Javascript is currently disabled in your web browser. For full site functionality, it is necessary to enable Javascript. In order to enable it, please see these instructions. 16 hours ago

In a paper in Cell Stem Cell, a team led by researchers in the Boston Children's Hospital's Stem Cell Transplantation Program reports a new approach for turning induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) into hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells for in vivo disease modeling.

With this strategywhich they call re-specificationthe team, including Sergei Doulatov, PhD, and George Daley, MD, PhD, of Boston Children's, may have overcome technical barriers to generating blood disease-specific animal models from the thousands of iPSC cell lines now sitting in laboratory freezers around the world.

The main advantage of the technique lies in the raw material. The research team started with iPSCs that had already been directed to grow into myeloid progenitors, which are more closely related to the desired blood progenitors than skin or other fully differentiated cell types commonly used in stem cell experiments.

The researchers then used a select set of transcription factors to turn back the molecular clock just a little on these committed myeloid cells, turning them into blood progenitors that readily engrafted and differentiated when transplanted into mice.

The re-specification technique could help generate the large number of engraftable cells needed to create animal models from iPSCs generated from human patients suffering a range of blood disorders, such as anemias, thalassemia or sickle cell disease.

Explore further: Scientists identify key regulator controlling formation of blood-forming stem cells

Stem cell scientists have moved one step closer to producing blood-forming stem cells in a Petri dish by identifying a key regulator controlling their formation in the early embryo, shows research published online today in ...

Liver transplantation is the mainstay of treatment for patients with end-stage liver disease, the 12th leading cause of death in the United States, but new research from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, published ...

Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) researchers have used vascular precursor cells derived from human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) to generate, in an animal model, functional blood vessels that lasted as long as ...

Read the original post:
Researchers unveil method for creating 're-specified' stem cells for disease modeling

Though the Food and Drug Administration remains closed due to the federal government shutdown, researchers at the University are pushing forward the development of stem-cell therapies, with the hope of improving the quality of life for individuals with life-threatening disabilities.

Researchers at University Hospital and the A. Alfred Taubman Medical Research Institute are exploring the use of stem cells in the treatment of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis also known as Lou Gerhigs disease, a neurodegenerative condition that causes cell death in spinal cord neurons that control movement. Patients with ALS suffer from loss of muscle control and often die of respiratory failure.

Neurology Prof. Eva Feldman presented recent results from her research at an event Wednesday evening at the Taubman Institutes Kahn Auditorium for an audience of about 40 students and faculty. Feldman discussed the completion of Phase I trials of the new stem-cell therapy and her plans for Phase II.

While Phase I trials typically test the safety of a treatment in human patients, Phase II tests the treatments efficacy. Feldmans research team received approval for Phase II of their research in May and has since begun tests.

Shortly before the event Wednesday afternoon, a third patient enrolled in the trial had the surgical procedure, in which a surgeon injects stem cells into specific regions of the spinal cord. Although it is too early to record changes in disease progression, Feldman said the three patients have experienced no adverse consequences from the procedure.

Stem cells have the unique ability to fulfill a wide variety of tasks by developing into specialized cells depending on their environment. When these cells are injected into the spinal cord of ALS patients, they surround diseased cells and slow the progression of cell death, Feldman said.

Depending on how you grow them they can become any cell in the body, Feldman said.

Feldmans treatment uses a relatively new strain of human embryonic stem cells developed at the University through partnerships with the National Institutes of Health. She referenced the work of Physiology Prof. Gary Smith at MStem Cell Laboratories the Universitys stem cell institution as a crucial component to the development of the treatment.

What weve done here at the University of Michigan is make embryonic stem cell lines, which are now being used for understanding disease course as well as for treatment, Feldman said.

Stem cells have the potential to aid in the treatment of not only ALS, but a wide range of debilitating and life-threatening diseases, including Parkinsons disease, Alzheimers disease and multiple sclerosis, Feldman said.

Go here to read the rest:
Research on treatment for ALS aided by stem cells

Public release date: 3-Oct-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Anne DeLotto Baier abaier@health.usf.edu 813-974-3303 University of South Florida (USF Health)

Tampa, FL (Oct. 3, 2013) -- University of South Florida researchers have suggested a new view of how stem cells may help repair the brain following trauma. In a series of preclinical experiments, they report that transplanted cells appear to build a "biobridge" that links an uninjured brain site where new neural stem cells are born with the damaged region of the brain.

Their findings were recently reported online in the peer-reviewed journal PLOS ONE.

"The transplanted stem cells serve as migratory cues for the brain's own neurogenic cells, guiding the exodus of these newly formed host cells from their neurogenic niche towards the injured brain tissue," said principal investigator Cesar Borlongan, PhD, professor and director of the USF Center for Aging and Brain Repair.

