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Stem Cells Reverse MS-Like Illness in Mice

Posted: May 15, 2014 at 10:53 pm

Posted: Thursday, May 15, 2014, 12:00 PM

THURSDAY, May 15, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- Mice disabled by a multiple sclerosis-like condition were able to walk again a few weeks after receiving human neural stem cell transplants, a new study shows.

While research in mice often fails to pan out in humans, the researchers believe the finding hints at new ways to treat people with MS.

The mice with the MS-like condition had to be fed by hand because they could not stand long enough to eat and drink on their own. But within 10 to 14 days of receiving the human neural stem cells, the rodents regained the ability to walk, along with other motor skills. This improvement was still evident six months later, the researchers said.

The study authors said they were surprised by the results of what they believed was to be a routine experiment. They had expected that the transplanted cells would be rejected by the mice.

"My postdoctoral fellow Dr. Lu Chen came to me and said, 'The mice are walking.' I didn't believe her," study co-senior author Tom Lane, a professor of pathology at the University of Utah, said in a university news release.

The study was published online May 15 in the journal Stem Cell Reports.

"This result opens up a whole new area of research for us to figure out why it worked," co-senior author Jeanne Loring, director of the Center for Regenerative Medicine at The Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, Calif., said in the news release.

The next step on the road toward possible clinical trials in people is to assess the safety and durability of the stem cell therapy in mice.

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A Fetal Enzyme Helps Stem Cells Recover From Limb Injuries

Posted: May 15, 2014 at 10:53 pm

April Flowers for redOrbit.com Your Universe Online

Nearly two million Americans a year suffer from ischemia reperfusion injuries. A wide variety of scenarios can be caused by these injuries that result in restricted blood flowfrom traumatic limb injuries, to heart attacks, to donor organs. Restoring the blood flow to an injured leg, for example, seems like it would be a good idea. A new study from Georgia Regents University, however, suggests that restoring the flow could cause additional damage that actually hinders recovery.

Rather than promoting recovery, restoring blood flow actually heightens inflammation and cell death for many of these patients.

Think about trying to hold onto a nuclear power plant after you unplug the electricity and cannot pump water to cool it down, said Dr. Jack Yu, Chief of MCGs Section of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery. All kinds of bad things start happening.

Yu collaborated with Dr. Babak Baban, immunologist at the Medical College of Georgia and College of Dental Medicine at Georgia Regents University. Their study, published in PLOS ONE, reveals that one way stem cell therapy appears to intervene is with the help of an enzyme also used by a fetus to escape rejection by the mothers immune system.

Baban notes that previous studies have found a correlation between stem cells and recovery. The stem cells both enable new blood vessel growth and by turning down the now-severe inflammation. The new findings reveal that ndoleomine 2,3 dioxygenase, or IDO, widely known to dampen the immune response and create tolerance, plays an important role in regulating inflammation in that scenario. IDO is expressed by stem cells and numerous other cell types.

Stem cell efficiency was boosted by approximately one-third when tested on animal models comparing the therapy in normal mice versus mice missing IDO.Decreased expression of inflammatory markers, swelling and cell death were all observed. These are all associated with shorter, improved recoveries.

We dont want to turn off the immune system, we want to turn it back to normal, Baban said.

Even a brief period of inadequate blood flow, and the resulting lack of nutrients, can start problems that result in the rapid accumulation of destructive acidic metabolites, free radicals, and damage to cell structures. Mitochondria, which are the cells power plants, should be producing the energy source ATP. Instead, they quickly become fat, leaky and dysfunctional in this situation.

The mitochondria are sick; they are very, very sick, Yu said. Enormous additional stress is added to these sick powerhouses when blood flow is restored.

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Genetic tracking identifies cancer stem cells in human patients

Posted: May 15, 2014 at 10:51 pm

The gene mutations driving cancer have been tracked for the first time in patients back to a distinct set of cells at the root of cancer -- cancer stem cells.

The international research team, led by scientists at the University of Oxford and the Karolinska Institutet in Sweden, studied a group of patients with myelodysplastic syndromes -- a malignant blood condition which frequently develops into acute myeloid leukaemia.

The researchers say their findings, reported in the journal Cancer Cell, offer conclusive evidence for the existence of cancer stem cells.

The concept of cancer stem cells has been a compelling but controversial idea for many years. It suggests that at the root of any cancer there is a small subset of cancer cells that are solely responsible for driving the growth and evolution of a patient's cancer. These cancer stem cells replenish themselves and produce the other types of cancer cells, as normal stem cells produce other normal tissues.

