Category Archives: Stem Cells

Scientists test whether stem cells could halt damage from osteoarthritis Condition causes wear to knee cartilage and can be particularly painful Trial will take cells from bone marrow of the hip and implant them in knee

By Lucy Elkins For The Mail On Sunday

Published: 17:01 EST, 7 March 2015 | Updated: 08:14 EST, 8 March 2015

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For anyone suffering with osteoarthritis in their knee, the options for improvement are limited. There is no cure for the condition, and patients are advised to lose weight. In extreme cases, where the arthritis is disabling, joint replacement is offered.

But now there is hope for those who think they just have to put up with the pain. Scientists are testing whether a cocktail of stem cells including some from the hip could not only halt the damage osteoarthritis causes to the knee, but may ultimately do away with the need for surgery.

Osteoarthritis begins with wear to the cartilage the strong, flexible material in the joints that allows the bones to glide over one another and move easily.

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Excerpt from:
End knee pain with stem cells from your hip: Cocktail of cells could halt damage caused by osteoarthritis

When Alfred Howard offered a sample of his cheek cells to an organization looking for matches for cancer patients in need of blood and bone marrow, he probably never imagined the lengths others would go to help him carry out his good deed. "I just wanted to give someone a second chance at their life, and we needed a group effort," Howard, 40, an oil rig mechanic and former Navy seaman, said Monday. Last Tuesday, while travel was banned during the blizzard, Howard rode in a Groton Town police truck to Lawrence + Memorial Hospital in New London to get his final injection of filgrastim, a medication used to decrease the chances of infection in donated blood products. After that, an American Ambulance driver transported him to Yale-New Haven Hospital, where he underwent a four-hour peripheral blood stem cell donation process, in which blood is drawn, plasma separated out and re-injected back into the donor. From the plasma, stem cells are extracted for a waiting cancer patient. "The patient goes through intense rounds of chemotherapy, which leaves them without an immune system and extremely vulnerable," said Desiree Chavis, communications associate for Delete Blood Cancer, the organization that arranged the donation. A nurse from Delete Blood Cancer had given Howard the first three shots of filgrastim at his home in the weeks leading up to the donation, but couldn't get there during the blizzard to deliver the last one. So her organization contacted Yale-New Haven about finding another way. The transplant, she explained, must happen within a short window of time after the chemotherapy, so once the procedure starts, it must continue uninterrupted - blizzard or no. This particular donation was further complicated by the fact that the recipient, a middle-aged man with lymphoma, lives in England. "It was pretty intense," she said. "It took a lot of teamwork." Howard said he was originally supposed to take Amtrak to New Haven for the shot and procedure, but with train service canceled, that wasn't a possibility. Yale-New Haven's emergency management staff contacted L+M about administering the shot, and L+M in turn contacted American Ambulance. "Everybody wanted to make sure we could make this happen," said Ron Kersey, emergency management coordinator for L+M. A couple of hours after the donation procedure was finished, Howard got a ride home with a livery service. The procedure wasn't painful, he said. It just made him a little tired afterward, and he felt good knowing the quart-sized bag of his stem cells was on its way to an airport for the overseas flight to England, where a very sick man he didn't know was waiting for a cure. "We know the courier was able to get it out Wednesday night," Chavis said. The odyssey of Howard's stem cells began with chance encounter in Charlotte, N.C., two years ago when he had traveled there for work. He stopped at a USO office there on the day Delete Blood Cancer was collecting cheek swabs, and decided to offer his. In October, Delete Blood Cancer informed him he was a match. The donation was scheduled for January, after Howard would be back home from another month away for his job, this time in the Canary Islands. "I feel that I'm blessed, so why not help somebody else?" said Howard, who has lived in Groton with his wife, Tomeka, and their daughter, Kaylah, since 2010. Tomeka Howard said the turn of events was a public expression of her husband's character that ended up bringing people together to accomplish something good. "I'm so proud of what he's done for someone else," she said. "I always knew he was a selfless kind of person, because of the way he is with me. But now he's sharing that with the world. And everyone did a good job of making sure he was safe."

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Stem cell donor navigates blizzard to do good deed

London, Mar 4:

Scientists have successfully developed healthy cartilage from embryonic stem cells, a breakthrough that could help treat arthritis patients.

Researchers grew and transformed embryonic stem cells into cartilage cells also known as chondrocytes.

This work represents an important step forward in treating cartilage damage by using embryonic stem cells to form new tissue, although its still in its early experimental stages, said Professor Sue Kimber and her team in the Faculty of Life Sciences at The University of Manchester.

During the study, the team analysed the ability of embryonic stems cells to become precursor cartilage cells.

