Category Archives: Stem Cells

Published 23 January 2015

TiGenix, an advanced biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercialising novel therapeutics from its proprietary platform of allogeneic expanded adipose-derived stem cells in inflammatory and autoimmune diseases, announced that the European Patent Office (EPO) has issued European Patent EP2292736 relating to an adipose-derived stem cell composition.

The patent is entitled " Identification and isolation of multipotent cells from non-osteochondral mesenchymal tissue ". The claims of the granted patent cover both a specified population of expanded adipose-derived multipotent cells and their therapeutic uses, as well as pharmaceutical compositions of such cells.

TiGenix is developing injectable products from its proprietary platform of allogeneic expanded adipose-derived stem cells (eASCs) for inflammatory and autoimmune diseases. Cx601 is a solution of allogeneic eASCs for local injection currently in Phase III of clinical development for the treatment of complex perianal fistulas in patients with Crohn's disease.

Clinical results from the on-going European Phase III trial are expected in the third quarter of 2015, and, if positive, may allow the company to file for Marketing Authorisation in Europe. Cx611 is an intravenously-administered product of allogeneic eASCs, which TiGenix is currently developing for patients with early rheumatoid arthritis and for patients with severe sepsis.

"This European patent further strengthens our intellectual property position in the field of expanded adipose-derived stem cell compositions and their therapeutic uses", said Wilfried Dalemans, Chief Technical Officer of TiGenix. "The grant of this patent advances our leading position in bringing adipose-derived stem cell therapeutics to patients."

The issuance of this patent reinforces TiGenix's intellectual property portfolio of 24 patent families which now includes 14 granted patents related specifically to its eASC platform.

The pending and granted patents in TiGenix's intellectual property portfolio include patent families that are directed to its eASC platform; and more specifically, to eASC compositions and therapeutic applications as well as to cell therapy delivery mechanisms and other eASC technology improvements.

Source: Company Press Release

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TiGenix gets European patent relating to adipose-derived stem cell composition

Scientists are hesitant to call it a cure, but they have succeeded in significantly reducing -- and in some cases, reversing -- disability caused by the crippling disorder multiple sclerosis. The therapy involves using the patients own stem cells in a single treatment.

The stem cells are collected from the patients blood and they are used to reset the immune system, so the body's fighter cells no longer mistake the patients own nervous system tissue for an invader. Those attacks cause disability and autoimmune diseases like multiple sclerosis.

MS is a degenerative disease. Ten years after being diagnosed, half of all MS patients are unable to work, and after 25 years with the disease, half lose the ability to walk.

Richard Burt, chief of the Division of Immunotherapy at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, led a study of 150 MS patients, most with the mildest form of the disease called relapsing-remitting MS, in which they received the stem-cell therapy.

He said their disability seemed to reverse itself or disappear.

This is a one-time treatment and then you are done. And so we hope patients never need to be treated again, said Burt.

About half of the patients tested two years after the study showed significant improvement in their movement and cognitive function. Of the three dozen participants tested after four years, 23 had continued improvement of their symptoms, and 80 percent were free of relapses or flare-ups.

Ten percent of patients required another treatment after five years. Some of the participants, who had a more serious form of MS, did not improve.

MS disease progression and severity are measured by the number of lesions in the brain seen by high-tech imaging. Most of the patients who received the stem cells had fewer brain lesions.

Treatment for multiple sclerosis is expensive, typically close to $50,000 or more per year.

Original post:
Researchers Reduce MS Disability With Stem Cells

Yorba Linda, CA (PRWEB) January 22, 2015

Advances in stem cell biology have raised great expectations that diseases of the central nervous system may be ameliorated by the development of non-haematopoietic stem cell medicines. Yet, the application of stem cells as therapeutics is challenging and the interpretation of some of the outcomes ambiguous. The initial idea that stem cell transplants work only via structural cell replacement has been challenged by the observation of consistent intercellular information exchange between the graft and the host. Sustained stem cell graft-to-host exchange of signals has led to remarkable trophic effects on endogenous brain cells and beneficial modulatory actions on innate and adaptive immune responses that ultimately promote the healing of the injured CNS. Among a number of promising candidate stem cell sources, mesenchymal/stromal stem cells (MSCs) and neural stem/precursor cells (NPCs) are being extensively investigated for their capacities to signal to the immune system upon transplantation in experimental CNS diseases.

Beckman Coulter is sponsoring a new educational webinar, How Stem Cells Speak with Immune Cells, which will be focused on defining whether the form of cellular signaling mediated by extracellular membrane vesicles (EVs) exists for neural stem/precursor cells (NPCs), and on its molecular signature and functional relevance on target cells. Whether the EV cargo molecules are modulated by extracellular pro- or anti-inflammatory cytokines, determining the key elements responsible for this novel mechanism of EV-mediated intercellular communication, and reflections on the forthcoming challenges related to the translation of these exciting experimental proofs into ready-to-use clinical medicines for inflammatory CNS diseases will also be discussed.

