment

Researchers report an association between culture conditions and genetic changes in stem cells over time.

0 Comments

By Jenny Rood | February 18, 2015

A National Institutes of Health-funded consortium publishes 111 reference maps of DNA and histone marks.

2 Comments

By Ruth Williams | February 4, 2015

Genetically modified T memory stem cells persist in patients for more than 10 years, and can differentiate into a variety of T cell types.

1 Comment

An analysis of 31 tissues finds that random mutations acquired during stem cell divisions correlate with lifetime cancer riskmore so than heritable mutations and environmental factors combined.

7 Comments

By Molly Sharlach | December 25, 2014

This year in life science was marked by paltry federal funding increases, revelations of sequence contamination, and onerous regulations.

0 Comments

By Anna Azvolinsky | December 18, 2014

Can mechanical forces alone be manipulated to create stem-like cells?

1 Comment

By Anna Azvolinsky | December 10, 2014

Through cellular reprogramming, researchers have produced a novel pluripotent mouse stem cell in vitro.

0 Comments

View original post here:
Daily News Articles - stem cells | The Scientist Magazine

Download Stem Cells in Marine Organisms PDF
Download PDF Here: http://bit.ly/1EbW1Ek.

By: Milford Schultz

Continue reading here:
Download Stem Cells in Marine Organisms PDF - Video

Does Nova Cells Institute have Multiple Sclerosis Stem Cell Treatment Success, 562-916-3410
http://www.novacellsinstitute.com - Does Nova Cells Institute have Multiple Sclerosis Stem Cell Treatment Success, 562-916-3410.

By: NCIM

Visit link:
Does Nova Cells Institute have Multiple Sclerosis Stem Cell Treatment Success, 562-916-3410 - Video

An injection of stem cells into the eye may soon slow or reverse the effects of early-stage age-related macular degeneration, according to new research from scientists at Cedars-Sinai. Currently, there is no treatment that slows the progression of the disease, which is the leading cause of vision loss in people over 65.

"This is the first study to show preservation of vision after a single injection of adult-derived human cells into a rat model with age-related macular degeneration," said Shaomei Wang, MD, PhD, lead author of the study published in the journal STEM CELLS and a research scientist in the Eye Program at the Cedars-Sinai Board of Governors Regenerative Medicine Institute.

The stem cell injection resulted in 130 days of preserved vision in laboratory rats, which roughly equates to 16 years in humans.

Age-related macular degeneration affects upward of 15 million Americans. It occurs when the small central portion of the retina, known as the macula, deteriorates. The retina is the light-sensing nerve tissue at the back of the eye. Macular degeneration may also be caused by environmental factors, aging and a genetic predisposition.

When animal models with macular degeneration were injected with induced neural progenitor stem cells, which derive from the more commonly known induced pluripotent stem cells, healthy cells began to migrate around the retina and formed a protective layer. This protective layer prevented ongoing degeneration of the vital retinal cells responsible for vision.

Cedars-Sinai researchers in the Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell (iPSC) Core, directed by Dhruv Sareen, PhD, with support from the David and Janet Polak Foundation Stem Cell Core Laboratory, first converted adult human skin cells into powerful induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC), which can be expanded indefinitely and then made into any cell of the human body. In this study, these induced pluripotent stem cells were then directed toward a neural progenitor cell fate, known as induced neural progenitor stem cells, or iNPCs.

"These induced neural progenitor stem cells are a novel source of adult-derived cells which should have powerful effects on slowing down vision loss associated with macular degeneration," said Clive Svendsen, PhD, director of the Board of Governors Regenerative Medicine Institute and contributing author to the study. "Though additional pre-clinical data is needed, our institute is close to a time when we can offer adult stem cells as a promising source for personalized therapies for this and other human diseases."

Next steps include testing the efficacy and safety of the stem cell injection in preclinical animal studies to provide information for applying for an investigational new drug. From there, clinical trials will be designed to test potential benefit in patients with later-stage age-related macular degeneration.

Story Source:

The above story is based on materials provided by Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.

Read the rest here:
Stem cell injection may soon reverse vision loss caused by age-related macular degeneration