They were then implanted into cartilage defects in the knee joints of rats.

After four weeks cartilage was partially repaired and following 12 weeks a smooth surface, which appeared similar to normal cartilage, was observed.

Further study of this newly regenerated cartilage showed that cartilage cells from embryonic stem cells were still present and active within the tissue.

Developing and testing this protocol in rats is the first step in generating the information needed to run a study in people with arthritis.

Before this will be possible more data will need to be collected to check that this protocol is effective and that there are no toxic side-effects, researchers said.

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Cartilage developed from stem cells for arthritis cure

The Infosys Science Foundation (ISF) in association with National Centre of Biological Sciences(NCBS) organized a public lecture by Infosys Prize Life Sciences Jury Chair, Dr. Inder Verma, American Cancer Society Professor and the first incumbent of the Irwin Mark Jacobs Chair in Exemplary Life Sciences, Laboratory of Genetics, Salk Institute for Biological Studies. The lecture on Cancer Stem Cells: Plasticity Vs Hierarchy was delivered at Dasheri Auditorium at NCBS and was attended by more than 200 students.

The lecture by Dr. Inder Verma is part of the Infosys Science Foundation Lectures, which has been developed with an aim to popularize science and research in the country. Dr. Verma is one of the worlds leading authorities on the development of viruses for gene therapy vectors and is the first speaker in the 2015 series of public talks orchestrated by the Foundation across the country.

The lecture focused on Glioblastomas multiforme (GBM), a deadly cancer and the few therapeutic approaches to treat GBM. In his lecture, Dr. Verma highlighted that all the cells in GBM display characteristics of a cancer stem cell, he also discussed cancer stem cells and plasticity versus hierarchy.

Dr. Inder Verma is a member of the National Academy of Sciences (US), Institute of Medicine, American Academy for Arts & Sciences, American Philosophical Society, Third World Academy of Sciences and a foreign associate of the Indian National Academy of Sciences. The Vilcek Foundation named Dr. Verma as the recipient of its 2008 prize in biomedical science. He is also the recipient of 2010 Spector Prize awarded by Columbia University and 22ndAnnual Cancer Research Award of the Pasarow Foundation.

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Infosys Science Foundation Hosts Public Lecture on Cancer Stem Cells

Scientists have succeeded in producing cartilage formed from embryonic stem cells that could in future be used to treat the painful joint condition osteoarthritis.

In research funded by Arthritis Research UK, Professor Sue Kimber and her team in the Faculty of Life Sciences at The University of Manchester has developed a protocol under strict laboratory conditions to grow and transform embryonic stem cells into cartilage cells (also known as chondrocytes).

Professor Kimber said: This work represents an important step forward in treating cartilage damage by using embryonic stem cells to form new tissue, although its still in its early experimental stages.

Their research was published in Stem Cells Translational Medicine.

During the study, the team analysed the ability of embryonic stems cells to become precursor cartilage cells. They were then implanted into cartilage defects in the knee joints of rats.

After four weeks cartilage was partially repaired and following 12 weeks a smooth surface, which appeared similar to normal cartilage, was observed. Further study of this newly regenerated cartilage showed that cartilage cells from embryonic stem cells were still present and active within the tissue.

Developing and testing this protocol in rats is the first step in generating the information needed to run a study in people with arthritis. Before this will be possible more data will need to be collected to check that this protocol is effective and that there are no toxic side-effects.

But researchers say that this study is very promising as not only did this protocol generate new, healthy-looking cartilage but also importantly there were no signs of any side-effects such as growing abnormal or disorganised, joint tissue or tumours. Further work will build on this finding and demonstrate that this could be a safe and effective treatment for people with joint damage.

Chondrocytes created from adult stem cells are currently being experimentally used but as they cannot be currently be produced in large amounts the procedure is expensive.

With their huge capacity to proliferate, embryonic stem cells, which can be manipulated to form almost any type of mature cell, offer the possibility of high-volume production of cartilage cells. Their use would also be cheaper and applicable to greater number of arthritis patients, the researchers claim.

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Scientists move closer to creating cartilage from stem cells

22 hours ago Illustrated model for the role of Sall4 in activating ATM to repair DNA damage in embryonic stem cells. Credit: Xiong et al., 2015

A protein that helps embryonic stem cells (ESCs) retain their identity also promotes DNA repair, according to a study in The Journal of Cell Biology. The findings raise the possibility that the protein, Sall4, performs a similar role in cancer cells, helping them fix DNA damage to survive chemotherapy.