The concept is important, because it suggests that only by developing treatments that get rid of the cancer stem cells will you be able to eradicate the cancer. Likewise, if you could selectively eliminate these cancer stem cells, the other remaining cancer cells would not be able to sustain the cancer.

'It's like having dandelions in your lawn. You can pull out as many as you want, but if you don't get the roots they'll come back,' explains first author Dr Petter Woll of the MRC Weatherall Institute for Molecular Medicine at the University of Oxford.

The researchers, led by Professor Sten Eirik W Jacobsen at the MRC Molecular Haematology Unit and the Weatherall Institute for Molecular Medicine at the University of Oxford, investigated malignant cells in the bone marrow of patients with myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) and followed them over time.

Using genetic tools to establish in which cells cancer-driving mutations originated and then propagated into other cancer cells, they demonstrated that a distinct and rare subset of MDS cells showed all the hallmarks of cancer stem cells, and that no other malignant MDS cells were able to propagate the tumour.

The MDS stem cells were rare, sat at the top of a hierarchy of MDS cells, could sustain themselves, replenish the other MDS cells, and were the origin of all stable DNA changes and mutations that drove the progression of the disease.

'This is conclusive evidence for the existence of cancer stem cells in myelodysplastic syndromes,' says Dr Woll. 'We have identified a subset of cancer cells, shown that these rare cells are invariably the cells in which the cancer originates, and also are the only cancer-propagating cells in the patients. It is a vitally important step because it suggests that if you want to cure patients, you would need to target and remove these cells at the root of the cancer -- but that would be sufficient, that would do it.'

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Stem cell therapy shows promise for multiple sclerosis

Posted: May 15, 2014 at 10:47 pm

In this image, the top row shows the stem cells transplanted into the mouse spinal cord. The lower row shows a close-up of the stem cells (brown). By day 7 post-transplant, the stem cells are no longer detectable. Within this short period of time, the stem cells have sent chemical signals to the mouses own cells, enabling them to repair the nerve damage caused by MS. (image: Lu Chen)

For patients with multiple sclerosis (MS), current treatment options only address early-stage symptoms of the debilitating disease. Now, new research has found a potential treatment that could both stop disease progression and repair existing damage.

In a study published in Stem Cell Reports, researchers utilized a group of paralyzed mice genetically engineered to have an MS-like condition. Initially, the researchers set out to study the mechanisms of stem cell rejection in the mice. However, two weeks after injecting the mice with human neural stem cells, the researchers made the unexpected discovery that the mice had regained their ability to walk.

This had a lot of luck to do with it; right place, right time co-senior author Jeanne Loring, director of the Center for Regenerative Medicine at The Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, California, told FoxNews.com. [co-senior author Tom Lane] called me up and said, Youre not going to believe this. He sent me a video, and it showed the mice running around the cages. I said, Are you sure these are the same mice?

Loring, whose lab specializes in turning human stem cells into neural precursor cells, or pluripotent cells, collaborated with Tom Lane, a professor of pathology at the University of Utah whose focus is on neuroinflammatory diseases of the central nervous system. The team was interested in stem cell rejection in MS models in order to understand the underlying molecular and cellular mechanisms contributing to rejection of potential stem cell therapies for the disease.

Multiple sclerosis is an autoimmune disease that affects more than 2.3 million people worldwide. For people with MS, the immune system misguidedly attacks the bodys myelin, the insulating coating on nerve fibers.

In a nutshell, its the rubber sheath that protects the electrical wire; the axon that extends from the nerves cell body is insulated by myelin, Lane, who began the study while at the University of California, Irvine, told FoxNews.com

Once the myelin has been lost, nerve fibers are unable to transmit electric signals efficiently, leading to symptoms such as vision and motor skill problems, fatigue, slurred speech, memory difficulties and depression.

The researchers inadvertent treatment appeared to work in two ways. First, there was a decrease of inflammation within the central nervous system of the mice, preventing the disease from progressing. Secondly, the injected cells released proteins that signaled cells to regenerate myelin and repair existing damage.

While the stem cells were rejected in the mice after 10 days, researchers were able to see improvements for up to six months after initial implantation.

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Stem Cell Therapy Shows Promise for MS in Mouse Model

Posted: May 15, 2014 at 10:47 pm

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Newswise LA JOLLA, CAMay 15, 2014Mice crippled by an autoimmune disease similar to multiple sclerosis (MS) regained the ability to walk and run after a team of researchers led by scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI), University of Utah and University of California (UC), Irvine implanted human stem cells into their injured spinal cords.

