StemCells, Inc. Completes Enrollment of First Cohort in Landmark Chronic Spinal Cord Injury Trial

Source: StemCells, Inc.
Date: December 15, 2011

Summary:

NEWARK, Calif., -- StemCells, Inc. announced today that the first cohort of the Company's Phase I/II clinical trial in chronic spinal cord injury have been successfully transplanted with the Company's proprietary HuCNS-SC® neural stem cells. This landmark clinical trial has a unique design, in which patients with progressively decreasing severity of injury will be treated in three sequential cohorts. The first cohort of patients all have spinal cord injury classified as AIS A, the most severe level identified by the American Spinal Injury Association Impairment Scale (AIS).

HIV Drug Reduces Graft-versus-Host Disease in Stem Cell Transplant Patients, Penn Study Shows

Source: University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine
Date: December 13, 2011

Summary:

(SAN DIEGO) -- An HIV drug that redirects immune cell traffic appears to significantly reduce the dangerous complication graft-versus-host disease (GvHD) in blood cancer patients following allogeneic stem cell transplantation (ASCT), according to new research from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania that will be presented today at the 53rd American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting. Standard GvHD treatments suppress the immune system, reducing – but not eliminating – the risk of developing the common problem. In the current trial, treatment with the HIV drug maraviroc dramatically reduced the incidence of GvHD in organs where it is most dangerous -- without compromising the immune system and leaving patients more vulnerable to severe infections.

Study finds iPS cells match embryonic stem cells in modeling human disease

Source: Stanford University School of Medicine
Date: December 12, 2011

Summary:

Stanford University School of Medicine investigators have shown that iPS cells, viewed as a possible alternative to human embryonic stem cells, can mirror the defining defects of a genetic condition — in this instance, Marfan syndrome — as well as embryonic stem cells can. An immediate implication is that iPS cells could be used to examine the molecular aspects of Marfan on a personalized basis. Embryonic stem cells, on the other hand, can’t do this because their genetic contents are those of the donated embryo, not the patient’s.

This proof-of-principle regarding the utility of induced pluripotent stem cells also has more universal significance, as it advances the credibility of an exciting approach that’s been wildly acclaimed by some and viewed through gimlet eyes by others: the prospect of using iPS cells in modeling a broad range of human diseases. These cells, unlike ESCs, are easily obtained from virtually anyone and harbor a genetic background identical to the patient from which they were derived. Moreover, they carry none of the ethical controversy associated with the necessity of destroying embryos.

The study was published online Dec. 12 in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Scientists use animal-free reagents to create clinical-grade neurons from skin cells

Source: University of California - Los Angeles
Date: December 8, 2011

Summary:

Using a specially designed facility, UCLA stem cell scientists have taken human skin cells, reprogrammed them into cells with the same unlimited property as embryonic stem cells, and then differentiated them into neurons while completely avoiding the use of animal-based reagents and feeder conditions throughout the process. The study represents the first time scientists have derived induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells with the potential for clinical use and differentiated them into neurons in animal origin–free conditions using commercially available reagents to facilitate broad application, said Saravanan Karumbayaram, the first author of the study and an associate researcher with the Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research at UCLA. The study was published Dec. 7 in the early online edition of the inaugural issue of the peer-reviewed journal Stem Cells Translational Medicine, a new journal that seeks to bridge stem cell research and clinical trials.

Origins of Blood Stem Cells Determined

Source: University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine
Date: December 8, 2011

Summary:

PHILADELPHIA – A research team at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, has discovered a molecular marker for the immediate precursors of hematopoietic (blood) stem cells (HSCs) in the developing embryo, which provides much-needed insights for making these cells from engineered precursors. Because HSCs, found in the bone marrow of adult mammals, generate all of the blood cell types of the body, unlocking the secrets of their origin may help researchers to better manipulate embryonic stem cells to generate new blood cells for therapy. Speck is also an Investigator with the Abramson Family Cancer Research Institute at Penn. The work was published this week in Cell Stem Cell.

Salk researchers develop safe way to repair sickle cell disease genes New gene editing technique would heal patients with their own cells

Source: Salk Institute for Biological Studies
Date: December 7, 2011

Summary:

LA JOLLA, CA—Researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies have developed a way to use patients' own cells to potentially cure sickle cell disease and many other disorders caused by mutations in a gene that helps produce blood hemoglobin. The technique uses cells from a patient's skin to generate induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), which are capable of developing into various types of mature tissues—including blood. The scientists say their method, which repairs the beta-globin gene (HBB), avoids gene therapy techniques that can introduce potentially harmful genes into cells. The new technique, which will soon be tested as a therapy in animals, also appears to be much more efficient than other methods tested to date, the researchers say. The study appears in the December 2011 issue of Cell Research.

Research could help people with declining sense of smell

Source: University of California - Berkeley
Date: December 7, 2011

Summary:

University of California, Berkeley, neuroscientists have discovered a genetic trigger that makes the nose renew its smell sensors, providing hope for new therapies for people who have lost their sense of smell due to trauma or old age. The gene tells olfactory stem cells ‑ the adult tissue stem cells in the nose ‑ to mature into the sensory neurons that detect odors and relay that information to the brain. The discovery may also help scientists harness olfactory stem cells and stem cells found in other sensory systems more generally, to recover sensory function following injury or degenerative disease, scientists said. The findings are published in the Dec. 8 issue of the journal Neuron.

Scalable Amounts of Liver and Pancreas Precursor Cells Created Using New Stem Cell Production Method

Source: Wiley-Blackwell
Date: December 2, 2011

Summary:

Scientists in Canada have overcome a key research hurdle to developing regenerative treatments for diabetes and liver disease with a technique to produce medically useful amounts of endoderm cells from human pluripotent stem cells. The research, published in Biotechnology and Bioengineering, can be transferred to other areas of stem cell research helping scientists to navigate the route to clinical use known as the 'valley of death'.

researchers identify new method for generating stem cell-like cells from human skin

Source: University of California - Los Angeles
Date: December 1, 2011

Summary:

Researchers from the UCLA School of Dentistry investigating how stem cells can be used to regenerate dental tissue have discovered a way to produce cells with stem cell–like characteristics from the most common type of human skin cell in the epidermis. These skin cells, called keratinocytes, form the outermost layer of skin and can be cultured from discarded skin tissues or biopsy specimens. The findings, published in the Nov. 4 edition of the peer-reviewed Journal of Biological Chemistry, may be beneficial for individuals with limited sources of endogenous stem cells.

