About stem cells

Stem cells are the foundation of development in plants, animals and humans. In humans, there are many different types of stem cells that come from different places in the body or are formed at different times in our lives. These include embryonic stem cells that exist only at the earliest stages of development and various types oftissue-specific(oradult)stem cells that appear during fetal development and remain in our bodies throughout life.Stem cells are defined by two characteristics:

Beyond these two things, though, stem cells differ a great deal in their behaviors and capabilities.

Embryonic stem cells arepluripotent, meaning they can generate all of the bodys cell types but cannot generate support structures like the placenta and umbilical cord.

Other cells aremultipotent,meaning they can generate a few different cell types, generally in a specific tissue or organ.

As the body develops and ages, the number and type of stem cells changes. Totipotent cells are no longer present after dividing into the cells that generate the placenta and umbilical cord. Pluripotent cells give rise to the specialized cells that make up the bodys organs and tissues. The stem cells that stay in your body throughout your life are tissue-specific, and there is evidence that these cells change as you age, too your skin stem cells at age 20 wont be exactly the same as your skin stem cells at age 80.

Learn more about different types of stem cellshere.

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Stem Cell Basics - A Closer Look at Stem Cells

Background

Differentiation of functional limbal stem cells (LSCs) from human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) is an important objective which can provide novel treatment solutions for patients suffering from limbal stem cell deficiency (LSCD). Yet, further characterization is needed to better evaluate their immunogenicity and regenerative potential before clinical applications.

Human PSCs were differentiated towards corneal fate and cryopreserved using a clinically applicable protocol. Resulting hPSC-LSC populations were examined at days 1011 and 2425 during differentiation as well as at passage 1 post-thaw. Expression of cornea-associated markers including PAX6, ABCG2, Np63, CK15, CK14, CK12 and ABCB5 as well as human leukocyte antigens (HLAs) was analyzed using immunofluorescence and flow cytometry. Wound healing properties of the post-thaw hPSC-LSCs were assessed via calcium imaging and scratch assay. Human and porcine tissue-derived cultured LSCs were used as controls for marker expression analysis and scratch assays at passage 1.

The day 2425 and post-thaw hPSC-LSCs displayed a similar marker profile with the tissue-derived LSCs, showing abundant expression of PAX6, Np63, CK15, CK14 and ABCB5 and low expression of ABCG2. In contrast, day 1011 hPSC-LSCs had lower expression of ABCB5 and Np63, but high expression of ABCG2. A small portion of the day 1011 cells coexpressed ABCG2 and ABCB5. The expression of class I HLAs increased during hPSC-LSCs differentiation and was uniform in post-thaw hPSC-LSCs, however the intensity was lower in comparison to tissue-derived LSCs. The calcium imaging revealed that the post-thaw hPSC-LSCs generated a robust response towards epithelial wound healing signaling mediator ATP. Further, scratch assay revealed that post-thaw hPSC-LSCs had higher wound healing capacityin comparison to tissue-derived LSCs.

Clinically relevant LSC-like cells can be efficiently differentiated from hPSCs. The post-thaw hPSC-LSCs possess functional potency in calcium responses towards injury associated signals and in wound closure. The developmental trajectory observed during hPSC-LSC differentiation, giving rise to ABCG2+ population and further to ABCB5+ and Np63+ cells with limbal characteristics, indicates hPSC-derived cells can be utilized as a valuable cell source for the treatment of patients afflicted corneal blindness due to LSCD.

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Corneal epithelial differentiation of human pluripotent stem cells generates ABCB5+ and Np63+ cells with limbal cell characteristics and high wound...

Department Department of Histology and EmbryologyFaculty of MedicineDeadline 28 Feb 2022Start date Jully 2022Job type full-timeJob field Science and research

Medical Faculty of Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic, invites excellent scientists to apply for

Postdoc position in Bioinformatics in Stem Cell Neurobiology

Description:

The Department of Histology and Embryology is an educational and research workplace at the Medical Faculty of Masaryk University, Brno, the Czech Republic. The Department provides courses on all aspects of normal structure and development of human tissues and organs to students of General medicine and Dentistry. The Department is recognized as premier place in the country for research mainly focusing on human pluripotent stem cells, their biology, and applications in biomedicine.

The successful candidate should:

Specific criteria for this position:

The applicant shall submit:

MU offers the opportunity to get:

Anticipated start date:The position is available from July 2022

The submission deadline is28. February 2022

How to apply:

Please use the "E-Application" link below. After submitting your application, you will receive an automatic confirmation of acceptance via email. For more information, please contact Martina Vrblkov atvrablikova@med.muni.cz.

Areview of applications will commence immediately after the deadline. Short-listed candidates will be invited for interview within one month of the deadline.

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Postdoc Position in Bioinformatics in Stem Cell Neurobiology job with MASARYK UNIVERSITY | 276195 - Times Higher Education (THE)

MELVILLE, N.Y., Dec. 20, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- BioRestorative Therapies, Inc. (the Company" or BioRestorative) (NASDAQ:BRTX), a life sciences company focused on adult stem cell-based therapies, today released the following year-end message.