Fixing broken DNA is particularly important for ESCs because they will pass on any mutations to their differentiated descendants. Mouse ESCs are adept at making repairsthey carry far fewer mutations than do differentiated cellsbut how they achieve this isn't clear. A team of researchers led by Yang Xu, from the University of California, San Diego, tested whether the protein Sall4, which suppresses differentiation of ESCs, has a role in DNA repair.

The researchers found that ESCs lacking Sall4 were poor at mending double-strand breaks, a hazardous form of DNA damage in which both strands of the double helix are severed. They also observed that, after inducing DNA damage in mouse ESCs, Sall4 associated with proteins known to be involved in DNA repair. Overall, their findings support a model for how Sall4 is recruited to the sites of these breaks and activates ATM, a kinase that signals DNA damage and instigates repair. Because tumor cells often overexpress Sall4, the protein might similarly help them repair DNA damage. Sall4 could therefore be considered a target for drug development in cancer biology.

Explore further: Study identifies promising drug target in certain breast and ovarian cancers

More information: Xiong, J., et al. 2015. J. Cell Biol. DOI: 10.1083/jcb.201408106

The Food and Drug Administration's recent approval of the drug olaparib for ovarian cancer patients with inherited mutations in the genes BRCA1 or BRCA2 came as welcome news to the thousands of women now ...

As we and other vertebrates age, our DNA accumulates mutations and becomes rearranged, which may result in a variety of age-related illnesses, including cancers. Biologists Vera Gorbunova and Andei Seluanov ...

Scientists have taken pictures of the BRCA2 protein for the first time, showing how it works to repair damaged DNA.

Case Western Reserve researchers have identified a two-pronged therapeutic approach that shows great potential for weakening and then defeating cancer cells. The team's complex mix of genetic and biochemical experiments unearthed ...

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Sall4 is required for DNA repair in stem cells

MIAMI (PRWEB) March 02, 2015

Global Stem Cells Group.com has announced a newly formed alliance with Shenzhen HANK Bioengineering Co., Ltd. and its Chinese-American founder Mingjie Zhang, M.D., Ph.D. The alliance will establish a stem cells training course in the City of Shenzen, Guangdong Province, China in September 2015.

Shenzhen HANK is a biotechnology company established in 2013 by Zhang, an award-winning scientist, microbiologist and virologist, to integrate research, development, production, and sales of biomedical products. Zhang worked at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control from 1991 to 1993, the U.S. National Institute of Health (NIH) from 1993 to 1994, and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration from 1995 to 2013 in various research positions including National Research Center (NRC) senior associate from 1995 to 1997. In 2012 he earned the Scientific Achievement Award from the USFDA for outstanding achievement in natural killer (NK) cell research, and holds numerous awards for his work in the fields of HIV, HCV, West Nile virus, Japanese encephalitis virus, and quality performance.

In 2013, Dr. Zhang expanded on his work in stem cell research and development by launching HANK Bioengineering Co. Ltd. in Shenzhen, China. HANK is a 4,300 square foot (400 square meters) CFDA certified cGMP facility affiliated with HANK Bioengineering Institutes Cell Biology and Molecular Immunology Laboratories. HANK has established close collaborations with more than five hospitals in China for clinical applications of its cell therapy products.

Shenzhen HANK is also a biotechnology service provider committed to the development and application of multiple immune cell therapy systems. The company has up to 20 cell therapy products of 4 series approved by the CFDA, including lymphocyte culture medium (NK, CTL and Treg cell in vitro culture reagents), lymphocyte serum-free culture medium, lymphocyte separation media, and lymphocyte freezing medium.

Dr. Zhang and HANK Bioengineering will work seamlessly with our research, product development and education programs, says Benito Novas, Global Stem Cells Group CEO. This is a great opportunity for us to expand into China and work with one of the worlds most accomplished cell therapy researchers in his certified, cutting-edge cell biology laboratories.

Global Stem Cells Group and Zhang plan to launch a stem cell training course at the Shenzhen HANK facility in Guangdong Province, China in September 2015.

For more information, visit the Global Stem Cells Group website, email bnovas(at)regenestem(dot)com, or call 305-224-1858.

About the Global Stem Cells Group:

Global Stem Cells Group, Inc. is the parent company of six wholly owned operating companies dedicated entirely to stem cell research, training, products and solutions. Founded in 2012, the company combines dedicated researchers, physician and patient educators and solution providers with the shared goal of meeting the growing worldwide need for leading edge stem cell treatments and solutions. With a singular focus on this exciting new area of medical research, Global Stem Cells Group and its subsidiaries are uniquely positioned to become global leaders in cellular medicine.