Based in part on the data reported by the USF researchers in this preclinical study, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently approved a limited clinical trial to transplant SanBio Inc's SB632 cells (an adult stem cell therapy) in patients with traumatic brain injury.

Stem cells are undifferentiated, or blank, cells with the potential to give rise to many different cell types that carry out different functions. While the stem cells in adult bone marrow or umbilical cord blood tend to develop into the cells that make up the organ system from which they originated, these multipotent stem cells can be manipulated to take on the characteristics of neural cells.

To date, there have been two widely-held views on how stem cells may work to provide potential treatments for brain damage caused by injury or neurodegenerative disorders. One school of thought is that stem cells implanted into the brain directly replace dead or dying cells. The other, more recent view is that transplanted stem cells secrete growth factors that indirectly rescue the injured tissue.

The USF study presents evidence for a third concept of stem-cell mediated brain repair.

The researchers randomly assigned rats with traumatic brain injury and confirmed neurological impairment to one of two groups. One group received transplants of bone marrow-derived stem cells (SB632 cells) into the region of the brain affected by traumatic injury. The other (control group) received a sham procedure in which solution alone was infused into the brain with no implantation of stem cells.

Read the original post:
Stem cells help repair traumatic brain injury by building a 'biobridge'

Orange County, CA (PRWEB) October 02, 2013

The leading regenerative medicine clinic on the West Coast, TeleHealth, is now offering treatment with stem cells for shoulder arthritis and tendonitis. The treatments are performed as an outpatient and include autologous stem cell treatments that are derived from either bone marrow or fat along with PRP therapy. The treatments are often covered by insurance, and the doctors are Board Certified with years of experience in stem cell therapy. Call (888) 828-4575 for more information and scheduling.

Shoulder injuries are not frustrating just for high level athletes. Even individuals who perform overhead work, are involved in a car accident or simply dealing with degenerative arthritis may suffer from chronic shoulder pain. Traditional treatments may provide pain relief, however, prior to undergoing surgery regenerative medicine treatments should be considered with stem cell therapy.

TeleHealth offers Board Certified stem cell doctors treating shoulder pain with several options for stem cell therapy. This may include rotator cuff tendonitis, labral tears, shoulder joint arthritis, biceps tendonitis, rotator cuff tears or impingement syndrome. These may take many months to heal without stem cell treatment and there is a distinct possibility the injury may not heal due to the bodys inability to develop the repair response necessary.

The stem cell treatments offered at TeleHealth include platelet rich plasma therapy (PRP therapy) and autologous stem cell therapy from either bone marrow or fat. These treatment options may be combined to deliver the maximum effectiveness for healing response. The results to date have been impressive for speeding up healing response along with initiating healing in injuries that were unresponsive to traditional nonoperative options.

The treatments are often covered by insurance at TeleHealth, are low risk, and all performed by Board Certified doctors as an outpatient. For more information and scheduling, call (888) 828-4575.

See more here:
West Coast Stem Cell Clinic, TeleHealth, Now Offering Treatment with Stem Cells for Shoulder Arthritis and Tendonitis

PERTH, Australia, Oct. 2, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Regenerative medicine company, Orthocell Limited (Orthocell), today announced the results of its unprecedented and successful clinical trial for the treatment of tendon injuries using its patented stem cell technology. Tendon injuries are one of the most common causes of occupational and sporting disability and current clinical treatments are only moderately effective.

Orthocell's new technique is known as Autologous Tenocyte Implantation (Ortho-ATIT) and involves biopsy of the patient's own healthy tendon, isolation and cultivation of tendon stem cells from the biopsy in a special laboratory and then injection of these cells back to the injured tendon. The process takes about 20-minutes and is less invasive than surgery.

The company has received international profiling and recognition in the prestigious American Journal of Sports Medicine (AJSM), with a peer reviewed publication of the world first study on Ortho-ATIT stem cell technology for regeneration of damaged human tendon.

The AJSM, which is ranked as the world's number one journal for orthopaedics and sports medicine, published outcomes of the clinical trial last week. The data demonstrates that Orthocell's novel technology for repairing tendons was a safe and effective procedure that enables a reduction in pain and repairs tendon in severe chronic resistant tendon injury, like tennis elbow. The patients treated in the study, had failed at least one previous therapy including physiotherapy and corticosteroid injection. Patients achieved significant improvement in function and structural integrity of the tendon after the Ortho-ATIT tendon stem cell injection.

Orthocell Managing Director Paul Anderson said the clinical study indicates great potential for the Ortho-ATIT stem cell tendon repair.