As we reach the end of 2021, we are inspired by the many healthcare workers and biopharmaceutical companies that have worked to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. This year has been environmentally difficult, but we have seen incredible advancements in our sector which have reinforced the importance of our mission to become a clinical stage company. Since our emergence from Chapter 11 in 2020, we have sought to take positive steps at BioRestorative Therapies with the goal of making it a preeminent cell therapy company. During 2021, we achieved important transformational milestones, which created meaningful intrinsic value and advanced us toward our stated strategic goals.

In November of this year, we closed on a $23 million capital raise and concurrently listed our securities on the Nasdaq Capital Market. This is a very significant development as we are now fully funded to complete our Phase 2 trial for our lead clinical candidate, BRTX-100, for the treatment of chronic lumbar disc disease (CLDD.) During this process, we have attracted many new institutional fundamental investors as well as some retail investors. With that accomplished, I would like to briefly discuss the status of our programs and the opportunities that lie ahead of us.

BRTX-100 is our lead program for the treatment of CLDD, one of the leading causes of lower back pain. Our solution is a one-time injection of 40 million mesenchymal stem cells derived from a patients own bone marrow and expanded ex vivo before re-injection. Two things make us optimistic about this program. First, in connection with our IND filing, we referred the FDA to prior human clinical studies from different institutions that demonstrated the safety/feasibility of using mesenchymal stem cells to treat disc orders. This data not only enabled us to accelerate our clinical program and initiate a Phase 2 trial, but we believe it substantially reduces risk in offering compelling guidance on the use of cell-based interventions to treat lower back pain. Second, our manufacturing of BRTX-100 involves the use of low oxygen conditions, which ensures that the cells have enhanced survivability after introduction into the harsh avascular environment of the injured disc which has little or no blood flow. The benefits of this process are significant and are illustrated well in our recent Journal of Translational Medicine publication. Our approach is akin to transplant medicine in which specific cell types are used to replace the ones which have been lost to disease. We believe that transplanting targeted cells can offer a more attractive safety profile and potentially an improved clinical outcome. We remain optimistic that we will see significant positive clinical outcomes as we proceed with our clinical trial.

The most significant milestones we achieved in 2021 include:

Our 2022 objectives include the initiation of enrollment for our BRTX-100 clinical trial, the development of our overall product profiles via manufacturing and delivery system improvements, and the entering into of technology validation and enabling partnerships to accelerate our clinical timelines.

Some of the events and milestones that we hope to accomplish in 2022 include:

This is an exciting time to be part of the BioRestorative family. As we enter 2022 with a well-capitalized balance sheet to fully fund our Phase 2 trial, we look to accelerate our research and development pipeline. We do not take for granted that our technologies give us an opportunity to make a profound impact on the everyday lives of many people. We are grateful for the opportunity to validate such technologies; it is what we do and what we believe is the center of our core competencies.

Visit our website atwww.biorestorative.comfor more information about BioRestorative.

Thank you to the BioRestorative family for your loyalty and ongoing support.

I wish you and all those near and dear to you a wonderful Holiday Season and the very best for 2022 and beyond.

Very truly yours,

Lance AlstodtPresident, CEO and Chairman of the Board

About BioRestorative Therapies, Inc.

BioRestorative Therapies, Inc. (www.biorestorative.com) develops therapeutic products using cell and tissue protocols, primarily involving adult stem cells. Our two core programs, as described below, relate to the treatment of disc/spine disease and metabolic disorders:

Disc/Spine Program (brtxDISC): Our lead cell therapy candidate, BRTX-100, is a product formulated from autologous (or a persons own) cultured mesenchymal stem cells collected from the patients bone marrow. We intend that the product will be used for the non-surgical treatment of painful lumbosacral disc disorders or as a complementary therapeutic to a surgical procedure. The BRTX-100 production process utilizes proprietary technology and involves collecting a patients bone marrow, isolating and culturing stem cells from the bone marrow and cryopreserving the cells. In an outpatient procedure, BRTX-100 is to be injected by a physician into the patients damaged disc. The treatment is intended for patients whose pain has not been alleviated by non-invasive procedures and who potentially face the prospect of surgery. We have received authorization from the Food and Drug Administration to commence a Phase 2 clinical trial using BRTX-100 to treat chronic lower back pain arising from degenerative disc disease.

Metabolic Program (ThermoStem): We are developing a cell-based therapy candidate to target obesity and metabolic disorders using brown adipose (fat) derived stem cells to generate brown adipose tissue (BAT). BAT is intended to mimic naturally occurring brown adipose depots that regulate metabolic homeostasis in humans. Initial preclinical research indicates that increased amounts of brown fat in animals may be responsible for additional caloric burning as well as reduced glucose and lipid levels. Researchers have found that people with higher levels of brown fat may have a reduced risk for obesity and diabetes.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This letter contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and such forward-looking statements are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. You are cautioned that such statements are subject to a multitude of risks and uncertainties that could cause future circumstances, events or results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements as a result of various factors and other risks, including, without limitation, those set forth in the Company's latest Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and other filings made with the SEC. You should consider these factors in evaluating the forward-looking statements included herein, and not place undue reliance on such statements. The forward-looking statements in this letter are made as of the date hereof and the Company undertakes no obligation to update such statements.

