Category Archives: Stem Cells

HIROSHIMA In a world first, a team at Hiroshima University Hospital on Friday conducted regenerative knee surgery using a technique that employs magnets to concentrate iron-laced stem cells around damaged cartilage, it said.

The endoscopic surgery is less arduous for the patient, said the team led by Mitsuo Ochi, a professor at the hospital. Conventional treatment requires two operations to repair cartilage.

It will take at least a year to determine the effectiveness of the regenerative technique, though previous tests on animals have proven successful, it said.

The team plans to conduct further operations to reaffirm the regenerative surgerys safety in clinical research.

In the operation, the team extracted mesenchymal stem cells from bone marrow of an 18-year-old female high school student and cultivated them with a dash of iron powder to create magnetic stem cells that can develop into various tissues.

The team injected the iron-laced stem cells into the patients right knee joint and used the magnet to concentrate them in areas where cartilage was lost. The stem cells are expected to develop into cartilage.

Cartilage absorbs shock and reduces friction between bones so everything moves smoothly, but its regenerative abilities are limited.

Continue reading here:
Hospital pioneers Magneto-style stem cell surgery

Contact Information

Available for logged-in reporters only

Newswise La Jolla, Calif., February 5, 2015 Researchers at Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute (Sanford-Burnham) have discovered a precise stem cell signaling process that can lead to intestinal tumors if disrupted. The findings add to our understanding of how stem cells give rise to tumors and identify specific stem cell molecules that may be targeted to prevent the onset, progression, and recurrence of intestinal cancers. The results of the study appear online in Cell Reports today.

Accumulating evidence suggests that cancer stem cells are responsible for cancer initiation, progression, metastasis, recurrence, and drug resistance, said Jorge Moscat, Ph.D., program director of the Cell Death and Survival Networks Program at Sanford-Burnham. Our new research provides a better understanding of the signaling cascades that regulate stem cells and is essential for the design of new and more-efficacious therapies for cancer.

We have shown that protein kinase C-zeta (PKC-zeta) normally inhibits stem cell activity through downregulation of two signaling pathways: beta-catenin and Yap, said Maria Diaz-Meco, Ph.D., senior co-author of the paper and professor in the Program. Previously, our lab showed that PKC-zeta acts as a tumor suppressor that maintains homeostasis of intestinal stem cells. The current study reveals the mechanism by which this occurs.

The intestine is covered by a single layer of epithelial cells that are renewed every 3 to 5 days. The pool of cells that replace these epithelial cellsintestinal stem cellsneeds to be regulated to maintain homeostasis.

Disturbing the homeostasis of the stem cell pool can go two waysit can either reduce intestinal epithelial cell regeneration or increase the proliferation of stem cells, said Diaz-Meco. Cancer is produced by the accumulation of mutations in critical genes that control central mechanisms of cell growth. Stem cells are a permanent population in the intestine and a reservoir for those mutations. Therefore, if stem cell activity is increased, as in the case of intestines deficient in PKC-zeta, then the likelihood of developing tumors is much higher, and when the tumor is initiated it becomes more aggressive.

Using a genetically engineered mouse model for intestinal cancer, the research team found that this process is kept under control by direct phosphorylation by PKC-zeta of two essential tumor promoters: beta-catenin and Yap.

Importantly, we confirmed the tumorigenic profiles of PKC-zeta, beta-catenin, and Yap in human colon adenocarcinoma samples. The correlation of human results with our in-vivo mouse studies strongly suggests that Yap and beta-catenin are potential targets of PKC-zeta function and potential targets for new anti-cancer therapies.

"Our results offer new possibilities for the prevention and treatment of intestinal cancers by blocking the pathways that lead to tumors, said Moscat. "They also highlight a new strategy to promote intestinal regeneration after acute or chronic damage, such as that triggered by chemotherapy and radiation.