Body Rebuilding: Researchers Regenerate Muscle Tissue in Mice

Source: Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Date: November 29, 2011

Summary:

A team of scientists from Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) and CellThera, a private company located in WPI's Life Sciences and Bioengineering Center, have regenerated functional muscle tissue in mice, opening the door for a new clinical therapy to treat people who suffer major muscle trauma. The team used a novel protocol to coax mature human muscle cells into a stem cell-like state and grew those reprogrammed cells on biopolymer microthreads. The threads were placed in a wound created by surgically removing a large section of leg muscle from a mouse. Over time, the threads and cells restored near-normal function to the muscle published in the current issue of the journal Tissue Engineering. Surprisingly, the microthreads, which were used simply as a scaffold to support the reprogrammed human cells, actually seemed to accelerate the regeneration process by recruiting progenitor mouse muscle cells, suggesting that they alone could become a therapeutic tool for treating major muscle trauma.

Scientists Engineer Blood Stem Cells to Fight Melanoma

Source: University of California - Los Angeles
Date: November 28, 2011

Summary:

Researchers from UCLA's cancer and stem cell centers have demonstrated for the first time that blood stem cells can be engineered to create cancer-killing T-cells that seek out and attack a human melanoma. The researchers believe this approach could be useful in 40 percent of Caucasians with this malignancy.

Done in mouse models, the study serves as first proof-of-principle that blood stem cells, which make every cell type found in blood, can be genetically altered in a living organism to create an army of melanoma-fighting T-cells, said Jerome Zack, study senior author and a scientist with UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center and the Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research at UCLA. The study appears Nov. 28, 2011 in the early online edition of the peer-reviewed journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Cell Molecule Identified as Central Player in the Formation of New Blood Vessels

Source: University of North Carolina School of Medicine
Date: November 28, 2011

Summary:

Scientists at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine have identified a cellular protein that plays a central role in the formation of new blood vessels. The molecule is the protein Shc (pronounced SHIK), and new blood vessel formation, or angiogenesis, is seriously impaired without it. The study appeared online Nov. 16, 2011 in the journal Blood.

Rebuilding the brain’s circuitry Healthy neurons can integrate into diseased areas

Source: Harvard Medical School
Date: November 24, 2011

Summary:

Neuron transplants have repaired brain circuitry and substantially normalized function in mice with a brain disorder, an advance indicating that key areas of the mammalian brain are more reparable than was widely believed. Collaborators from Harvard University, Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) and Harvard Medical School (HMS) transplanted normally functioning embryonic neurons at a carefully selected stage of their development into the hypothalamus of mice unable to respond to leptin, a hormone that regulates metabolism and controls body weight. These mutant mice usually become morbidly obese, but the neuron transplants repaired defective brain circuits, enabling them to respond to leptin and thus experience substantially less weight gain.

Repair at the cellular-level of the hypothalamus — a critical and complex region of the brain that regulates phenomena such as hunger, metabolism, body temperature, and basic behaviors such as sex and aggression — indicates the possibility of new therapeutic approaches to even higher-level conditions such as spinal cord injury, autism, epilepsy, ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease), Parkinson’s disease, and Huntington’s disease.


The findings are to appear Nov. 25 in Science.

Key to Aging? Key Molecular Switch for Telomere Extension by Telomerase Identified

Source: University of Illinois at Chicago
Date: November 23, 2011

Summary:

Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine describe for the first time a key target of DNA damage checkpoint enzymes that must be chemically modified to enable stable maintenance of chromosome ends by telomerase, an enzyme thought to play a key role in cancer and aging. Their findings are reported online in Nature Structural and Molecular Biology.

Lab Creates Cells Used by Brain to Control Muscle Cells

Source: University of Central Florida
Date: November 22, 2011

Summary:

University of Central Florida researchers, for the first time, have used stem cells to grow neuromuscular junctions between human muscle cells and human spinal cord cells, the key connectors used by the brain to communicate and control muscles in the body. The success at UCF is a critical step in developing “human-on-a-chip” systems. The systems are models that recreate how organs or a series of organs function in the body. Their use could accelerate medical research and drug testing, potentially delivering life-saving breakthroughs much more quickly than the typical 10-year trajectory most drugs take now to get through animal and patient trials. The work, funded through the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) at the National Institutes of Health, is described in the December issue of Biomaterials.

Implanted neurons, grown in the lab, take charge of brain circuitry

Source: University of Wisconsin
Date: November 21, 2011

Summary:

Among the many hurdles to be cleared before human embryonic stem cells can achieve their therapeutic potential is determining whether or not transplanted cells can functionally integrate into target organs or tissues. Writing today (Monday, Nov. 21) in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, a team of University of Wisconsin scientists reports that neurons, forged in the lab from blank slate human embryonic stem cells and implanted into the brains of mice, can successfully fuse with the brain's wiring and both send and receive signals.

The scientists also reported that the human neurons adopted the rhythmic firing behavior of many brain cells talking to one another in unison. And, perhaps more importantly, that the human cells could modify the way the neural network behaved. A critical tool that allowed the UW group to answer this question was a new technology known as optogenetics, where light, instead of electric current, is used to stimulate the activity of the neurons.

Regeneration After a Stroke Requires Intact Communication Channels Between Brain Hemispheres

Source: Max-Planck-Gesellschaft
Date: November 21, 2011

Summary:

The structure of the corpus callosum, a thick band of nerve fibres that connects the two halves of the brain with each other and in this way enables the rapid exchange of information between the left and right hemispheres, plays an important role in the regaining of motor skills following a stroke. A study by scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Neurological Research and the Department of Neurology at the University Hospital of Cologne currently published in the journal Human Brain Mapping has shown that in stroke patients with particularly severely impaired hand movement, this communication channel between the two brain hemispheres in particular was badly damaged.

Researchers uncover mechanism that regulates human pluripotent stem cell metabolism

Source: University of California - Los Angeles Health Sciences
Date: November 15, 2011

Summary:

Human pluripotent stem cells, which can develop into any cell type in the body, rely heavily on glycolysis, or sugar fermentation, to drive their metabolic activities. In contrast, mature cells in children and adults depend more on cell mitochondria to convert sugar and oxygen into carbon dioxide and water during a high energy-producing process called oxidative phosphorylation for their metabolic needs.

How cells progress from one form of energy production to another during development is unknown, although a finding by University of California Los Angeles stem cell researchers provides new insight for this transition that may have implications for using these cells for therapies in the clinic.

Based mostly on visual appearance, it had been assumed that pluripotent stem cells contained undeveloped and inactive mitochondria, which are the energy-producing power plants that drive most cell functions. It was thought that stem cell mitochondria could not respire, or convert sugar and oxygen into carbon dioxide and water with the production of energy. This led most scientists to expect that mitochondria matured and gained the ability to respire during the transition from pluripotent stem cells into differentiated body cells over time.

Surprisingly, UCLA stem cell researchers discovered that pluripotent stem cell mitochondria respire at roughly the same level as differentiated body cells, although they produced very little energy, thereby uncoupling the consumption of sugar and oxygen from energy generation. Rather than finding that mitochondria matured with cell differentiation, as was anticipated, the researchers uncovered a mechanism by which the stem cells converted from glucose fermentation to oxygen-dependent respiration to achieve full differentiation potential.

