Category Archives: Stem Cells

Got too much scalp? A new way to treat hair loss that doesnt involve solutions, creams or hocus-pocus could be on the way.

Scientists at the Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute have developed a stem cell method that initiates human hair growth.

Stem Cell Treatment Cures Blindness

Stem cells are the baseline, progenitor cells of all cells in our body. Using a genetic technique, Alexey Terskikh, an associate professor at the institute, and his colleagues coaxed stem cells to become dermal papilla cells.

These cells regulate the formation and growth cycle of hair follicles.

When transplanted into lab mice, the dermal papilla cells promoted the growth of hair.

Stem Cells Grow Beating Heart

Our next step is to transplant human dermal papilla cells derived from human pluripotent stem cells back into human subjects, said Terskikh. We are currently seeking partnerships to implement this final step.

Snake-oil salesmen need not apply.

via Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute

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Stem Cells Could Treat Hair Loss

For the first time, researchers have been able to use pluripotent stem cells to generate cells that can grow new hair.

Hair growing on hairless mice thanks to induced pluripotent stem cells. Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute

It's been theorised for years, but now human stem cells have resulted in hair growth for the very first time.

"We have developed a method using human pluripotent stem cells to create new cells capable of initiating human hair growth. The method is a marked improvement over current methods that rely on transplanting existing hair follicles from one part of the head to another," said Alexey Terskikh, Ph.D., associate professor in the Development, Aging and Regeneration Program at Sanford-Burnham.

"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."

The process started with human pluripotent embryonic stem cells -- that is, stem cells that are capable of developing into any other cell -- which were then developed into neural crest cells. These are cells that can develop into a variety of cells on the head, including brain cells, cartilage, bone and muscle cells.

From the neural crest cell point, the team coaxed the cells to grow into dermal papillae cells, the cells that nourish the skin and regulate follicle growth and formation. When transplanted -- in the case of this study, into hairless mice -- these cells flourish.

Another part of the study examined whether the same result could be achieved using dermal papillae cells taken from the scalps of adult humans. Outside the body, living in culture, these cells are not suitable for hair transplants, since they lost their ability to induce follicle formation. The number of hairs their produced was insignificant.

"In adults, dermal papilla cells cannot be readily amplified outside of the body and they quickly lose their hair-inducing properties," said Terskikh. "We developed a protocol to drive human pluripotent stem cells to differentiate into dermal papilla cells and confirmed their ability to induce hair growth when transplanted into mice."

The researchers say that their research represents the first step towards a cell-based treatment for hair loss, which affects 40 million men and 21 million women in the United States.

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Stem cell-grown hair could help those with hair loss

In a new study from Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute (Sanford-Burnham), researchers have used human pluripotent stem cells to generate new hair. The study represents the first step toward the development of a cell-based treatment for people with hair loss. In the United States alone, more than 40 million men and 21 million women are affected by hair loss. The research was published online in PLOS One yesterday.

"We have developed a method using human pluripotent stem cells to create new cells capable of initiating human hair growth. The method is a marked improvement over current methods that rely on transplanting existing hair follicles from one part of the head to another," said Alexey Terskikh, Ph.D., associate professor in the Development, Aging, and Regeneration Program at Sanford-Burnham. "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."

The research team developed a protocol that coaxed human pluripotent stem cells to become dermal papilla cells. They are a unique population of cells that regulate hair-follicle formation and growth cycle. Human dermal papilla cells on their own are not suitable for hair transplants because they cannot be obtained in necessary amounts and rapidly lose their ability to induce hair-follicle formation in culture.

"In adults, dermal papilla cells cannot be readily amplified outside of the body and they quickly lose their hair-inducing properties," said Terskikh. "We developed a protocol to drive human pluripotent stem cells to differentiate into dermal papilla cells and confirmed their ability to induce hair growth when transplanted into mice."

"Our next step is to transplant human dermal papilla cells derived from human pluripotent stem cells back into human subjects," said Terskikh. "We are currently seeking partnerships to implement this final step."

Story Source:

The above story is based on materials provided by Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.

