Public release date: 13-Jun-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Renatt Brodsky Renatt.Brodsky@mountsinai.org 212-241-9200 The Mount Sinai Hospital / Mount Sinai School of Medicine

(New York, NY June 13, 2013)--By transferring four genes into mouse fibroblast cells, researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai have produced cells that resemble hematopoietic stem cells, which produce millions of new blood cells in the human body every day. These findings provide a platform for future development of patient-specific stem/progenitor cells, and more differentiated blood products, for cell-replacement therapy.

The study, titled, "Induction of a Hemogenic Program in Mouse Fibroblasts," was published online in CELL STEM CELL on June 13. Mount Sinai researchers screened a panel of 18 genetic factors for inducing blood-forming activity and identified a combination of four transcription factors, Gata2, Gfi1b, cFos, and Etv6 as sufficient to generate blood vessel precursor cells with the subsequent appearance of hematopoietic cells. The precursor cells express a human CD34 reporter, Sca1 and Prominin1 within a global endothelial transcription program.

"The cells that we grew in a petri dish are identical in gene expression to those found in the mouse embryo and could eventually generate colonies of mature blood cells," said the first author of the study, Carlos Filipe Pereira, PhD, Postdoctoral Fellow of Developmental and Regenerative Biology at the Icahn School of Medicine.

Other leaders of the research team that screened the genetic factors to find the right combination included Kateri Moore, DVM, Associate Professor of Developmental and Regenerative Biology at the Icahn School and Ihor R. Lemischka, PhD, Professor of Developmental and Regenerative Biology, Pharmacology and Systems Therapeutics and Director of The Black Family Stem Cell Institute at The Mount Sinai Medical Center.

"The combination of gene factors that we used was not composed entirely of the most obvious or expected proteins," said Dr. Lemischka. "Many investigators have been trying to grow hematopoietic stem cells from embryonic stem cells, but this process has been problematic. Instead, we used mature mouse fibroblasts, picked the right combination of proteins, and it worked."

"This discovery is just the beginning of something new and exciting and can hopefully be used to identify a treatment for blood disorders," said Dennis S. Charney, MD, Anne and Joel Ehrenkranz Dean of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs at The Mount Sinai Medical Center.

According to Dr. Pereira, there is a critical shortage of suitable donors for blood stem cell transplants. Donors are currently necessary to meet the needs of patients suffering from blood diseases such as leukemia, aplastic anemia, lymphomas, multiple myeloma and immune deficiency disorders. "Programming of hematopoietic stem cells represents an exciting alternative," said Pereira.

"Dr. Lemischka and I have been working together for over 20 years in the fields of hematopoiesis and stem cell biology," said Dr. Moore, senior author of the study. "It is truly exciting to be able to grow these blood forming cells in a culture dish and learn so much from them. We have already started applying this new approach to human cells and anticipate similar success."

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Mount Sinai researchers succeed in programming blood forming stem cells

June 13, 2013 By transferring four genes into mouse fibroblast cells, researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai have produced cells that resemble hematopoietic stem cells, which produce millions of new blood cells in the human body every day. These findings provide a platform for future development of patient-specific stem/progenitor cells, and more differentiated blood products, for cell-replacement therapy.

The study, titled, "Induction of a Hemogenic Program in Mouse Fibroblasts," was published online in Cell Stem Cell on June 13. Mount Sinai researchers screened a panel of 18 genetic factors for inducing blood-forming activity and identified a combination of four transcription factors, Gata2, Gfi1b, cFos, and Etv6 as sufficient to generate blood vessel precursor cells with the subsequent appearance of hematopoietic cells. The precursor cells express a human CD34 reporter, Sca1 and Prominin1 within a global endothelial transcription program.

"The cells that we grew in a petri dish are identical in gene expression to those found in the mouse embryo and could eventually generate colonies of mature blood cells," said the first author of the study, Carlos Filipe Pereira, PhD, Postdoctoral Fellow of Developmental and Regenerative Biology at the Icahn School of Medicine.

Other leaders of the research team that screened the genetic factors to find the right combination included Kateri Moore, DVM, Associate Professor of Developmental and Regenerative Biology at the Icahn School and Ihor R. Lemischka, PhD, Professor of Developmental and Regenerative Biology, Pharmacology and Systems Therapeutics and Director of The Black Family Stem Cell Institute at The Mount Sinai Medical Center.