The four-year study appears in the Nov. 15, 2011 issue of The EMBO Journal, a peer-reviewed journal of the European Molecular Biology Organization.

Stem Cell Study Helps Clarify the Best Time for Therapy to Aid Heart Attack Survivors

Source: Mayo Clinic
Date: November 14, 2011

Summary:


ORLANDO, Fla. — A research network led by a Mayo Clinic physician found that stem cells obtained from bone marrow delivered two to three weeks after a person has a heart attack did not improve heart function. This is the first study to systematically examine the timing and method of stem cell delivery and provides vital information for the field of cell therapy. The results were presented this morning at the 2011 Scientific Sessions of the American Heart Association Meeting in Orlando, Fla. They also will be published online in JAMA to coincide with the presentation.

Results of trial using adult stem cells for heart failure triple researchers’ projections

Source: Brigham and Women's Hospital
Date: November 14, 2011

Summary:

ORLANDO, Fla. – Patients suffering from heart failure due to a previous myocardial infarction showed an average of 12 percent improvement one year following an investigative treatment that involved infusing them with their own stem cells. The results triple the 4 percent improvement average the researchers projected for the Phase I trial.

Results of the trial are published today (Nov. 14) in The Lancet and concurrently presented at the American Heart Association Scientific Sessions in Orlando, Fla. They are the first report of administering subjects’ own cardiac stem cells in humans; previous studies have used stem cells harvested from bone marrow.

Self-Organized Pituitary-Like Tissue from Mouse ES Cells

Source: RIKEN
Date: 14 November 2011

Summary:

The possibility that functional, three-dimensional tissues and organs may be derived from pluripotent cells, such as embryonic stem cells (ESCs) and induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), represents one of the grand challenges of stem cell research, but is also one of the fundamental goals of the emerging field of regenerative medicine. New research has shown that when ES cells are cultured under the appropriate conditions, they can be driven to self-organize into complex, three-dimensional tissue-like structures that closely resemble their physiological counterparts, a remarkable advance for the field.

New work by Hidetaka Suga of the Division of Human Stem Cell Technology, Yoshiki Sasai, Group Director of the Laboratory for Organogenesis and Neurogenesis, and others has unlocked the most recent achievement in self-organized tissue differentiation, steering mouse ESCs to give rise to tissue closely resembling the hormone-secreting component of the pituitary, known as the adenohypophysis, in vitro. Conducted in collaboration with Yutaka Oiso at the Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine, this work was published in Nature.

Phase I trial shows adult stem cell heart treatment three times more effective than expected

Source: University of Louisville
Posted: November 14, 2011 09:03 AM

Summary:

Patients who suffered from heart failure due to a heart attack showed an average of 12 percent improvement in heart function one year after they underwent an investigative treatment that involved infusing them with their own stem cells. Pre-trial projections were for a 4 percent improvement average. University of Louisville researcher Roberto Bolli, the lead investigator on the Phase I clinical trial, will present the findings today at the American Heart Association Scientific Sessions in Orlando, Fla. He also is lead author on a paper set for publication today in The Lancet.

Einstein Researchers Discover Key To Cell Specialization

Source: Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Date: November 10, 2011

Summary:

(BRONX, NY) — Researchers at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University have uncovered a mechanism that governs how cells become specialized during development. Their findings could have implications for human health and disease and appear in the November 10 online edition of the journal Cell.

A fundamental question in biology is how a fertilized egg gives rise to many different cells in the body, such as nerve, blood and liver. By providing insight into that process, known as differentiation, the findings by the Einstein researchers are relevant to cancer, stem cell research and regenerative medicine.

The scientists studied cell differentiation in the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster. They found that cell specialization depends on a pair of proteins that act as super regulators of proteins that were already known—one super-regulating protein encouraging a cell to differentiate and the other trying to hold back the process.

Stem cell approach primes immune system to fight cancer

Source: Oxford University
Date: 10 November 2011

Summary:

Stem cell techniques have been used in the lab as a new way of priming the body’s own immune cells to attack cancer, in a proof-of-principle study by Oxford University scientists. The technical advance opens up the possibility of using stem cells derived from a patient’s skin as a source of key immune cells, called dendritic cells, which can orchestrate an immune response against a tumour. But much further work would be needed to turn this into a therapy ready to be used with cancer patients.

The Oxford researchers used recently established techniques to turn skin cells from a healthy adult back into a stem cell state. These ‘induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells’ are capable of renewing themselves indefinitely and can be coaxed to form any cell type – muscle, nerve, heart tissue, etc.

Dr. Paul Fairchild and Dr Kate Silk prompted the human iPS cells to form dendritic cells using an approach that would be suitable for clinical use. That is, no animal-based material or supplements to aid growth were used. After providing the dendritic cells with components of a melanoma, the team showed the cells could initiate a full immune response to melanoma markers in cell cultures in the lab.

The study was funded by the UK Medical Research Council and the Oxford Martin School, and is published in the journal Gene Therapy.

Gene Therapy Shows Promise as Hemophilia Treatment in Animal Studies

Source: Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center
Date: November 3, 2011

Summary:

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – – For the first time, researchers have combined gene therapy and stem cell transplantation to successfully reverse the severe, crippling bleeding disorder hemophilia A in large animals, opening the door to the development of new therapies for human patients. Researchers at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center’s Institute for Regenerative Medicine, collaborating with other institutions, report in Experimental Hematology that a single injection of genetically-modified adult stem cells in two sheep converted the severe disorder to a milder form.

New Evidence for Spinal Membrane as a Source of Stem Cells May Advance Treatment of Spinal Cord Injuries

Source: Wiley-Blackwell
Date: October 31, 2011

Summary:

Durham, NC – Italian and Spanish scientists studying the use of stem cells for treating spinal cord injuries have provided the first evidence to show that meninges, the membrane which envelops the central nervous system, is a potential source of self-renewing stem cells. The research, published in STEM CELLS, develops the understanding of cell activation in central nervous system injuries; advancing research into new treatments for spinal injuries and degenerative brain disorders.

Researchers Find Regulatory T-Cell Clue To Help Prevent Graft-Versus-Host Disease

Source: H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute
Date: October 31, 2011

Summary:


TAMPA, Fla. - Graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) is a serious risk in many kinds of cell transplants, including for stem cell transplants carried out when stem cells are partially depleted of conventional T cells, which play an important role in the immune system. Now, in a study published in a recent issue of the journal Blood, researchers at Moffitt Cancer Center have tested a process by which T regulatory cells (Tregs) can be "expanded" to help prevent GVHD.