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Using stem cells to grow new hair

Professor Michael P. Lisanti, Director of the Breakthrough Breast Cancer Unit, led the research. He was inspired to look at the effects of antibiotics on the mitochondria of cancer stem cells by a conversation with his daughter Camilla about his work at the University's Institute of Cancer Sciences.

His new paper, published in Oncotarget, opens up the possibility of a treatment for cancer, which is highly effective and repurposes drugs which have been safely used for decades.

Mitochondria are the 'engine' parts of the cells and are the source of energy for the stem cells as they mutate and divide to cause tumours. Cancer stem cells are strongly associated with the growth and recurrence of all cancers and are especially difficult to eradicate with normal treatment, which also leads to tumours developing resistance to other types of therapy.

Professor Lisanti said: "I was having a conversation with Camilla about how to cure cancer and she asked why don't we just use antibiotics like we do for other illnesses. I knew that antibiotics can affect mitochondria and I've been doing a lot of work recently on how important they are to the growth of tumours, but this conversation helped me to make a direct link."

Professor Lisanti worked with colleagues from The Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York and the Kimmel Cancer Centre, Philadelphia. The team used five types of antibiotics - including one used to treat acne (doxycycline) - on cell lines of eight different types of tumour and found that four of them eradicated the cancer stem cells in every test. This included glioblastoma, the most aggressive of brain tumours, as well as lung, prostate, ovarian, breast, pancreatic and skin cancer.

Mitochondria are believed to be descended from bacteria which joined with cells early on in the evolution of life. This is why some of the antibiotics which are used to destroy bacteria also affect mitochondria, though not to an extent which is dangerous to people. When they are present in stem cells, mitochondria provide energy for growth and, crucially, for division, and it is this process going wrong which leads to cancer.

In the lab, the antibiotics had no harmful effect on normal cells, and since they are already approved for use in humans, trials of new treatments should be simpler than with new drugs - saving time and money.

Professor Lisanti said: "This research makes a strong case for opening new trials in humans for using antibiotics to fight cancer. Many of the drugs we used were extremely effective, there was little or no damage to normal cells and these antibiotics have been in use for decades and are already approved by the FDA for use in humans. However, of course, further studies are needed to validate their efficacy, especially in combination with more conventional therapies."

Dr Matthew Lam, Senior Research Officer at Breakthrough Breast Cancer, said: "The conclusions that the researchers have drawn, whilst just hypotheses at this stage, are certainly interesting. Antibiotics are cheap and readily available and if in time the link between their use and the eradication of cancer stem cells can be proved, this work may be the first step towards a new avenue for cancer treatment.

"This is a perfect example of why it is so important to continue to invest in scientific research. Sometimes there are answers to some of the biggest questions right in front of us but without ongoing commitment to the search for these answers, we'd never find them."

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Schoolgirl comment points to antibiotics as new cancer treatments

A criminal investigation now seems likely in the STAP stem-cell research debacle after a former Riken researcher filed a criminal complaint against disgraced scientist Haruko Obokata, alleging she stole samples of embryonic stem cells before reporting that she had created her version of stem cells with a novel technique.

Toshihisa Ishikawa, a former senior researcher at the government-affiliated scientific research organization, submitted the complaint to police in Hyogo Prefecture, where Obokata as a Riken researcher conducted her stem-cell research.

The work secured publication in the prestigious science journal Nature and was widely hailed as groundbreaking before allegations of fabrication emerged.

Ishikawa was not immediately available for comment Tuesday, but press reports have carried his account of what he believes happened.

I am convinced the ES cells Ms. Haruko Obokata used to fabricate her STAP cells were those she stole from the research room of Mr. Teruhiko Wakayama, the latest issue of the gossip weekly Friday quoted Ishikawa as saying. Im going to file a criminal complaint against her alleging that she stole the ES cells, because otherwise confidence in Japans science will be entirely lost.

The prefectural police have yet to decide whether to accept Ishikawas complaint.

A Riken spokesman said Ishikawa was acting in his private capacity in submitting the complaint, but that the institute would cooperate if police ask it to.

Noting that the details of the complaint are still not known and that the police may ultimately reject it, a lawyer representing Obokata nevertheless denied that she stole samples of cells.