The speaker will be Stefano Pluchino, MD, PhD, University Lecturer, Brain Repair, Honorary Consultant in Neurology, University of Cambridge, UK. Dr. Pluchino is currently an University Lecturer in Brain Repair and Honorary Consultant in Neurology at the University of Cambridge, UK, within the Centre for Brain Repair (2010-). He is also a European Research Council (ERC) Starting Independent Researcher and member of the Department of Clinical Neurosciences.

The free webinar, hosted by LabRoots, will be presented on Monday, January 26, 2015 at 8:00am PDT, 11:00am EDT, 4:00pm GMT.

For full details and free registration, click here.

About Beckman Coulter: Beckman Coulter develops, manufactures, and markets products that simplify, automate, and innovate complex biomedical testing. More than 275,000 Beckman Coulter systems operate in both diagnostics and life sciences laboratories on seven continents. For more than 75 years, the companys products have been making a difference in peoples' lives by improving the productivity of medical professionals and scientists, supplying critical information for improving patient health, and delivering trusted solutions for research and discovery.

About LabRoots: LabRoots is the leading scientific social networking website and producer of online educational events and webinars. And we are a powerful advocate in amplifying global networks and communities, and contributing to the advancement of science through content sharing capabilities and encouraging group interactions.

Founded in 2008, LabRoots emphasizes digital innovation in scientific collaboration and learning. We have become a primary source for current scientific news, webinars, virtual conferences and more. Join for free and become part of the largest scientific learning community in the world.

Excerpt from:
Beckman Coulter Webinar Presents How Stem Cells Speak with Immune Cells

Amy Norton HealthDay Reporter Posted: Tuesday, January 20, 2015, 12:00 PM

TUESDAY, Jan. 20, 2015 (HealthDay News) -- A therapy that uses patients' own primitive blood cells may be able to reverse some of the effects of multiple sclerosis, a preliminary study suggests.

The findings, published Tuesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association, had experts cautiously optimistic.

But they also stressed that the study was small -- with around 150 patients -- and the benefits were limited to people who were in the earlier courses of multiple sclerosis (MS).

"This is certainly a positive development," said Bruce Bebo, the executive vice president of research for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.

There are numerous so-called "disease-modifying" drugs available to treat MS -- a disease in which the immune system mistakenly attacks the protective sheath (called myelin) around fibers in the brain and spine, according to the society. Depending on where the damage is, symptoms include muscle weakness, numbness, vision problems and difficulty with balance and coordination.

But while those drugs can slow the progression of MS, they can't reverse disability, said Dr. Richard Burt, the lead researcher on the new study and chief of immunotherapy and autoimmune diseases at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago.

His team tested a new approach: essentially, "rebooting" the immune system with patients' own blood-forming stem cells -- primitive cells that mature into immune-system fighters.

The researchers removed and stored stem cells from MS patients' blood, then used relatively low-dose chemotherapy drugs to -- as Burt described it -- "turn down" the patients' immune-system activity.

Here is the original post:
Early Study Says Stem Cells May Reverse Multiple Sclerosis Disability

Illustration: John Spooner

One of the joys for those who work in the health services area is bringing relief to patients from chronic conditions.

And as the level of desperation rises, some patients will pay over the odds for treatment, pursing unproven options in the hope of some improvement in their condition. And where there is unmet demand, supply soon steps in to fill the gap.

Last year, there was intense global media attention on stem cell treatments following a paralysed patient in Poland who walked after a cell transplant, a project involving Polish and UK researchers.

Stem cells may well offer significant potential promise for patients in a range of treatments. But to date, much of that optimism has run well ahead of the reality.

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Clinical trials to ensure the efficacy and safety of medical treatments is slow and laborious, taking several years, at the very least, to verify the merits of a treatment before then seeking approvals to offer the treatment to patients.

But for those searching for a stem cell treatment in Australia, there is a loophole: a referral from your doctor is often all it takes to get access, even though there is scant proof that the patient benefits.

Clearly, some patients so badly want to believe the treatment is good for them that this will override the necessary caution.

Much of this activity is taking place in private clinics, although sharemarket investors, too, have stem cell groups they can invest in.

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Optimism on stem cells, ahead of reality

Scientists are using stem cells extracted from abdominal fat Injections reduced leakage by up to 60 per cent Treatment involves taking fat from the tummy using liposuction Extracted stem cells from the fat are then injected into the patient

By Roger Dobson for the Daily Mail

Published: 18:37 EST, 19 January 2015 | Updated: 18:48 EST, 19 January 2015

Researchers are using injections of belly fat to treat incontinence in men following prostate surgery.

Early research suggests the treatment - using stem cells extracted from abdominal fat - reduced leakage by up to 60 per cent, with results being seen within days of the injections.

The scientists say the therapy may also work for female incontinence.

Fat tissue, especially around the abdomen, has higher concentrations of stem cells compared with other sites

Prostate surgery carries the risk of damaging nerves and muscles surrounding the gland, leading to complications such as impotence and incontinence.