Lung Stem Cells Offer Therapeutic Clues

Source: Harvard Medical School
Date: October 27, 2011

Summary:

Guided by insights into how mice recover after H1N1 flu, researchers at Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women's Hospital, together with researchers at A*STAR of Singapore, have cloned three distinct stem cells from the human airways and demonstrated that one of these cells can form into the lung's alveoli air sac tissue. What's more, the researchers showed that these same lung stem cells are rapidly deployed in a dynamic process of lung regeneration to combat damage from infection or chronic disease. The findings will be reported in the Oct. 28 issue of Cell.

Erasing Signs of Aging in Human Cells Now a Reality

Source: INSERM (Institut national de la santé et de la recherche médicale)
Date: October 27, 2011

Summary:

Scientists have recently succeeded in rejuvenating cells from elderly donors (aged over 100). These old cells were reprogrammed in vitro to induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC) and to rejuvenated and human embryonic stem cells (hESC): cells of all types can again be differentiated after this genuine "rejuvenation" therapy. The results represent significant progress for research into iPSC cells and a further step forwards for regenerative medicine.

Inserm's AVENIR "Genomic plasticity and aging" team, directed by Jean-Marc Lemaitre, Inserm researcher at the Functional Genomics Institute (Inserm/CNRS/Université de Montpellier 1 and 2) performed the research. The results were published in Genes & Development on November 1, 2011.

Neuralstem Receives FDA Approval to Dose Patients in Cervical Region in Ongoing ALS Trial

Source: Neuralstem, Inc.
Date: October 24, 2011

Summary:

ROCKVILLE, Md. -- Neuralstem, Inc. updated the progress of its ongoing Phase I safety trial of the company's spinal cord stem cells in the treatment of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS or Lou Gehrig's disease) at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. The company announced that, after reviewing safety data from the first 12 patients, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted approval for the trial to advance to transplanting patients in the cervical (upper back) region. Until now, patients have received injections in the lumbar (lower back) region only. Earlier this summer, the trial's Safety Monitoring Board unanimously approved moving to the cervical injection phase. The trial will now advance to the final two cohorts of patients with ALS, all of whom will be transplanted in the cervical region of the spine.

Geron Presents Clinical Data Update from GRNOPC1 Spinal Cord Injury Trial

Source: Geron Corporation
Date: October 20, 2011

Summary:

MENLO PARK, Calif., - Geron Corporation today announced two presentations on the company's ongoing Phase 1 clinical trial of its human embryonic stem cell-based therapy, GRNOPC1, in patients with spinal cord injury. Safety data were presented at the Pre-Conference Symposia of the joint 2011 American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine and American Society of Neuro-Radiology Annual Meeting in Atlanta, GA. A second presentation was given at the Working 2 Walk 2011 conference in Rockville, MD. The presentations were given by Joseph Gold, Ph.D., Geron's Senior Director of Neurobiology and Stem Cell Therapies and Linda Jones, P.T., M.S., Geron's Senior Clinical Trials Manager for GRNOPC1.

New Role of Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor in Regulating Skin Cancer Stem Cells

Source: Libre de Bruxelles, Universit
Date: October 20, 2011

Summary:

One of the key questions in cancer is the identification of the mechanisms that regulate cancer stem cells and tumor growth.

In a study published in Nature, researchers led by Cédric Blanpain, MD/PhD, FNRS/FRS researcher and WELBIO investigator at the IRIBHM, Université libre de Bruxelles, Belgium, in collaboration with the groups of Peter Carmeliet (VIB/K.U.Leuven) and Jody J. Haigh (VIB/UGent) have identified a new role for Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF) in regulating skin cancer stem cells.

Skin squamous cell carcinomas are amongst the most frequent cancers in humans. Recent studies suggest that skin squamous cell carcinoma, like many other human cancers, contain particular cancer cells, known as cancer stem cells, that present increased self-renewal potential that sustain tumor growth. Little is known about the mechanisms that regulate cancer stem cell functions.

To dissect the mechanisms that regulate cancer stem cells, Beck and colleagues determined which genes are preferentially expressed by cancer stem cell of skin tumors. They found that VEGF, a molecule known to regulate the formation of new vessels, is expressed at high level by skin cancer stem cells, which are located in close contact to the blood vessels. Administration of an antibody that decreases new blood vessel formation to mice presenting skin tumors results in a reduction of the pool of cancer stem cells leading to a reduction of the tumor size, demonstrating that vascular cells regulate skin cancer stem cell functions.

To determine whether VEGF secretion by cancer stem cells directly regulates the function of cancer stem cells, the authors genetically removed VEGF specifically in tumour cells, and found that upon VEGF ablation, skin cancer stem cells were rapidly lost due to a defect in their renewal properties, leading to tumour regression. “It was extremely exciting to see the complete disappearance of these tumors only two weeks after the treatment” said Benjamin Beck, the first author of the Nature paper.

The authors also found that Neuropilin 1, a VEGF receptor, is also highly expressed by skin cancer stem cells, and showed that Neuropilin 1 expression by cancer stem cells is critical to promote cancer stem cell renewal and tumour growth. In addition, the authors found that Neuropilin 1 is also essential for tumour formation, demonstrating the critical role of Neuropilin 1 during both cancer initiation and tumor growth.

Altogether this new study provides novel and important insights into the mechanisms by which VEGF controls tumour growth.

Understanding the Beginnings of Embryonic Stem Cells Helps Predict the Future

Source: Baylor College of Medicine
Date: October 13, 2011

Summary:

HOUSTON -- Ordinarily, embryonic stem cells exist only a day or two as they begin the formation of the embryo itself. Then they are gone. In the laboratory dish, however, they act more like perpetual stem cells – renewing themselves and exhibiting the ability to form cells of almost any type, a status called totipotency.

Scientists at Baylor College of Medicine showed that laboratory-grown cells express a protein called Blimp1, which represses differentiation to somatic or regular tissue cells during germ cell development. Studies of these cells show that they also express other genes associated with early germ cell specification. A report on their work published online today in the journal Current Biology. It will appear in the Oct. 25 print edition of the journal.

New Method Isolates Best Brain Stem Cells to Treat MS

Source: University at Buffalo
Date: October 13, 2011

Summary:

-- A precise method has been developed that prospectively isolates just the stem cells that can treat multiple sclerosis and childhood diseases caused by the brain's inability to make myelin.

--After analzying genes in different stem cell types, the scientists searched for and found the genes that were most likely to differentiate into stem cells that make myelin.

--The human stem cells were then successfully injected into the brains of mice with MS.

--The new method brings the prospect of clinical trials that much closer, the scientists say.

BUFFALO, N.Y. – The prospect of doing human clinical trials with stem cells to treat diseases like multiple sclerosis may be growing closer, say scientists at the University at Buffalo and the University at Rochester, who have developed a more precise way to isolate stem cells that will make myelin.