Just to be sure, there is no fact that Ms. Obokata stole ES cells, nor was she motivated to do so, lawyer Hideo Miki said in a statement Monday. From what I learned through hearsay, the complaint is poorly put together, and it significantly contradicts the facts. . . . I hope to take appropriate action as necessary.

Ishikawa, who retired from the famed institute last March, alleges the Obokata stole ES cells that were created and stored at the Riken laboratory of Teruhiko Wakayama, which she belonged to, some time after April 2011.

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Obokata may face criminal charges as former colleague alleges she stole stem cells

Despite enormous progress in cancer therapy, many patients still relapse because their treatment addresses the symptoms of the disease rather than the cause, the so-called stem cells. Work in the group of Veronika Sexl at the University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna has given a tantalizing clue to a solution. In the current issue of Blood, the scientists report that the cell-cycle kinase CDK6 is required for activation of the stem cells responsible for causing leukemia.

Hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) are normally inactive, i.e. quiescent. When new blood cells are needed, for example to replace blood that has been lost, HSCs start to multiply and develop into mature blood cells. If the process is initiated at an inappropriate time, hematopoietic diseases such as leukemia may result and leukemic stem cells may develop. These represent a major challenge to leukemia therapy: they are quiescent and thus protected from elimination by the immune system and from treatment such as chemotherapy. Leukemic stem cells frequently cause relapse in cancer patients, often years or even decades after an apparently successful treatment.

Working with stem cells isolated from mice, Ruth Scheicher and colleagues at the University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna have investigated possible differences between leukemic stem cells and the healthy stem cells in the body. They looked in particular at the function of the CDK6 protein, which is known to be involved in controlling the cell cycle. Surprisingly, CDK6 was also found to regulate the activation of hematopoietic and leukemic stem cells, which it does by inhibiting the transcription factor Egr1. Upon loss of CDK6, Egr1 becomes active and prevents stem cells from dividing. In a further twist to the tale, the mechanism operates only when hematopoietic stem cells are stressed, e.g. in leukemia, and not in the normal physiological situation.

Scheicher is quick to note the significance of her finding. "CDK6 is absolutely necessary for leukemic stem cells to induce disease but plays no part in normal hematopoiesis. We thus have a novel opportunity to target leukemia at its origin. Inhibiting CDK6 should attack leukemic stem cells while leaving healthy HSCs unaffected."

Story Source:

The above story is based on materials provided by University of Veterinary Medicine -- Vienna. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.

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Keeping the kraken asleep: Insight into the role of stem cells in leukemia

Osaka, Jan 27 (IANS): A research team of Japan's Osaka University has announced that it has proved myocardial cells developed from induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells could assimilate with heart tissues of rats and function continuously, which marks a big step towards clinical research of treating human heart diseases with iPS cells.

The team said it had cooperated with National Cerebral and Cardiovascular Centre to transplant iPS-derived myocardial cell sheets to rats with myocardial infarction, and observed the cells one month later with help of X-rays from SPring-8, the world's largest third-generation synchrotron radiation facility located in Hyogo prefecture in western Japan.

The result showed on a molecular level that the actin and myosin of the transplanted cells functioned well in contractions of the heart tissues, which means the transplanted cells have become an integral part of the heart tissues of the rats, Xinhua news agency reported citing the research team.

This is the first time iPS-derived cells have been proved assimilable with the myocardial tissue, though animal tests have shown iPS-derived cells could improve function of the heart previously, said the researchers.

The discovery will be a step towards clinical research of treating human patients with severe heart failure by transplanting iPS-derived myocardial cell sheets to them, according to the team.

First developed by Nobel Prize-winning Kyoto University professor Shinya Yamanaka in 2006, iPS cells are a type of stem cells that can be generated directly from adult cells.

As pluripotent stem cells can grow into various human body tissues, iPS cells hold great promise for regenerative medicine. Clinical research has been under way in Japan on using iPS cells to remedy retinal degenerative disease.

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iPS-derived cells assimilable with heart tissues: Researchers

A team of students of Theni Government Medical College in Andipatti has taken a new initiative to protect people and help save lives of those who suffer from leukemia and thalassaemia.

They have floated a non-profit organisation, Datri, to promote blood stem cell Human Leukocyte Antigen (HLA) typing of donation and create a database of blood stem cell donors across the globe.