Here is the original post:
New Study Sheds Light on Cancer Stem Cell Regulation

04.02.2015 - (idw) University of Gothenburg

New studies by Swedish researchers at institutions including the University of Gothenburg and Karolinska Institute are questioning the notion that infertility can be treated with stem cells. Whether or not infertility can be treated with stem cells has been a matter of debate for many years.

The classical theory is based on the idea that the eggs a woman has are the ones she has had from birth, but there are researchers who claim that stem cell research could lead to the creation of new eggs. If so, this would mean that infertile women, such as those who have entered the menopause, could be given new eggs.

New studies done by researchers at the University of Gothenburg and Karolinska Institute now show that the dream of successfully treating infertility with stem cells will probably not be realised. These new research studies have been published in the renowned journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

"Ever since 2004, the studies on stem cell research and infertility have been surrounded by hype. There has been a great amount of media interest in this, and the message has been that the treatment of infertility with stem cells is about to happen. However, many researchers, including my research group, have tried to replicate these studies and not succeeded. This creates uncertainty about whether it is at all possible to create new eggs with the help of stem cells, says Kui Liu, a researcher at the Department of Chemistry and Molecular Biology at the University of Gothenburg.

This shows not only that the use of stem cell research in the clinical treatment of childlessness is unrealistic but also that clinics should focus on using the eggs that women have had since birth in treating infertility, says Professor Kui Liu.

Dr. Kui Liu is a Professor at the Department of Chemistry and Molecular Biology at the University of Gothenburg. His group specialises in the study of the genetic and epigenetic regulation of female germ cell development. Research in recent years has covered both preclinical basic research and the transfer of the results generated from studies of mouse models to clinically applicable techniques for treating female infertility.

For more information, please contact: Professor Kui Liu: Tel. (+46) 70-8887793; kui.liu@gu.se

Link to the article in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences: http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2014/11/25/1421047111.abstract Weitere Informationen:http://www.gu.se/english/about_the_university/news-calendar/News_detail/?languag...

Read more:
Swedish Researchers Question Treatment of Infertility with Stem Cells

Albany, NY (PRWEB) February 05, 2015

The research report segments the global stem cells market on the basis of type, therapeutic area, and technology. By type, stem cells are divided into embryonic stem cells, cord blood stem cells, adult stem cells, and others. By therapeutic application area, the stem cells market is categorized into orthopedics, diabetes, cardiology, hepatology, neurology, hematology, oncology, and dermatology. On the basis of technology, cord blood banking, xenotransplantation, stem cell transplantation, and CB genomics are the main sub segments. The research report studies each segment and offers unbiased and in-depth analyses of each. Key profitable areas and slow-growth segments are highlighted and discussed, and recommendations for improvement are offered.

View Full Report at http://www.marketresearchreports.biz/analysis/227569

Geographically, the stem cells market is categorized into four primary regions: North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and Rest of the World. The report provides global market estimations as well as predictions for each region till 2020. With the help of graphical representations, the report offers the industry shares and investment figures for individual geographic regions within the stem cells market.

While discussing the U.S. market for stem cells as part of the larger North America market, the report talks about the role and contribution of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), backing from the U.S. government for stem cell research, human embryonic stem cells development and its setbacks, the first FDA-approved human clinical trial of stem cell therapy, and issues regarding NIH funding with respect to embryonic stem cell research. The report also provides an exhaustive list of stem cell banks in the U.S.

Download Detail Report With Complete TOC at http://www.marketresearchreports.biz/sample/sample/227569

The research report divides the Europe stem cells market into Spain, Germany, Sweden, United Kingdom, Russia, France, Switzerland, and Rest of Europe. The list of embryonic stem cell banks, cord blood stem cell banks, and adult stem cell banks are presented in a graphical format and market figures for the years 2010 and 2015, and estimations for 2020 are provided.