Myelin is the crucial fatty material that coats neurons and allows them to signal effectively. The inability to make myelin properly is the cause of MS as well as rare, fatal, childhood diseases, such as Krabbe's disease. The research, published online and in the October issue of Nature Biotechnology, overcomes an important barrier to the use of stem cells from the brain in treating demyelinating diseases.

Precision with Stem Cells a Step Forward for Treating M.S., Other Diseases

Source: University of Rochester Medical Center
Date: October 13, 2011

Summary:

Scientists have improved upon their own previous world-best efforts to pluck out just the right stem cells to address the brain problem at the core of multiple sclerosis and a large number of rare, fatal children’s diseases. Details of how scientists isolated and directed stem cells from the human brain to become oligodendrocytes – the type of brain cell that makes myelin, a crucial fatty material that coats neurons and allows them to signal effectively – were published online and in the October issue of Nature Biotechnology by scientists at the University of Rochester Medical Center and the University at Buffalo.

Stem Cells from Cord Blood Could Help Repair Damaged Heart Muscle

Source: University of Bristol
Date: 13 October 2011

Summary:

New research has found that stem cells derived from human cord blood could be an effective alternative in repairing heart attacks. At least 20 million people survive heart attacks and strokes every year, according to World Health Organisation estimates, but many have poor life expectancy and require continual costly clinical care. The use of patient's own stem cells may repair heart attacks, although their benefit may be limited due to scarce availability and aging. The researchers have found heart muscle-like cells grown using stem cells from human umbilical cord blood could help repair heart muscle cells damaged by a heart attack.

The study, led by Professor Raimondo Ascione, Chair of Cardiac Surgery & Translational Research in the School of Clinical Sciences at the University of Bristol, is published online in Stem Cell Reviews & Reports. The study, funded by the British Heart Foundation (BHF) and the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), found that it is possible to expand up to seven-fold, in vitro, rare stem cells (called CD133+) from human cord blood and then grow them into cardiac muscle cells.

The findings could have major implications on future treatment following a heart attack given that cells obtained from adults following a heart attack may be less functional due to aging and risk factors.

Clean Correction of a Patient's Genetic Mutation New gene therapy methods accurately Correct mutation in patient's stem cells

Source: Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute
Date: 12 October 2011

Summary:

For the first time, scientists have cleanly corrected a human gene mutation in a patient's stem cells. The result, reported in Nature 12 October, brings the possibility of patient-specific therapies closer to becoming a reality. The team, led by researchers from the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute and the University of Cambridge, targeted a gene mutation responsible for both cirrhotic liver disease and lung emphysema. Using cutting-edge methods, they were able to correct the sequence of a patient's genome, remove all exogenous DNA and show that the corrected gene worked normally.

"STIMULATED" STEM CELLS STOP DONOR ORGAN REJECTION

Source: Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions
Date: October 11, 2011

Summary:

Johns Hopkins researchers have developed a way to stimulate a rat’s stem cells after a liver transplant as a means of preventing rejection of the new organ without the need for lifelong immunosuppressant drugs. The need for anti-rejection medicines, which carry serious side effects, is a major obstacle to successful long-term transplant survival in people

With a combination of a very low, short-term dose of an immunosuppressive drug to prevent immediate rejection and four doses of a medication that frees the recipient’s stem cells from the bone marrow to seek out and populate the donor organ, the rats lived more than 180 days with good liver function despite stopping both drugs after one week. The researchers are also testing the method on other transplanted organs, including kidneys, in rats and other larger animals.

Essentially, the Hopkins scientists transformed the donor liver from a foreign object under attack by the rat’s immune system into an organ tolerated by the recipient’s immune system — all in a matter of three months from the date of transplant, they report.

The technique, if replicated in humans, could mark a major shift in the process of organ transplantation, the researchers say. An article describing the experiment appears in the current issue of the American Journal of Transplantation.

Seeking superior stem cells New technique produces one hundred-fold increase in efficiency in reprogramming human cells

Source: Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute
Date: 10 October 2011

Summary:

Researchers from the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute have today (07/10/2011) announced a new technique to reprogramme human cells, such as skin cells, into stem cells. Their process increases the efficiency of cell reprogramming by one hundred-fold and generates cells of a higher quality at a faster rate.

Until now cells have been reprogrammed using four specific regulatory proteins. By adding two further regulatory factors, Liu and co-workers brought about a dramatic improvement in the efficiency of reprogramming and the robustness of stem cell development. The new streamlined process produces cells that can grow more easily.

The study is published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Scientists turn liver cells directly into neurons with new technique

Source: Stanford University School of Medicine
Date: October 7, 2011

Summary:

Fully mature liver cells from laboratory mice have been transformed directly into functional neurons by researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine. The switch was accomplished with the introduction of just three genes and did not require the cells to first enter a pluripotent state. It is the first time that cells have been shown to leapfrog from one fundamentally different tissue type to another.

The accomplishment extends previous research by the same group, which showed in 2009 that it is possible to directly transform mouse fibroblasts, or skin cells, into neurons. The cells make the change without first becoming a pluripotent type of stem cell — a step long thought to be required for cells to acquire new identities.

The research is published online Sept. 29 in Cell Stem Cell.

Scientists Make Advance in Development of Patient-Specific Stem Cells

Source: New York Stem Cell Foundation / Columbia University Medical Center
Date: October 5, 2011

Summary:

NEW YORK, NY -- A team of scientists led by Dieter Egli and Scott Noggle at The New York Stem Cell Foundation (NYSCF) Laboratory in New York City have made an important advance in the development of patient-specific stem cells that could impact the study and treatment of diseases such as diabetes, Parkinson’s, and Alzheimer’s. As reported in today’s Nature, for the first time the scientists have derived embryonic stem cells from individual patients by adding the nuclei of adult skin cells from patients with type 1 diabetes to unfertilized donor oocytes. The achievement is significant because such patient-specific cells potentially can be transplanted to replace damaged or diseased cells in persons with diabetes and other diseases without rejection by the patient’s immune system. The scientists report further work is necessary before such cells can be used in cell-replacement medicine.

Scientists identify new stem cell activity in human brain

Source: St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center
Date: September 28, 2011

Summary:

Researchers at Barrow Neurological Institute at St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center have identified a new pathway of stem cell activity in the brain that represents potential targets of brain injuries affecting newborns. The recent study, which raises new questions of how the brain evolves, is published in the current issue of Nature.

The findings revealed that there is a pathway of young migrating neurons targeting the prefrontal cortex of the human brain in the first few months of life. After the first year of life, the subventricular zone of the brain slows down, tapering production of new brain cells by the time a child is 18-months and then to nearly zero by age two. This revelation settles conflicting prior reports that suggested that human neural stem cell cells remain highly active into adulthood.