To begin with, 58 students have registered themselves with the organisation for blood stem cell donation and transplant initiatives.

More than 40 adults were diagnosed with fatal blood disorders in the country every day and one out of every 10,000 was born with thalassaemia every year, they said.

Datri had been creating a diverse database of donors across the world that could be accessed by any patient in need of blood stem cell transplant, said College Dean R.M. Rajamuthaiah.

More than 40 adults diagnosed with fatal blood disorders in the country

every day

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Theni medicos launch database for access to blood stem cells

CHENNAI: There is a public stem cell bank in Chennai where people can donate stem cell stems, but most clinicians and people are unaware of it.

In her presentation at the 58th All India Congress of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Dr Saranya Narayan, medical director and co-founder of Jeevan Stem Cell Bank, said many clinicians were not aware of the existence of the public stem cell bank in the city that could store stem cells for free of cost and help patients with hematological illnesses like thalassemia and blood cancer.

"The only operational public stem cell bank is in Chennai. We function with the grant from the Tamil Nadu government and help from the World Bank. But many clinicians are not aware of this public bank," the doctor said.

She explained that stem cell is separated from the umbilical cord blood which is collected during the birth of a baby and is stored.

While awareness is important, the doctor had also observed that many clinicians feel that counselling families for donating cord blood is eating into their consultation time.

"We have sent our staff members for counselling families in some hospitals. But with the pamphlets and awareness material, it is easy to convince families to donate. We also found that some doctors say they do not have an infrastructure to collect cord blood. We give them the kit to collect the cord blood," she explained.

The lack of awareness among people on the benefits of stem cells leaves about 90 percent of cord blood ending up as a medical waste, the doctor said.

"There is a 60 to 80 percent success rate in stem cell transplant treatment for hematological illnesses. So a donor's stem cell is used on someone else with the illness. But if the donor or donor's family has an illness and needs it, they can approach us. We will either give the donor's own stem cells or find a suitable match and provide them at a concessional rate," Dr Saranya said.

While the level of donation of umbilical cord blood is low, the doctor noted that about 40 percent of cord blood donations are rejected for various reasons, including volume below 60ml, leaks from blood bag, large clots in blood bag and delay in transportation of the cord blood for preservation.

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Heard about a free stem cell bank in Chennai?

CHENNAI: There is a public stem cell bank in Chennai where people can donate stem cell stems, but most clinicians and people are unaware of it.

In her presentation at the 58th All India Congress of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Dr Saranya Narayan, medical director and co-founder of Jeevan Stem Cell Bank, said many clinicians were not aware of the existence of the public stem cell bank in the city that could store stem cells for free of cost and help patients with hematological illnesses like thalassemia and blood cancer.

"The only operational public stem cell bank is in Chennai. We function with the grant from the Tamil Nadu government and help from the World Bank. But many clinicians are not aware of this public bank," the doctor said.

She explained that stem cell is separated from the umbilical cord blood which is collected during the birth of a baby and is stored.

While awareness is important, the doctor had also observed that many clinicians feel that counselling families for donating cord blood is eating into their consultation time.

"We have sent our staff members for counselling families in some hospitals. But with the pamphlets and awareness material, it is easy to convince families to donate. We also found that some doctors say they do not have an infrastructure to collect cord blood. We give them the kit to collect the cord blood," she explained.

The lack of awareness among people on the benefits of stem cells leaves about 90 percent of cord blood ending up as a medical waste, the doctor said.

"There is a 60 to 80 percent success rate in stem cell transplant treatment for hematological illnesses. So a donor's stem cell is used on someone else with the illness. But if the donor or donor's family has an illness and needs it, they can approach us. We will either give the donor's own stem cells or find a suitable match and provide them at a concessional rate," Dr Saranya said.

While the level of donation of umbilical cord blood is low, the doctor noted that about 40 percent of cord blood donations are rejected for various reasons, including volume below 60ml, leaks from blood bag, large clots in blood bag and delay in transportation of the cord blood for preservation.

Stay updated on the go with Times of India News App. Click here to download it for your device.

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Heard about a public stem cell bank in Chennai?