Segmenting the Asia-Pacific stem cells market into India, China, Australia, Japan, South Korea, and Rest of Asia-Pacific, the report discusses the stem cells sector, identifying key industry leaders. The South Korea market for stem cells is particularly highlighted, owing to the presence of many stem cell banks and drugs and continuing support from the President. The stem cell drugs and banks profiled in the research report are KRIBB, CARTISTEM, Chaum Life Center, National Stem Cell Bank, and Hearticellgram-AMI. CARTISTEM the first approved stem cell drug in the world for degenerative arthritis enjoys special mention in the research report.

The Rest of the World region includes the Middle East, Latin America, and South Africa and the research report lists out the major players operating within the stem cells market.

About MarketResearchReports.biz:

Originally posted here:
Rise in Research Funding to Aid the Stem Cells Market over the Next Five Years

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) researchers have engineered a way to use human liver cells, derived from induced pluripotent stem cells, to screen potential antimalarial drugs and vaccines for their ability to treat the liver stage of malaria infection. The approach may offer new opportunities for personalized antimalarial drug testing and the development of more effective individually tailored drugs to combat the disease, which causes more than 500,000 deaths worldwide each year.

The researchers present their work in the February 5th issue of Stem Cell Reports, the official journal of the International Society for Stem Cell Research.

"Our platform can be used for testing candidate drugs that act against the parasite in the early liver stages, before it causes disease in the blood and spreads back to the mosquito vector," says senior study author Sangeeta Bhatia, MD, PhD, the director of MIT's Laboratory for Multiscale Regenerative Technologies and a biomedical engineer at Brigham and Women's Hospital. "This is especially important given the increasing occurrence of drug-resistant strains of malaria in the field."

Malaria is caused by parasites that spread between humans through the bites of infected mosquitoes. In humans, the parasites grow and multiply first in liver cells and then in red blood cells where they cause the physical symptoms of the disease. One major challenge to malaria eradication is that the parasites can persist in the liver and cause relapses by invading the bloodstream weeks or even years later. Drugs or vaccines that target the liver stage could block the initial round of blood infection or perhaps even eradicate the dormant parasite pool and prevent relapse.

However, current methods for modeling liver-stage malaria in a dish are limited by the small available pool of liver cells from human donors and the lack of genetic diversity of these donor cells. These challenges have made it difficult not only to determine how genetics influences responses to antimalarial drugs, but also to establish a method to explore the development of personalized drugs for individual patients.

To overcome these hurdles, Bhatia and her team reprogrammed human skin cells into induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs)--embryonic-like stem cells capable of turning into other specific cell types relevant for studying a particular disease. iPSCs are a potentially renewable source of liver cells that retain the donor's genetic makeup and can be generated from any human donor. These features allow a broad spectrum of the human population to be represented in drug screens and provide the opportunity to test individualized responses to antimalarial drugs as well as genetic factors that determine susceptibility to infection.

The researchers infected iPSC-derived liver cells with various malaria parasites to model liver-stage malaria in the lab. These cells were sensitive to an antimalarial drug called atovaquone; chemical maturation through exposure to small molecules also made the cells sensitive to another antimalarial drug called primaquine, demonstrating the value of this approach for testing new antimalarial drugs.

"Moving forward, we hope to adapt the iPSC-derived liver cells to scalable, high-throughput culture formats to support fast, efficient antimalarial drug screens," says lead study author Shengyong Ng, a postdoctoral researcher in Bhatia's lab. "The use of iPSC-derived liver cells to model liver-stage malaria in a dish opens the door to study the influence of host genetics on antimalarial drug efficacy and lays the foundation for their use in antimalarial drug discovery."

Story Source:

The above story is based on materials provided by Cell Press. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.

See original here:
Malaria-in-a-dish paves the way for better treatments

Whether or not infertility can be treated with stem cells has been a matter of debate for many years.

The classical theory is based on the idea that the eggs a woman has are the ones she has had from birth, but there are researchers who claim that stem cell research could lead to the creation of new eggs. If so, this would mean that infertile women, such as those who have entered the menopause, could be given new eggs.