CORRECTING SICKLE CELL DISEASE WITH STEM CELLS

Source: Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions
Date: September 28, 2011

Summary:

Using a patient’s own stem cells, researchers at Johns Hopkins have corrected the genetic alteration that causes sickle cell disease (SCD), a painful, disabling inherited blood disorder that affects mostly African-Americans. The corrected stem cells were coaxed into immature red blood cells in a test tube that then turned on a normal version of the gene. The research team cautions that the work, done only in the laboratory, is years away from clinical use in patients, but should provide tools for developing gene therapies for SCD and a variety of other blood disorders.

In an article published online August 31 in Blood, the researchers say they are one step closer to developing a feasible cure or long-term treatment option for patients with SCD, which is caused by a single DNA letter change in the gene for adult hemoglobin, the principle protein in red blood cells needed to carry oxygen. People who inherited two copies — one from each parent — of the genetic alteration, the red blood cells are sickle-shaped, rather than round. The misshapen red blood cells clog blood vessels, leading to pain, fatigue, infections, organ damage and premature death.

Research reveals how dynamic changes in methylation can determine cell fate

Source: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Date: September 26, 2011

Summary:

Cold Spring Harbor, NY – Scientists at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) and the University of Southern California (USC) have uncovered intriguing new evidence helping to explain one of the ways in which a stem cell's fate can be determined. The new data show how the "marking" of DNA sequences by groups of methyl molecules – a process called methylation – can influence the type of cell a stem cell will become. The cellular maturation process, called differentiation, has long been thought to be affected by methylation. Subtle changes in methylation patterns within subsets of a particular cell type have now been observed and closely scrutinized, and they reveal some intriguing mechanisms at work in the process. The study, which will appear in print October 7 in the journal Molecular Cell, generated some surprising findings that challenge currently held theories about how methylation operates.

Mice stem cells guided into myelinating cells by the trillions

Source: Case Western Reserve University
Date: September 26, 2011

Summary:

Scientists at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine found a way to rapidly produce pure populations of cells that grow into the protective myelin coating on nerves in mice. Their process opens a door to research and potential treatments for multiple sclerosis, cerebral palsy and other demyelinating diseases afflicting millions of people worldwide. The findings were published in the online issue of Nature Methods, Sunday, Sept. 25.

With this new discovery, scientists are now able to direct mouse stem cells into populations of myelinating cells, called oligodendrocyte progenitor cells, or OPCs. in just 10 days. The team’s success relied upon guiding the cells through specific stages that match those that occur during normal embryonic development.

First, stem cells in a petri dish are treated with molecules to direct them to become the most primitive cells in the nervous system. These cells then organize into structures called neural rosettes reminiscent of the developing brain and spinal cord. To produce OPCs, the neural rosettes are then treated with a defined set of signaling proteins previously known to be important for generation of OPCs in the developing spinal cord.

After this 10 day protocol, the researchers were able to maintain the OPCs in the lab for more than a month by growing them on a specific protein surface called laminin and adding growth factors associated with OPC development. The OPCs were nearly homogenous and could be multiplied to obtain more than a trillion cells. The OPCs were treated with thyroid hormone, which is key to regulating the transition of the OPCs to oligodendrocytes. The result was the OPCs stopped proliferating and turned into oligodendrocytes within four days. Testing on nerves lacking myelin, both on the lab bench and in diseased mouse models, showed the OPCs derived from the process flourished into oligodendrocytes and restored normal myelin within days, demonstrating their potential use in therapeutic transplants.

Important Step in Sperm Reprogramming Identified

Source: University of North Carolina School of Medicine
Date: September 22, 2011

Summary:

A study from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine has illuminated a key step of demethylation, giving stem cell researchers critical information as they try to reprogram adult cells to mimic the curative and self-renewing properties of stem cells. Previous research had shown that the methyl tags on sperm DNA are converted to their chemical cousin, hydroxymethyl, before disappearing completely. The current finding, published online in the Sept. 22, 2011, issue of Science (ScienceExpress), suggests that the disappearance of these chemical tags in the later steps of demethylation is not an active process catalyzed by an enzyme but is rather a passive process.

ACT Receives Approval for First Human Embryonic Stem Cell Trial in Europe

Source: Advanced Cell Technology, Inc.
Date: September 22, 2011

Summary:

Advanced Cell Technology, Inc., a leader in the field of regenerative medicine, announced today that it has received clearance from the U.K. Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) to begin treating patients as part of a Phase 1/2 clinical trial for Stargardt’s Macular Dystrophy (SMD) using retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) derived from human embryonic stem cells (hESCs). ACT received similar approval from the the Gene Therapy Advisory Committee (GTAC), which has responsibility for the ethical oversight of proposals to conduct clinical trials involving gene or stem cell therapies in the U.K. The European Medicines Agency (EMA) previously granted Orphan Drug designation for the company's RPE cell product for use in treating SMD.

StemCells, Inc. Announces World's First Neural Stem Cell Transplant in Spinal Cord Injury Patient

Source: StemCells, Inc.
Date: September 22, 2011

Summary:

StemCells, Inc. announced today that the first patient in the Company's breakthrough Phase I/II clinical trial in chronic spinal cord injury was successfully transplanted with the Company's proprietary HuCNS-SC(R) adult neural stem cells. The stem cells were administered yesterday at Balgrist University Hospital, University of Zurich, a world leading medical center for spinal cord injury and rehabilitation. The transplant surgery was performed by a team of surgeons led by Dr. Raphael Guzman, a visiting staff neurosurgeon also on faculty at Department of Neurosurgery, Stanford University, and Dr. K. Min, an orthopedic surgeon at Balgrist University Hospital.

Additional News Coverage of Stanford University Embryonic Stem Cell Trial For Spinal Cord Injury

Below are summaries of additional coverage on the announcement yesterday by Stanford University that a researcher has begun the first test of an embryonic stem cell therapy on the West Coast from the San Jose Mercury News and San Francisco Chronicle:

From the San Jose Mercury News, September 21, 2011:

A Stanford researcher has injected 2 million human embryonic stem cells into the spinal cord of a paralyzed patient at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center, marking the first West Coast effort to test the potential therapy. The experiment, announced Tuesday, is designed only to test safety, but doctors will also note whether it improves sensation or helps the patient regain movement.

From the San Francisco Chronicle, September 21, 2011:

A Bay Area patient who recently suffered a serious spinal cord injury and is now paralyzed from the waist down joined the world's first-ever embryonic stem cell study in humans last week, when Stanford doctors injected 2 million cells designed to replace damaged neurons in the patient's spine.

The patient, who is not being identified, is the fourth person to be enrolled in the clinical trial being run by Menlo Park's Geron Corp. and the first person in California. The patient, whose participation in the trial was revealed Tuesday, received the stem cell injection Saturday at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center and is now at the rehabilitation center there.