Remarkably, the mice recovered even after their bodies rejected the human stem cells. When we implanted the human cells into mice that were paralyzed, they got up and started walking a couple of weeks later, and they completely recovered over the next several months, said study co-leader Jeanne Loring, a professor of developmental neurobiology at TSRI.

Thomas Lane, an immunologist at the University of Utah who co-led the study with Loring, said he had never seen anything like it. Weve been studying mouse stem cells for a long time, but we never saw the clinical improvement that occurred with the human cells that Dr. Loring's lab provided, said Lane, who began the study at UC Irvine.

The mices dramatic recovery, which is reported online ahead of print by the journal Stem Cell Reports, could lead to new ways to treat multiple sclerosis in humans.

"This is a great step forward in the development of new therapies for stopping disease progression and promoting repair for MS patients, said co-author Craig Walsh, a UC Irvine immunologist.

Stem Cell Therapy for MS

MS is an autoimmune disease of the brain and spinal cord that affects more than a half-million people in North America and Europe, and more than two million worldwide. In MS, immune cells known as T cells invade the upper spinal cord and brain, causing inflammation and ultimately the loss of an insulating coating on nerve fibers called myelin. Affected nerve fibers lose their ability to transmit electrical signals efficiently, and this can eventually lead to symptoms such as limb weakness, numbness and tingling, fatigue, vision problems, slurred speech, memory difficulties and depression.

Current therapies, such as interferon beta, aim to suppress the immune attack that strips the myelin from nerve fibers. But they are only partially effective and often have significant adverse side effects. Lorings group at TSRI has been searching for another way to treat MS using human pluripotent stem cells, which are cells that have the potential to transform into any of the cell types in the body.

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First test of pluripotent stem cell therapy in monkeys is a success

Posted: May 15, 2014 at 10:47 pm

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

15-May-2014

Contact: Mary Beth O'Leary moleary@cell.com 617-397-2802 Cell Press

Researchers have shown for the first time in an animal that is more closely related to humans that it is possible to make new bone from stem-cell-like induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) made from an individual animal's own skin cells. The study in monkeys reported in the Cell Press journal Cell Reports on May 15th also shows that there is some risk that those iPSCs could seed tumors, but that unfortunate outcome appears to be less likely than studies in immune-compromised mice would suggest.

"We have been able to design an animal model for testing of pluripotent stem cell therapies using the rhesus macaque, a small monkey that is readily available and has been validated as being closely related physiologically to humans," said Cynthia Dunbar of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. "We have used this model to demonstrate that tumor formation of a type called a 'teratoma' from undifferentiated autologous iPSCs does occur; however, tumor formation is very slow and requires large numbers of iPSCs given under very hospitable conditions. We have also shown that new bone can be produced from autologous iPSCs, as a model for their possible clinical application."

Autologous refers to the fact that the iPSCs capable of producing any tissue typein this case bonewere derived from the very individual that later received them. That means that use of these cells in tissue repair would not require long-term or possibly toxic immune suppression drugs to prevent rejection.

The researchers first used a standard recipe to reprogram skin cells taken from rhesus macaques. They then coaxed those cells to form first pluripotent stem cells and then cells that have the potential to act more specifically as bone progenitors. Those progenitor cells were then seeded onto ceramic scaffolds that are already in use by reconstructive surgeons attempting to fill in or rebuild bone. And, it worked; the monkeys grew new bone.

Importantly, the researchers report that no teratoma structures developed in monkeys that had received the bone "stem cells." In other experiments, undifferentiated iPSCs did form teratomas in a dose-dependent manner.

The researchers say that therapies based on this approach could be particularly beneficial for people with large congenital bone defects or other traumatic injuries. Although bone replacement is an unlikely "first in human" use for stem cell therapies given that the condition it treats is not life threatening, the findings in a primate are an essential step on the path toward regenerative clinical medicine.

"A large animal preclinical model for the development of pluripotent or other high-risk/high-reward generative cell therapies is absolutely required to address issues of tissue integration or homing, risk of tumor formation, and immunogenicity," Dunbar said. "The testing of human-derived cells in vitro or in profoundly immunodeficient mice simply cannot model these crucial preclinical safety and efficiency issues."

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Advancing Toward Multiple Sclerosis Therapies Using Stem Cells – Video

Posted: May 15, 2014 at 2:40 pm


Advancing Toward Multiple Sclerosis Therapies Using Stem Cells
For more info about the California stem cell agency #39;s MS research funding, visit our fact sheet: http://go.usa.gov/84sP Dr. Tom Lane of the University of Utah (formerly a CIRM grantee at UC...