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Global Stem Cells Group Announces Alliance with HANK Bioengineering Co., Ltd. in Shenzhen, China

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Newswise BUFFALO, N.Y. Damage to myelin, the fatty insulator that enables communication between nerve cells, characterizes multiple sclerosis (MS) and other devastating neurological diseases.

The damage doesnt come all at once: There is a honeymoon period during which some regeneration of myelin, called remyelination, does occur, but this ability to regenerate dissipates as the disease progresses and the patient ages.

Now, a University at Buffalo researcher has discovered a way to keep that kind of remyelination going, using a drug thats already on the market.

A paper describing the research results was published this week in the Journal of Neuroscience.

We have identified a new drug target that promotes stem cell therapy for myelin-based disease, such as MS, says lead author Fraser J. Sim, PhD, assistant professor in the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology in the University at Buffalo School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences.

IMAGE: http://www.buffalo.edu/news/releases/2015/02/046.html.

The study shows it is possible to boost myelination by targeting human oligodendrocyte progenitor cells with solifenacin, an anti-muscarinic drug that currently is approved and marketed to treat overactive bladder.

Our hypothesis is that in MS, the oligodendrocyte progenitor cells seem to get stuck, Sim explains. When these cells dont mature properly, they dont differentiate into myelinating oligodendrocytes.

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Myelin-Maker: How an FDA-Approved Drug Boosts Myelin Synthesis

Health and Medicine for Seniors

Human stem cells restore cognitive function after chemotherapy damage

First solid evidence that transplantation of human neural stem cells can reverse chemo induced damage of healthy tissue in the brain

Feb. 16, 2015 - Human nerve system stem cell treatments are showing promise for reversing learning and memory deficits after chemotherapy, according to UC Irvine researchers.

In preclinical studies using rodents, they found that adult stem cells transplanted one week after the completion of a series of chemotherapy sessions restored a range of cognitive functions, as measured one month later using a comprehensive platform of behavioral testing. In contrast, rats not treated with stem cells showed significant learning and memory impairment.

The frequent use of chemotherapy to combat multiple cancers can produce severe cognitive dysfunction, often referred to as "chemobrain," which can persist and manifest in many ways long after the end of treatments in as many as 75 percent of survivors - a problem of particular concern with pediatric patients.

"Our findings provide the first solid evidence that transplantation of human neural stem cells can be used to reverse chemotherapeutic-induced damage of healthy tissue in the brain," said Charles Limoli, a UCI professor of radiation oncology.

Study results appear in the Feb. 15 issue of Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.

Many chemotherapeutic agents used to treat disparate cancer types trigger inflammation in the hippocampus, a cerebral region responsible for many cognitive abilities, such as learning and memory. This inflammation can destroy neurons and other cell types in the brain.

Additionally, these toxic compounds damage the connective structure of neurons, called dendrites and axons, and alter the integrity of synapses - the vital links that permit neurons to pass electrical and chemical signals throughout the brain. Limoli compares the process to a tree being pruned of its branches and leaves.

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Human stem cells restore cognitive function after chemotherapy damage

Published: Sunday, 3/1/2015 - Updated: 29 seconds ago

BY MARLENEHARRIS-TAYLOR BLADE STAFF WRITER

Hockey legend Gordie Howes star power is raising awareness in the United States and Canada about advances in stem-cell therapies as he continues what is being called a miraculous recovery from a massive stroke.

Those closest to him, including his son, Toledo radiologist Dr. Murray Howe, are convinced the former Detroit Red Wings player would have died if he had not traveled to a medical clinic in Tijuana, Mexico, for an experimental stem-cell treatment not yet available in the United States.

After a debilitating stroke on Oct. 26, Mr. Howe, 86, had a few weeks of slight recovery, but then his health went downhill quickly, said Dr. Howe, director of sports medicine imaging for ProMedica Toledo Hospital. The family had started preparing for his funeral. But that all turned around after he had the adult stem-cell treatment on Dec. 8.

If you saw him now, you wouldnt know he had a stroke, Dr. Howe said.

Its been wonderful. Every day I would say hes a little bit better, and there are little hints of improvement. Certainly in the first month, every day his strength, coordination, and balance were better. He has been eating like a horse. He had lost 20 pounds, and now he has gained back 25 pounds, so he is pretty close to his playing weight now, Dr. Howe said.

Amazing results

In describing his fathers treatment and recovery in the last three months, Dr. Howe does not hesitate to use words such as unbelievable, astonishing, and amazing.

Eight hours after Mr. Howe received what is called a lumbar puncture, where stem cells were injected in the spinal fluid of his lower back by an anesthesiologist, he went from being bedridden and only mumbling short sentences to speaking clearly and walking with assistance, Dr. Howe said.

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Howe's recovery shows stem-cell advances