The study is not meant to determine whether the stem cells can cure or even improve the patients' condition, but to find out if the treatment itself is safe. Researchers will be monitoring patients over the following months and years to look for side effects, including possible benign tumor growth if the stem cells start to replicate, or adverse immune reactions.

Embryonic stem cell therapy for paralysis given to first patient in western United States

Source: Stanford University School of Medicine
Date: September 20, 2011

Summary:

The Stanford University School of Medicine and Santa Clara Valley Medical Center have enrolled the fourth participant in the nation’s first trial of cells derived from human embryonic stem cells. The phase-1, FDA-approved trial is meant to test the safety of the cells in up to 10 people with recent spinal cord injuries at seven trial sites across the United States.

The most recent patient was treated Sept. 17 at the Rehabilitation Trauma Center at SCVMC with cells prepared for injection at Stanford. Stanford neurosurgeon Gary Steinberg, MD, PhD, implanted the cells. Three other patients have previously received the surgically delivered cells: two at the Shepherd Center in Atlanta beginning in October of last year, and one at Northwestern Memorial Hospital and the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago in May 2011. The Stanford/SCVMC patient is the first person to receive the therapy west of the Mississippi.

The Palo Alto Weekly and San Francisco Business Times carried news stories on this development today.

Using Bone Marrow to Protect the Brain: Stem Cell Technology Begins Clinical Trial for Lou Gehrig's Disease

Source: American Friends of Tel Aviv University
Date: September 20, 2011

Summary:

Through a clinical product called NurOwn, researchers at Tel Aviv University are turning bone marrow stem cells into astrocyte-like cells which are responsible for the well-being of the brain's neurons. Trials for the technology, which has the potential to treat a broad range of neurodegenerative conditions, are now planned for Massachusetts General Hospital.

the technology is now a patent-pending process that takes stem cells from a patient's own bone marrow and causes them to differentiate into astrocyte-like cells, which are responsible for the well-being of the brain's neurons. The cells release neurotrophic factors, or neuroprotectants, which have been shown to play a key role in reducing the progress of ALS, a debilitating disease characterized by the progressive degeneration of motor neurons, resulting in paralysis of a patient's limbs and organ function.

The research has appeared in the Journal of Stem Cells Reviews and Reports and a number of other publications.

Stem Cells Are Potential Source of Cancer-Fighting T Cells

Source: Penn State College of Medicine
Date: September 20, 2011

Summary:

Adult stem cells from mice converted to antigen-specific T cells -- the immune cells that fight cancer tumor cells -- show promise in cancer immunotherapy and may lead to a simpler, more efficient way to use the body's immune system to fight cancer, according to Penn State College of Medicine researchers.

By inserting DNA, researchers change the mouse iPS cells into immune cells and inject them into mice with tumors. After 50 days, 100 percent of the mice in the study were still alive, compared to 55 percent of control mice, which received tumor-reactive immune cells isolated from donors. Researchers reported their results and were featured as the cover story in a recent issue of the journal Cancer Research.

Scientists Turn Back the Clock On Adult Stem Cells Aging

Source: Georgia Institute of Technology
Date: September 20, 2011

Summary:

Atlanta, GA - Researchers have shown they can reverse the aging process for human adult stem cells, which are responsible for helping old or damaged tissues regenerate. The findings could lead to medical treatments that may repair a host of ailments that occur because of tissue damage as people age. A research group led by the Buck Institute for Research on Aging and the Georgia Institute of Technology conducted the study in cell culture, which appears in the September 1, 2011 edition of the journal Cell Cycle.

The regenerative power of tissues and organs declines as we age. The modern day stem cell hypothesis of aging suggests that living organisms are as old as are its tissue specific or adult stem cells. Therefore, an understanding of the molecules and processes that enable human adult stem cells to initiate self-renewal and to divide, proliferate and then differentiate in order to rejuvenate damaged tissue might be the key to regenerative medicine and an eventual cure for many age-related diseases. A research group led by the Buck Institute for Research on Aging in collaboration with the Georgia Institute of Technology, conducted the study that pinpoints what is going wrong with the biological clock underlying the limited division of human adult stem cells as they age.

Scientists Turn Back the Clock on Adult Stem Cells Aging

Source: Buck Institute for Research on Aging
Date: September 19, 2011

Summary:

Researchers have shown they can reverse the aging process for human adult stem cells, which are responsible for helping old or damaged tissues regenerate. The findings could lead to medical treatments that may repair a host of ailments that occur because of tissue damage as people age. A research group led by the Buck Institute for Research on Aging and the Georgia Institute of Technology conducted the study in cell culture, which appears in the September 1, 2011 edition of the journal Cell Cycle.

The regenerative power of tissues and organs declines as we age. The modern day stem cell hypothesis of aging suggests that living organisms are as old as are its tissue specific or adult stem cells. Therefore, an understanding of the molecules and processes that enable human adult stem cells to initiate self-renewal and to divide, proliferate and then differentiate in order to rejuvenate damaged tissue might be the key to regenerative medicine and an eventual cure for many age-related diseases A research group led by the Buck Institute for Research on Aging in collaboration with the Georgia Institute of Technology, conducted the study that pinpoints what is going wrong with the biological clock underlying the limited division of human adult stem cells as they age.

Researchers discover a switch that controls stem cell pluripotency

Source: University of Toronto
Date: September 15, 2011

Summary:

Toronto—Scientists at the University of Toronto have found a control switch that regulates stem cell “pluripotency,” the capacity of stem cells to develop into any type of cell in the human body. The discovery reveals that pluripotency is regulated by a single event in a process called alternative splicing.

Alternative splicing allows one gene to generate many different genetic messages and protein products. The researchers found that in genetic messages of a gene called FOXP1, the switch was active in embryonic stem cells but silent in “adult” cells—those that had become the specialized cells that comprise organs and perform functions.

The findings were published in the current online edition of the scientific journal Cell.

NEW CLASS OF STEM CELL-LIKE CELLS DISCOVERED IN SPINAL CORD OFFERS POSSIBILITIES FOR SPINAL CORD REPAIR

Source: The Allen Institute for Brain Science
Date: September 15, 2011

Summary:

The Allen Institute for Brain Science announced today the discovery of a new class of cells in the spinal cord that act like neural stem cells, offering a fresh avenue in the search for therapies to treat spinal cord injury and disease. The published collaborative study, authored by scientists from the University of British Columbia, the Allen Institute for Brain Science and The Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital at McGill University and titled “Adult Spinal Cord Radial Glia Display a Unique Progenitor Phenotype,” appears in the open access journal PLoS One.