New studies done by researchers at the University of Gothenburg and Karolinska Institute now show that the dream of successfully treating infertility with stem cells will probably not be realized. These new research studies have been published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

"Ever since 2004, the studies on stem cell research and infertility have been surrounded by hype. There has been a great amount of media interest in this, and the message has been that the treatment of infertility with stem cells is about to happen. However, many researchers, including my research group, have tried to replicate these studies and not succeeded. This creates uncertainty about whether it is at all possible to create new eggs with the help of stem cells," says Kui Liu, a researcher at the Department of Chemistry and Molecular Biology at the University of Gothenburg.

Together with Outi Hovatta's research group at Karolinska Institute and Jan-ke Gustafsson's research team at the University of Houston in the United States, staff at Professor Liu's laboratory have carried out experiments on mice showing that the only eggs female mice have are the ones they have from birth.

"This shows not only that the use of stem cell research in the clinical treatment of childlessness is unrealistic but also that clinics should focus on using the eggs that women have had since birth in treating infertility," says Professor Kui Liu.

Dr. Kui Liu is a Professor at the Department of Chemistry and Molecular Biology at the University of Gothenburg. His group specialises in the study of the genetic and epigenetic regulation of female germ cell development. Research in recent years has covered both preclinical basic research and the transfer of the results generated from studies of mouse models to clinically applicable techniques for treating female infertility.

Story Source:

The above story is based on materials provided by University of Gothenburg. The original article was written by Carina Eliasson. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.

The rest is here:
Researchers question treatment of infertility with stem cells

Song Li | Engineering Stem Cells
Stem cells are a valuable cell source for tissue engineering, disease modeling and drug screening. A recent discovery in stem cell biology is that differenti...

By: Michigan Engineering

Go here to read the rest:
Song Li | Engineering Stem Cells - Video

Jeunesse - DrNewman - Stem Cells
Like our Page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/JeunesseGlobalAZ/1019996088016184?ref=hl Share photos with us: http://www.instagram.com/jeunesseglobalaz Partner with us or buy products: ...

By: JeunesseGlobalAZ

Read more here:
Jeunesse - DrNewman - Stem Cells - Video

Talking Clinical Trials and Stem Cells With One Of Mexico #39;s
Talking Clinical Trials and Stem Cells With One Of Mexico #39;s Best Physicians http://www.theclinicaltrials.guru.

By: Dan Sfera

Read the original here:
Talking Clinical Trials and Stem Cells With One Of Mexico's - Video

LA JOLLA, Calif., Jan. 28 (UPI) -- A new technique for growing human hair in a petri dish may hold promise for balding men and women all over the world. Scientists have managed to grow new hair from human pluripotent stem cells -- cells capable of morphing into all sorts of different cells.

In this instance, the stem cells -- taken from human embryos -- are coaxed into mimicking dermal papillae, the type of cells that govern hair follicle formation and growth cycles. Dermal papillae can be grown in the lab from adult cells, as well, but they quickly lose their potency. Dermal papillae developed from stem cells do not.

"We have developed a method using human pluripotent stem cells to create new cells capable of initiating human hair growth," explained Alexey Terskikh, an associate professor in the Development, Aging, and Regeneration Program at the Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute in La Jolla, California.

"The method is a marked improvement over current methods that rely on transplanting existing hair follicles from one part of the head to another," Terskikh added. "Our stem cell method provides an unlimited source of cells from the patient for transplantation and isn't limited by the availability of existing hair follicles."

In studies with mice, transplanted stem-turned-dermal papillae cells were able to grow significant amounts of hair.

The authors of the study -- which was published in the journal PLOS ONE -- are now looking for partners to help take the science to market.

The only problem is that the newly generated stem cell hair grows in a haphazard pattern, each hair shooting in out in different directions and at different angles.

"So it might be a little messy," Terskikh told U-T San Diego. "But I figure that people will prefer messy hair over a lack of it."

2015 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Any reproduction, republication, redistribution and/or modification of any UPI content is expressly prohibited without UPI's prior written consent.

Go here to see the original:
Can hair-growing stem cells cure baldness?