"The AJSM paper is a benchmark study that validates the repair of tendon using tendon derived stem cells. We are now focussing our efforts on offering this world class treatment more widely to patients throughout Australasia, and we are also investigating new potential markets overseas," said Mr Anderson.

The technique was the result of more than 10 years development by Professor Ming Hao Zheng's group at the Centre for Translational Orthopaedic Research at the University of Western Australia, one of the top one hundred universities in the World.

"This is a very exciting body of work, which is indicated for a large patient population. There are currently limited treatment options for people suffering from tendon injury and related disorders, as there are no targeted drug therapies and surgery often delivers unsatisfactory results. This published study of Ortho-ATIT strongly suggested that substitution of tendon stem cells enables regeneration of tendon," said Professor Zheng.

Amanda Redwood, a 45-year-old mother of two who participated in the trial, said Orthocell's treatment relieved her of severe elbow pain within 6 months.

"I experienced debilitating symptoms of tennis elbow for more than 16-months before I had the procedure. Within 6 weeks of the injection the pain started to subside, and within 6 months it was gone," said Ms Redwood.

Read the original:
World-first Trial for Tendon Repair Using Tendon Stem Cells Published in the Prestigious American Journal of Sports ...

Nothing about how a bunch of Oxford researchers recently pulled neural stem cells out of the brains of living rats seems feasible. The cells are hard to isolate. Brains are fragile. Okay, brains are very fragile. But they've done it, and the procedure could shed fresh light on diseases like Parkinson's and multiple sclerosis.

The procedure itself sounds simple enough, if you sort of ignore the fact that scientists are digging around inside of a rat's skull. Oxford's Edman Tang and his team first coated magnetic nanoparticles with antibodies that have a tendency to bond with a type of protein found on neural stem cells. After about six hours, the researchers used a magnet to pull the nanoparticles together, and then extracted them from the brain using a syringe. Amazingly, none of this appears to have damaged the rat's brain, and the neural stem cells grew freely in a petri dish once extracted.

Needless to say, this technique is going to be a little bit more complicated when used on a human brain. For one, humans don't have as many neural stem cells as rodents, and those that we do have aren't as active, so there's a chance that they wouldn't regrow outside of the brain. But he if we can connect two human brains, letting one person control the other's mind using a technique first developed on rats, we probably can do anything. [New Scientist]

Image via Shutterstock

Go here to read the rest:
Scientists Can Now Extract Stem Cells from Brains Using Magnets

It's like pulling a rabbit out of a hat. Researchers have reached inside the brain of a rat and pulled out neural stem cells without harming the animal.

Since the technique uses nanoparticles already approved for use in humans, it is hoped that it could be used to extract neural stem cells (NSCs) from people to treat conditions like Parkinson's, Huntington's and multiple sclerosis.

Extracting NSCs from the person who needs them would avoid immune rejection but they are difficult to remove safely. So Edman Tsang at the University of Oxford and his colleagues have developed a technique to safely fish out NSCs that originate in cavities in the brain called ventricles.

Tsang's team coated magnetic nanoparticles with antibodies that bond tightly to a protein found on the surface of NSCs. They then injected the nanoparticles into the lateral ventricles of rats' brains. Six hours later, after the nanoparticles had bonded to the NSCs, the researchers used a magnetic field around the rats' heads to pull the stem cells together. They could then be sucked out of the brain with a syringe.

After freeing the stem cells from the nanoparticles, the team found they could grow them in a dish, suggesting they were undamaged by the process. The rats, meanwhile, were back on their feet within hours of the surgery, showing no ill effects.

"Harmlessly extracting neural stem cells from the living mammalian brain is an advancement," says Gianvito Martino, a neural stem cell researcher at the San Raffaele Hospital in Milan, Italy. But he cautions that the extracted cells must be tested further before we can say for sure that Tsang's team has achieved the feat. "To be sure that we are dealing with real NSC-derived neurons electrophysiological testing is required," he says.

There might also be problems applying the technique to people, says Martino. The evidence suggests that human NSCs are both less abundant and less active than rodent NSCs. This means there may be fewer around to extract from the human brain, and those that are extracted may be difficult to coax into growing.

Martino thinks there might be easier ways to generate NSCs for instance, by turning skin cells into induced stem cells, and then encouraging them to become NSCs.

Journal reference: Angewandte Chemie International, DOI: 10.1002/anie.201305482

If you would like to reuse any content from New Scientist, either in print or online, please contact the syndication department first for permission. New Scientist does not own rights to photos, but there are a variety of licensing options available for use of articles and graphics we own the copyright to.

See more here:
Neural stem cells pulled from rat's brain using magnet