Embryonic stem cells can develop into a multitude of cells types. Researchers would like to understand how to channel that development into the specific types of mature cells that make up the organs and other structures of living organisms.

One key seems to be long chains of sugars that dangle from proteins on surfaces of cells.

Kamil Godula's group at the University of California, San Diego, has created synthetic molecules that can stand in for the natural sugars, but can be more easily manipulated to direct the process, they report in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.

A variety of growth factors influence the fate of embryonic stem cells. All bind to specific receptors on the surface of the cell, but many must also bind to these sugars to exert their influence.

The natural sugar structures are difficult to manage, so Godula's group strung small sugar fragments together to create synthetic versions. They used these 'glycopolymers' to figure out how specific growth factors recognize sugars on the surface of cells.

By tagging individual glycopolymers, they were able to identify sugar substructures with the greatest affinity for fibroblast growth factor 2, one of the growth factors involved in neural development.

To test their mimetic molecules in a living system, they slipped successful versions into the into membranes of mouse embryonic stem cells that lack the natural form of the sugar. Six days later, these cells transformed into 'neural rosettes,' precursors of many types of mature neural cells. Untreated cells didn't.

Godula's group is working on a number of similar molecular mimics to explore a variety of developmental pathways.

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The above story is based on materials provided by University of California - San Diego. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.

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Sugar mimics guide stem cells toward neural fate

People are making all kinds of wacky claims.

If you poke around on the internet, it isn't hard to find cosmetic products touting the benefits of their stem cells. But buyer beware: An article in theAugust issue of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery highlights just how zany some of these claims have gotten and just how little hard science is actually behind them."Stem cells offer tremendous potential, but the marketplace is saturated with unsubstantiated and sometimes fraudulent claims that may place patients at risk," explains author Michael T. Longaker in the EurekAlert! press release.

"The article was prompted by 'worrying advertisements' claiming benefits of stem cell procedures for facelifts, breast augmentation even 'stem cell vaginal rejuvenation,'" notes the release. "These ads claim benefits from procedures that have not undergone rigorous scientific evaluation including potential risks related to stem cell and tissue processing and the effects of aging on stem cells."

What's going on here is similar to brain-scan-credulousness disorder (yes, I just made that up) the idea that people find scientific arguments more compelling when they're accompanied by an image of a brain scan. Just as people find neuroimaging captivating even when they don't fully understand the process and limitations behind it (which explains quackish firms popping up with unsupported claims), since stem cells are something of a mystery to most of us, it makes it easier for the snake-oil salespeople to get in our door.

The rest is here:
Dont Pay for Cosmetic Procedures With Stem Cells

Next time you come across an advertisement offering cosmetic stem cell procedures not only to give your skin a glowing look but also to stop it from growing old, beware.

Most of such ads claim benefits from procedures that have not undergone rigorous scientific evaluation - including potential risks related to stem cell and tissue processing and the effects of ageing on stem cells, a new research warns.

"Stem cells offer tremendous potential but the marketplace is saturated with unsubstantiated and sometimes fraudulent claims that may place patients at risk," warned Michael T. Longaker from Stanford University's Medical Center.

The procedures marketed as "stem cell facelifts" are often just "lipofilling" procedures, "an established fat injection technique with no prolonged anti-ageing effect", Longaker added.

To gain insight into these claims, researchers performed a Google search for cosmetic stem cell treatments, the most common of which was "stem cell facelift".

Most procedures used "stem cells" isolated from fat.

However, the websites provided little information on the quality of the stem cells used.

Without advanced cell-sorting procedures, the products used in these procedures likely contain many other types of cells besides fat-derived stem cells.

To date, just one stem cell procedure for cosmetic purpose has received the approval from the US Food and Drugs Administration (FDA).

That product, designed to treat fine facial wrinkles, is undergoing extensive post-approval surveillance.

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'Most stem cell-based cosmetic surgeries fake'

Converting stem cell data into sounds could enable GPs to make instant, non-invasive cancer diagnoses during a routine check-up.