"The combination of gene factors that we used was not composed entirely of the most obvious or expected proteins," said Dr. Lemischka. "Many investigators have been trying to grow hematopoietic stem cells from embryonic stem cells, but this process has been problematic. Instead, we used mature mouse fibroblasts, picked the right combination of proteins, and it worked."

"This discovery is just the beginning of something new and exciting and can hopefully be used to identify a treatment for blood disorders," said Dennis S. Charney, MD, Anne and Joel Ehrenkranz Dean of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs at The Mount Sinai Medical Center.

According to Dr. Pereira, there is a critical shortage of suitable donors for blood stem cell transplants. Donors are currently necessary to meet the needs of patients suffering from blood diseases such as leukemia, aplastic anemia, lymphomas, multiple myeloma and immune deficiency disorders. "Programming of hematopoietic stem cells represents an exciting alternative," said Pereira.

"Dr. Lemischka and I have been working together for over 20 years in the fields of hematopoiesis and stem cell biology," said Dr. Moore, senior author of the study. "It is truly exciting to be able to grow these blood forming cells in a culture dish and learn so much from them. We have already started applying this new approach to human cells and anticipate similar success."

Read more:
Programming blood forming stem cells

Newswise (New York, NY June 13, 2013) By transferring four genes into mouse fibroblast cells, researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai have produced cells that resemble hematopoietic stem cells, which produce millions of new blood cells in the human body every day. These findings provide a platform for future development of patient-specific stem/progenitor cells, and more differentiated blood products, for cell-replacement therapy.

The study, titled, Induction of a Hemogenic Program in Mouse Fibroblasts, was published online in CELL STEM CELL on June 13. Mount Sinai researchers screened a panel of 18 genetic factors for inducing blood-forming activity and identified a combination of four transcription factors, Gata2, Gfi1b, cFos, and Etv6 as sufficient to generate blood vessel precursor cells with the subsequent appearance of hematopoietic cells. The precursor cells express a human CD34 reporter, Sca1 and Prominin1 within a global endothelial transcription program.

The cells that we grew in a petri dish are identical in gene expression to those found in the mouse embryo and could eventually generate colonies of mature blood cells, said the first author of the study, Carlos Filipe Pereira, PhD, Postdoctoral Fellow of Developmental and Regenerative Biology at the Icahn School of Medicine.

Other leaders of the research team that screened the genetic factors to find the right combination included Kateri Moore, DVM, Associate Professor of Developmental and Regenerative Biology at the Icahn School and Ihor R. Lemischka, PhD, Professor of Developmental and Regenerative Biology, Pharmacology and Systems Therapeutics and Director of The Black Family Stem Cell Institute at The Mount Sinai Medical Center.

The combination of gene factors that we used was not composed entirely of the most obvious or expected proteins, said Dr. Lemischka. Many investigators have been trying to grow hematopoietic stem cells from embryonic stem cells, but this process has been problematic. Instead, we used mature mouse fibroblasts, picked the right combination of proteins, and it worked.

This discovery is just the beginning of something new and exciting and can hopefully be used to identify a treatment for blood disorders, said Dennis S. Charney, MD, Anne and Joel Ehrenkranz Dean of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs at The Mount Sinai Medical Center.

According to Dr. Pereira, there is a critical shortage of suitable donors for blood stem cell transplants. Donors are currently necessary to meet the needs of patients suffering from blood diseases such as leukemia, aplastic anemia, lymphomas, multiple myeloma and immune deficiency disorders. Programming of hematopoietic stem cells represents an exciting alternative, said Pereira.

Dr. Lemischka and I have been working together for over 20 years in the fields of hematopoiesis and stem cell biology, said Dr. Moore, senior author of the study. It is truly exciting to be able to grow these blood forming cells in a culture dish and learn so much from them. We have already started applying this new approach to human cells and anticipate similar success.

Mount Sinai Innovation Partners is managing the intellectual property for this cell- replacement technology on behalf of the Mount Sinai researchers and is actively engaged with commercial collaboration opportunities.