Around one in five men is thought to suffer mild long-term leakage following the removal of their prostate, while one in 20 suffers more serious problems.

Stress incontinence is the most common type after surgery. Sufferers leak urine when they cough, laugh, sneeze or exercise, often because of problems with the muscular valve - the bladder sphincter - that keeps urine in the bladder.

Link:
Jabs of tummy fat can reduce incontinence in men following prostate surgery

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Newswise ANN ARBOR, Mich. University of Michigan alumna Brooke Kendrick and her husband Stephen were ready to start a family.

But a devastating inherited nerve disease runs in her family, affecting her brother and threatening to kill or cripple any male child she has. So, the couple chose to conceive via in vitro fertilization, to have their embryos tested for the genetic defect, and to implant only disease-free ones.

Now, as they get ready to celebrate the first birthday of their healthy son Gus, and the arrival of his sibling conceived the same way, they know that theyve stopped adrenoleukodystrophy, or ALD, from traveling further down their family line.

But at the same time, theyve done something extraordinary for all families whose boys have ALD, whose men (like Brookes brother) have a less-severe form called AMN, or whose women and girls carry the genetic trait and might pass it on.

By donating the disease-affected embryos that they didnt want to a U-M Medical School lab, theyve made it possible for scientists to study ALD in its earliest stages.

The lab, called the MStem Cell Laboratories, derived embryonic stem cells from the embryo, and coaxed them to grow into nerve cells.

When genetically abnormal embryos would otherwise be discarded, families may donate them to research toward cures for diseases affecting their loved ones, says stem cell scientist Gary Smith, Ph.D., who directs the lab. Disease-specific human embryonic stem cells are the gold standard for research the purest pathway to understanding disease establishment and progression, and to discovering ways to prevent or alleviate pain and suffering caused by these diseases.

Scientists at U-M and around the world are now using the nerve cells developed from the ALD-carrying stem cells. Each nerve cell, or neuron, carries the ALD gene defect which lets scientists like U-M neurologist John Fink, M.D., study how the genetic abnormality affects nerve cells as they grow.

Read the original post:
Stem Cell Success: One Couple's Effort to Protect Their Son From Fatal Nerve Disease Will Help Other Boys Too

Andrew #39;s Autism two day After a Stem Cell Treatment
Autism Andrew Stem Cell Treatment part 3 After Treatment-- The improvements two day after Stem Cell Treatment for Autism.

By: World Stem Cells LLC

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Andrew's Autism two day After a Stem Cell Treatment - Video

The birth and engraftment of a blood stem cell | Boston Children #39;s Hospital
When a patient receives a bone marrow transplant, the transplanted blood stem cells find their home, begin dividing and establish themselves in the body much like natural blood stem cells do....

By: Boston Children #39;s Hospital

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The birth and engraftment of a blood stem cell | Boston Children's Hospital - Video

January 16, 2015

This is a schematic of the head of a femur (the thigh bone), showing OCR stem cells in red and the growth of bone (green), cartilage and stromal cells. (Credit: Mike Barnett/Columbia University Medical Center)

Brett Smith for redOrbit.com Your Universe Online

Researchers at Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC) have announced the discovery of a new stem cell in mice that is capable of regenerating both bone and cartilage, according to a new report in the journal Cell.

The study team found the new cells by following the activity of a protein called Gremlin1. When they transplanted the cells, called osteochondroreticular (OCR) stem cells, to a fracture site they saw that the cells aided in bone repair.

We are now trying to figure out whether we can persuade these cells to specifically regenerate after injury, said Dr. Siddhartha Mukherjee, assistant professor of medicine at CUMC and co-author of the new study. If you make a fracture in the mouse, these cells will come alive again, generate both bone and cartilage in the mouseand repair the fracture. The question is, could this happen in humans?

The researchers predicted that OCR stem cells will eventually be found in humans because we have a biological makeup similar to that of mice. The CUMC team said they were optimistic that their work could eventually lead to treatments for bone-degenerative diseases like osteoporosis and osteoarthritis in addition to therapy for bone fractures.

Our findings raise the possibility that drugs or other therapies can be developed to stimulate the production of OCR stem cells and improve the bodys ability to repair bone injurya process that declines significantly in old age, said Dr. Timothy C. Wang, another co-author and professor of Medicine at CUMC.

These cells are particularly active during development, but they also increase in number in adulthood after bone injury, added co-author Dr. Gerard Karsenty, a professor of genetics and development at CUMC.

The Columbia researchers were also able to show that the adult OCRs are unlike mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), which lead to bone growth during adolescence and in adulthood. Scientists presumed that MSCs were the source of all skeletal system cells, but the latest research has revealed that these cells do not produce fresh bone and cartilage. The Columbia study implies that OCR stem cells serve this function and that both OCR stems cells and MSCs bring about bone repair in adults.

Read more from the original source:
Mice stem cells capable of regenerating bone, cartilage