By: California Institute for Regenerative Medicine

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CP Help Center Adds Latest On Stem Cell Therapy For Cerebral Palsy

Posted: May 15, 2014 at 9:46 am

New York, NY (PRWEB) May 15, 2014

The birth injury patient advocates at CerebralPalsyHelp.org are alerting parents of children with cerebral palsy of new treatment information on the site. Doctors in Vietnam recently became the first to perform a stem cell transplant on a patient to treat cerebral palsy*.

The CP Help Center is a national advocacy center providing the latest on cerebral palsy treatment, clinical trials, resources and litigation news. Parents can learn more about their childs condition and how it may have been caused, get information on available assistance, and decide if they should seek legal advice.

Cerebral palsy affects muscle movement, coordination and posture. It is the leading cause of functional and developmental disability in children in the United States**, occurring in approximately 3.3 out of every 1,000 births, or around 10,000 infants per year**.

While CP affects muscle function, it is actually a neurological disorder caused by damage to parts of the brain that control muscle function***. This usually occurs before, during or after birth***.

Cerebral palsy may be caused by factors occurring to the fetus during pregnancy, or by trauma or asphyxiation during labor***. Unfortunately, there is no cure for cerebral palsy at this time. However, several treatment options are available to help those with the disorder reduce the effects***.

Now, the CP Help Center has learned that a hospital in Hanoi, Vietnam recently performed the first ever stem cell transplant on a 13 month-old boy suffering from cerebral palsy*. Doctors there believe the procedure could have a 60-70% success rate on younger patients with average to severe forms of the disorder*.

Anyone whose child has been diagnosed with cerebral palsy should learn more about how their condition was caused, or speak with a lawyer about their legal options. The CP Help Center only recommends lawyers who specialize in cerebral palsy lawsuits.

For more information on the research, treatment, causes and litigation news related to cerebral palsy, or to speak with a lawyer, visit http://www.cerebralpalsyhelp.org today.

*Thanh Nien News, 4/15/14; thanhniennews.com/health/vietnam-uses-stem-cell-transplant-to-treat-cerebral-palsy-25228.html **National Institute of Health; ninds.nih.gov/disorders/cerebral_palsy/cerebral_palsy.htm ***March of Dimes; marchofdimes.com/baby/cerebral-palsy.aspx

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Stem Cells to The Rescue: Repairing The Hearts

Posted: May 15, 2014 at 12:51 am

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) --

"Grace is what's carried me through this," Minch told Ivanhoe.

Ten years ago, at just 49, the choir singer and her husband were told she would need a quadruple bypass.

"Now we are at the point where my heart is severely damaged and nothing is really helping," Minch said.

Doctors said a heart transplant was her only option, but she'll soon find out if she'll be accepted into a new trial that could use her own stem cells to help repair the once thought irreversible damage, "or even create new blood vessels within areas of the heart that have been damaged," Jon George, MD, Interventional Cardiologist, Temple University School of Medicine, told Ivanhoe.

First, stem cells are taken from a patient's bone marrow. Then using a special catheter and 3D mapping tool, the cells are injected directly into the damaged tissue.

"We have results from animal data that show blood vessels regrow in the patients that actually get stem cell therapy," Dr. George said.

It's a possible answer to Debbie's prayers.

Temple University Hospital is currently pre-screening patients for the trial. For more information, call 215-707-5340.

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Could Stem Cells Be Used To Treat Cartilage Damage?

Posted: May 15, 2014 at 12:51 am

CBS Pittsburgh (con't)

Affordable Care Act Updates: CBSPittsburgh.com/ACA

Health News & Information: CBSPittsburgh.com/Health

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) How about re-growing your own cartilage and tissue with your own stem cells?

More and more doctors are offering this to patients with damaged joints.

Bob Teagarden was used to running up to 40 miles a week, but he was in pain.

I had a tightness in the middle of my foot, he said.

He thought he had a stress fracture. But, he actually needed surgery for worn away cartilage in his ankle.

I was mad. I was mad and frustrated because I thought I was going to run a fast half-marathon, he said. At that point, I thought I was pretty much done running. I thought that was the end of my running career.

His doctor proposed taking stem cells from bone marrow in his hip, and putting them into the hole, or defect, in the cartilage. The idea is to grow new tissue there. One of the biggest challenges is keeping those cells in place so that tissue has a chance to grow.

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