With waiting times for cancer tests at a six-year high, this could significantly reduce the agonising and potentially life-threatening wait for patients and improve U.K. government waiting time targets.* A recent study shows how data sonification (where data is conveyed as audio signals as opposed to visual illustrations such as graphs) can improve standard techniques currently used in spectroscopy stem cell analysis. What could this mean for cancer diagnostics?

Traditional diagnosis might involve taking a biopsy, sending it to the lab and waiting for the results. It is invasive and can take weeks. In the future, GPs could use audio feedback devices to diagnose certain types of cancer on the spot by scanning a patient to detect specific sound signals. With instant medical feedback, a GP can make a fast, more confident diagnosis and react immediately.

When removing cancerous tissues, even a small amount left behind can be dangerous. By listening to data in a patient's body via an audio diagnostic tool or probe, a surgeon is more likely to spot remaining cancerous cells than by visual inspection alone. This provides another layer of assistance and leaves the surgeon's eyes free to focus on the operation. This is likely to reduce surgery time and improve the probability of all cancerous tissue being removed.

Current spectroscopy methods involve firing light from a laser into cells and observing how it reacts. However, analysing the results and determining healthy cells from cancer cells typically involves the use of computational pattern analysis and assigning the cell type by eye, which is time consuming and allows no real-time feedback.

By classifying this data into audio signals, it is easier to differentiate between different types of cell, improving accuracy and allowing researchers to search through large volumes of data very quickly.

The preliminary study was launched recently at the 20th International Conference on Auditory Display. It is a collaboration between GANT, the pan-European research and education network; Birmingham City University and the University of Central Lancashire.

Ryan Stables, a researcher for the School of Digital Media Technology in Birmingham who lead the study said: "This method of identifying cancerous cells is similar to that of using a metal detector. It allows you to identify the characteristics of cancer in real-time, which we hope could have life-changing implications for patients through the development of better diagnostic tools.

We are now looking at using different types of data and are hopeful the research could be used for treating other physical diseases, not just cancer."

Domenico Vicinanza, Product Manager at GANT was responsible for the sonification, a process which often requires the use of high-speed networks to distribute large volumes of data between research teams and computing resources. He said:

See more here:
Do your stem cells sound like cancer? While-you-wait, non-invasive cancer diagnosis by converting stem cell data into ...

24 Hours of Stem Cells - 2013 Welcome
24 Hour Stem Cells is a virtual event produced by Life Technologies for Stem Cell Researchers all over the world. This video walks through the event and how to navigate through the virtual...

By: Life Technologies

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24 Hours of Stem Cells - 2013 Welcome - Video

A new stem-cell discovery might one day lead to a more streamlined process for obtaining stem cells, which in turn could be used in the development of replacement tissue for failing body parts, according to UC San Francisco scientists who reported the findings in the current edition of Cell.

The work builds on a strategy that involves reprogramming adult cells back to an embryonic state in which they again have the potential to become any type of cell.

The efficiency of this process may soon increase thanks to the scientists' identification of biochemical pathways that can inhibit the necessary reprogramming of gene activity in adult human cells. Removing these barriers increased the efficiency of stem-cell production, the researchers found.

"Our new work has important implications for both regenerative medicine and cancer research," said Miguel Ramalho-Santos, PhD, associate professor of obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive sciences and a member of the Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regeneration Medicine and Stem Cell Research at UCSF, who led the research, funded in part by a NIH Director's New Innovator Award.

The earlier discovery that it was possible to take specialized adult cells and reverse the developmental clock to strip the mature cells of their distinctive identities and characteristics -- and to make them immortal, reprogrammable cells that theoretically can be used to replace any tissue type -- led to a share of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine being awarded to UCSF, Gladstone Institutes and Kyoto University researcher Shinya Yamanaka, MD, in 2012.

These induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells are regarded as an alternative experimental approach to ongoing efforts to develop tissue from stem cells obtained from early-stage human embryos. However despite the promise of iPS cells and the excitement surrounding iPS research, the percentage of adult cells successfully converted to iPS cells is typically low, and the resultant cells often retain traces of their earlier lives as specialized cells.

Researchers generate stem cells by forcing the activation within adult cells of pluripotency-inducing genes -- starting with the so-called "Yamanaka factors" -- a process that turns back the clock on cellular maturation.

Yet, as Ramalho-Santos notes, "From the time of the discovery of iPS cells, it was appreciated that the specialized cells from which they are derived are not a blank slate. They express their own genes that may resist or counter reprogramming."

But the nature of what exactly was getting in the way of reprogramming remained poorly understood. "Now, by genetically removing multiple barriers to reprogramming, we have found that the efficiency of generation of iPS cells can be greatly increased," he said. The discovery will contribute to accelerating the safe and efficient use of iPS cells and other reprogrammed cells, according to Ramalho-Santos.

The researchers found not merely isolated genes acting as barriers, but rather sets of genes acting in concert through different mechanisms to throw up roadblocks to reprogramming. "At practically every level of a cell's functions there are genes that act in an intricately coordinated fashion to antagonize reprogramming," Ramalho-Santos said. These mechanisms are likely to help adult cells maintain their identities and functional roles.

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Stem cell advance may increase efficiency of tissue regeneration

Published at Retail Investor 360: Monday, 28 July 2014 20:02 by Doctor Hung V. Tran, MD, MS

Disclosure: I am long on MNKD.

Due to its capacity to self-renew and give rise to cells of various lineage, mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have generated a great amount of enthusiasm over the past decade as a novel therapeutic paradigm for a variety of diseases. The leading, integrated stem cell company Osiris Therapeutics (NASDAQ:OSIR) thus indeed has captured and gained a significant impact in this unique market since infancy with its capabilities in groundbreaking research, development, manufacturing, marketing and distribution of stem cell products to treat unmet medical conditions in orthopedic, sport medicine and specifically wound care markets.

Source: Stem Cell

Giving the diabetes mellitus market is growing at a rapid rate globally; roughly 25 million or 8.3% of the U.S. population suffer from this condition. With its FDA approved super rapid acting insulin, Afrezza, that could mimic the actions of healthy pancreas, Mannkind Corporation (NASDAQ: MNKD) is already positioned it self to become the new leader in this huge insulin market. Diabetic complications such as diabetic foot ulceration, infection, and gangrene are significant complications and the leading causes of hospitalization in patients with diabetes mellitus. We believed that Afrezza's disruptive technology to deliver Technosphere insulin via a small whistle-like device Dreamboat enabling patient's with convenience, ease of use, hence, removing barriers leading to the aforementioned complication. Regardless of Afrezza's superiority or any other potential drugs, a sizeable number of patients, not having access to care due to poverty, transportation, or rural setting would not be able to optimally control their blood sugar, thus, succumb to diabetes complications. These complications often precede lower-extremity amputation. Prompt and aggressive treatments of diabetic foot ulcers are essential to prevent exacerbation of the problem and eliminate the potential for amputation. Osiris, thus, successfully tapped into this market and established a new standard in diabetic wound care, as well as proven the tremendous impact of stem cell can have in medicine.

Key Factors Involved in the Development of Diabetic Foot Problems

Diabetic foot ulcer is among the most common complications of diabetes, accounting for as many as 20% of all hospitalizations in diabetic patients at an annual cost of $200 to $350 million. According to the American Diabetes Association (ADA), 15% of diabetic patients experience significant foot ulcer during their lifetime.

Approximately 71,000 lower-extremity amputations, often sequelae of uncontrolled infection, are performed each year on diabetic patients; this represents up to 70% of all nontraumatic amputations in the United States. Also, approximately 20% of diabetics will undergo additional surgery or amputation of a second limb within 12 months of the initial amputation.

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Osiris Stem Cells To Compliment Mannkind's Afrezza In Disrupting Diabetes Market