CONTACT:

Email: ir@biorestorative.com

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BioRestorative Therapies, Inc. Releases Year-End Message - GlobeNewswire

For years, stem cells have been a sort of magic word thrown around as a potential solution for all sorts of challenges in biology and medicine. Certainly, the potential inherent in cells which retain their ability to differentiate into different tissues is nothing to scoff at, but acquiring these cells in a reliable way remains a challenge even decades later.

In order to grow cells in a laboratory setting, researchers rely on additives like fetal calf serum, which is extracted from the coagulated blood drawn from a fetal cow. Once undesired portions of the blood are removed, youre left with a serum which is pretty good at helping cells to grow. The whole process, however, is messy and difficult to duplicate precisely. As a result, we cant be certain that cell lines grown in this way are always the same, something which is necessary when reproducing experiments and is especially important if you want to manufacture lab-grown meat, an increasing area of interest. That problem might now be solved, and lab-grown meats might be on their way to your dinner table.

A recent paper by Ramiro Alberio from the School of Biosciences at the University of Nottingham, and colleagues, describes a new well-defined method for stem cell expansion which could open doors to mass manufacturing of animal tissues for human consumption. Their findings were published in the December issue of Stem Cells and Regeneration.

For industrial applications or food production where regulators require that all components are as defined as possible, current methods have a lot of problems, Alberio told SYFY WIRE. Moving to chemically defined conditions is an important prerequisite for making a product that will enter the food chain.

The team found that only a few key criteria were needed to successfully grow stem cell lines in a lab and, surprisingly, that the same setup was effective in cells from multiple animal species. As a result, one system can grow tissues from cows, pigs, and sheep. In fact, the same criteria also apply to human and mouse cells, providing an added benefit for researchers while were all chowing down on synth-steaks.

We were able to come up with a single unifying recipe for the key components needed by stem cells, Alberio said.

Because researchers are working with stem cells as opposed to muscle cells which have already differentiated theyre able to take a single sample and grow the various tissue types needed to replicate the meat you might find at the grocery store.

Muscle, fat, and connective tissues were all successfully grown in the lab, but this process offers meat with some assembly required. Scientists dont construct those cells into fully-fledged meat products in the lab. Instead, it would be up to consumer companies to take these cellular building blocks and put them together into something you could fry up at a barbecue.

Like your favorite chain restaurant, its important to be able to produce a universal end-user experience free from the guesswork usually associated with stem cell production. Especially as cultured meat products are likely going to be met with some skepticism from the consumer public, scientists want to ensure theyre delivering a product which can be trusted. One of the major benefits of this process is its ability to deliver the same product time after time for at least several years, and probably longer.

These cells are very stable in culture. Weve grown them for about three years, and they are still stable. I wouldnt be able to give a finite number of how many times we can expand these cells though, Alberio said. Over time, cells are likely to acquire chromosomal abnormalities simply because the number of mitotic divisions is so huge. Inevitably there will be aberrations that emerge.

Alberio clarified, however, that those mutations are rare. Over the course of three years, theyve seen very few, but he urged the importance of closely monitoring the cultures and handling them as well as possible to ensure their stability over time. Should a particular line become unstable, it would likely need to be scrapped and replaced with a new sample. One way to minimize mutations is to grow the cells in a low oxygen environment, which is one of the ways this lab differs from others around the world.

We use low oxygen for growing the cells. They grow at 5% oxygen rather than 20%. This helps prevent reactive oxygen species being released in the medium which can have a detrimental effect on the chromosomal integrity. Keeping the cells in the best possible conditions allows us to expand the lifespan considerably.

The unique laboratory setting has other benefits as well, benefits which stand to revolutionize the meat production industry if theyre implemented. Because they are grown in a carefully controlled environment, theres no need for the introduction of antibiotics which are prevalent in factory farming. Alberio also noted the potential positive impact on climate change. Cows are known for their tendency to release methane into the atmosphere which contributes to warming. Globally, livestock are responsible for 14.5 of all greenhouse gases, a number which could be drastically reduced through cultured meat production.

When this technology becomes more mature and streamlined, we should be able to produce meat with no methane emissions whatsoever. There would be some CO2 emissions, but methane would be eliminated from the process of meat production, Alberio said.

The team is now looking to enhance the process by moving from 2D cultures to 3D culture systems which would increase the total volume of tissues they can produce. Theyre also looking at producing cell lines from living animals rather than embryos and culturing cells from specific individuals and breeds.

All of which means that menus of the future might include options from particularly famous animals, well-known for their especially delicious tissues, all while theyre happily living their lives somewhere. Win-win for everyone.

Excerpt from:
Pork or beef? Stem cells pave the way for lab-grown meat - SYFY WIRE