About Mount Sinai Innovation Partners Mount Sinai Innovation Partners (Mount Sinai IP), as part of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, facilitates the transfer of discovery from the laboratory to the marketplace, acting as the interface with commercial entities. Mount Sinai IP is responsible for the full spectrum of commercialization activities required to bring the Icahn School of Medicines inventions to life. These activities include evaluating, patenting, marketing, and licensing new technologies, while also negotiating agreements for sponsored research, material transfer, and confidentiality. Blue Mountain Technologies is an IP program to enhance distribution of, and product development based on, Mount Sinais growing portfolio of novel reagents, diagnostics, and therapeutics. For more information on Mount Sinai IP, visit: http://www.mountsinai.org/innovation

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Researchers Succeed in Programming Blood Forming Stem Cells

Washington, June 13 : Some companies in the United States are offering people a chance to bank their stem cells for future use.

That way when treatments are available, there will be stem cells ready to go that came from the patient's own body, eliminating the issue of rejection of donor cells.

Meanwhile, the cells are presumably healthier, as they would have been collected from a younger, disease-free patient.

"With all these amazing advancements in the last few years, there will be stem cell therapies," Vin Singh, founder and CEO of Grand Forks, N.D.-based Next Healthcare, which offers stem cell banking, said.

According to a report from IBISWorld, stem cell banking was a 435-million-dollar business in 2012, Discovery News reported.

To bank the stem cells, a person visits a doctor's office, where tissue samples are taken.

Stem cells can theoretically come from anywhere, but usually a physician will take a small square of skin, a blood sample, a piece of fat via liposuction or even bone marrow.

Some companies offer to bank stem cells from children's teeth as they lose them, and many places offer banking blood from the umbilical cords of newborns.

The cells are sent to a facility where they are examined for any contamination or infection, and if nothing shows up they are put in cold storage.

When they are needed, the cells are taken out and cultured into the desired cell and used for the therapy.

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Now, you can bank your stem cells for future use

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) - Most cases of back pain are caused by problems with disks - the cushions between bones of the spine. Most treatments are not very successful, but what if you could rejuvenate a disk with your own stem cells?

Johna Lindell has had disk problems for several years. After her daughter, Abby was born, things got worse.

"That was very frustrating, because I wasn't able to carry her," she said. "Even as an eight-pound infant, I wasn't able to carry her for a long time in a carrier or anything like that."

Johna's husband is Buffalo Bills' kicker Rian Lindell. That's how she met Dr. Andrew Cappuccino, who had treated Kevin Everett for his spine injury. Dr. Cappuccino noted a typical abnormality on her MRO scan. Normal disks look white, because they contain water.

"You can see that those three disks have turned black, dark. They've lost their water content, so they are losing their ability to be a shock absorber, and they're beginning to bulge out into the spinal canal," Dr. Cappuccino explained.

He's been helping develop a technique of removing a patient's stem cells from the bone marrow and injecting them into damaged disks. Needles were used to inject stem cells into Johna's discs.

"The needles were removed, band-aids were placed, she went to the recovery room, and an hour and 15 minutes later, she was on her way home," Dr. Cappuccino said.

That was only nine days ago, but there's been daily improvement.

Johna said, "I feel better every day when I get up out of bed and I notice that I'm happier, because I can get up and I can function and I can go in and get my daughter and I can get her ready and I'm not shuddering with pain."

It will take months before the full benefit is achieved. Many patients have done very well.

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Stem cells being used to cure back pain

NEW YORK, June 13 (UPI) -- Stem cells under the base of a fingernail could one day be used to treat malformed nails or possibly amputated limbs, research by New York University suggests.

A study in mice indicated a chemical signal that triggers stem cells to develop into new nail tissue also attracts new nerves that promote nail and bone regeneration, ScienceNews.com reported Wednesday.

Mayumi Ito of New York University Langone Medical Center and her colleagues found stem cells that produce the hard nail and the soft tissue underneath. When they cut off the end of a mouse's toe, signals from the regrowing nail stimulated the tissue below to form new bone, the authors said.

Researchers said they found the digit bones can regenerate only if the stump has some nail stem cells remaining. However, they also found that cells alone weren't enough -- also necessary was an area of tissue that grows from the stem cells during normal nail growth, ScienceNews.com said.

After amputation, the tissue sends signals that attract nerves into the end of the stump and begin bone regeneration, researchers said. If the nail zone is removed or the signals are blocked, regeneration won't occur.

When the researchers genetically manipulated the mice to initiate the regeneration signals permanently, nail stem cells alone spurred regeneration even without the nail tissue zone, ScienceNews.com said.

The findings were published in Wednesday's edition of Nature.

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Research: Nail zone stem cells, tissue regrow fingertips