Researchers Use Uterine Stem Cells to Treat Diabetes

Source: Yale University
Date: September 14, 2011

Summary:

New Haven, Conn. — Controlling diabetes may someday involve mining stem cells from the lining of the uterus, Yale School of Medicine researchers report in a new study published in the journal Molecular Therapy. The team treated diabetes in mice by converting cells from the uterine lining into insulin-producing cells. The endometrium or uterine lining, is a source of adult stem cells. These cells generate uterine tissue each month as part of the menstrual cycle. Like other stem cells, however, they can divide to form other kinds of cells. The Yale team's findings suggest that endometrial stem cells could be used to develop insulin-producing islet cells, which are found in the pancreas. These islet cells could then be used to advance the study of islet cell transplantation to treat people with diabetes.

NEUROSURGEONS USE ADULT STEM CELLS TO GROW NECK VERTEBRAE

Source: University of California - Davis Health System
Date: September 6, 2011

Summary:

(SACRAMENTO, Calif.) — Neurosurgery researchers at UC Davis Health System have used a new, leading-edge stem cell therapy to promote the growth of bone tissue following the removal of cervical discs -- the cushions between the bones in the neck -- to relieve chronic, debilitating pain. The procedure used bone marrow-derived adult stem cells to promote the growth of the bone tissue essential for spinal fusion following surgery, as part of a nationwide, multicenter clinical trial of the therapy.

Fetal Tissue Plays Pivotal Role in Formation of Insulin-Producing Cells

Source: University of California - San Francisco
Date: September 6, 2011

Summary:

A somewhat mysterious soft tissue found in the fetus during early development in the womb plays a pivotal role in the formation of mature beta cells the sole source of the body’s insulin. This discovery, made by scientists at University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) and Texas A&M University, may lead to new ways of addressing Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes.

As reported today in the journal PLoS Biology, during the late stages of development in mice, this fetal tissue -- called the mesenchyme -- secretes chemicals. Those chemicals enable insulin-producing beta cells to mature and expand. Remove this mesenchyme tissue, the researchers found, and the mice do not grow their full complement of beta cells.

This work provides researchers with an immediate tool for research and drug discovery. By identifying the chemicals that this tissue secretes, scientists may be able to create new beta cells in the body or in the test tube -- something currently beyond the reach of medical science.

Human Intestinal Stem Cell Breakthrough for Regenerative Medicine

Source: Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona)
Date: 4 September 2011

Summary:

Human colon stem cells have been identified and grown in a petri dish in the lab for the first time. This achievement, made by researchers of the Colorectal Cancer Lab at the Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona) and published in Nature Medicine, is a crucial advance towards regenerative medicine.

Throughout life, stem cells of the colon regenerate the inner layer of our large intestine in a weekly basis. For decades scientists had evidences of the existence of these cells yet their identity remained elusive. Scientists led by the ICREA Professor and researcher at the Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona) Eduard Batlle discovered the precise location of the stem cells in the human colon and worked out a method that allows their isolation and in vitro expansion, that is their propagation in lab-plates (petri dishes).

Researchers Successfully Perform First Injection of Cultured Red Blood Cells in Human Donor

Source: American Society of Hematology
Date: September 1, 2011

Summary:

For the first time, researchers have successfully injected cultured red blood cells (cRBCs) created from human hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) into a human donor, according to study results published today in Blood, the Journal of the American Society of Hematology (ASH). As the global need for blood continues to increase while the number of blood donors is decreasing, these study results provide hope that one day patients in need of a blood transfusion might become their own donors.

Scientists Find Stem Cells That Tell Hair It’s Time to Grow

Source: Yale University
Date: September 1, 2011

Summary:

New Haven, Conn. — Yale researchers have discovered the source of signals that trigger hair growth, an insight that may lead to new treatments for baldness. The researchers identified stem cells within the skin's fatty layer and showed that molecular signals from these cells were necessary to spur hair growth in mice, according to research published in the Sept. 2 issue of the journal Cell.

Scientists discover blood factors that appear to cause aging in brains of mice

Source: Stanford University School of Medicine
Date: August 31, 2011

Summary:

In a study to be published Sept. 1 in Nature, Stanford University School of Medicine scientists have found substances in the blood of old mice that makes young brains act older. These substances, whose levels rise with increasing age, appear to inhibit the brain's ability to produce new nerve cells critical to memory and learning. The scientists believe the findings raise the question of whether it might be possible to shield the brain from aging by eliminating or mitigating the effects of these apparently detrimental blood-borne substances, or perhaps by identifying other blood-borne substances that exert rejuvenating effects on the brain but whose levels decline with age,

Bone Marrow Stem Cell Therapy Safe For Acute Stroke

Source: University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston
Date: August 31, 2011

Summary:

Using a patient’s own bone marrow stem cells to treat acute stroke is feasible and safe, according to the results of a ground-breaking Phase I trial at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth). The trial was the first ever to harvest an acute stroke patient’s own stem cells from the iliac crest of the leg, separate them and inject them back into the patient intravenously. The first patient was enrolled in March 2009 at Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center. This research, with additional funding from the National Institutes of Health, has been expanded to a larger trial to study safety.

The study’s findings were published in a recent issue of the Annals of Neurology. Of the 10 patients enrolled in the study, there were no study-related severe adverse events. Although the study was not intended to address efficacy, the investigators compared the study group with historical control patients, who admitted to the stroke service at Memorial Hermann-TMC before the trial began. In that comparison, the study team found a number of patients who did better compared with controls. However, Savitz said that type of analysis has limitations.

Uterine stem cells used to treat diabetes in mice NIH-funded researchers convert cells from uterine lining into insulin-producing cells

Source: National Institute of Child Health and Human Development
Date: August 30, 2011

Summary:

Researchers funded by the National Institutes of Health have converted stem cells from the human endometrium into insulin-producing cells and transplanted them into mice to control the animals’ diabetes. The endometrium, or uterine lining, is a source of adult stem cells. Normally, these cells generate uterine tissue each month as part of the menstrual cycle. Like other stem cells, however, they can divide to form other kinds of cells.

The study’s findings suggest the possibility that endometrial stem cells could be used to develop insulin-producing islet cells. These islet cells could then be used to advance the study of islet cells transplantation as a treatment for people with diabetes. If the transplantation of islet cells derived from endometrial cells is perfected, the study authors write that women with diabetes could provide their own endometrial tissue for such a transplant, sidestepping the chance of rejection posed by tissue from another person. Endometrial stem cells are readily available and can be collected easily during a simple outpatient procedure. Endometrial tissue could also be collected after hysterectomy, the surgical removal of the uterus.

Clinical Importance of Leukemia Stem Cells Validated by New Study

Source: University Health Network
Date: August 28, 2011

Summary:

Toronto––Cancer scientists have long debated whether all cells within a tumour are equal or whether some cancer cells are more potent - a question that has been highly investigated in experimental models in the last decade. Research published today in Nature Medicine (10.1038/nm.2415) focuses on patients and shows that acute myeloid leukemia (AML) contains rare cells with stem cell properties, called leukemia stem cells (LSC), that are better at predicting clinical outcome than the majority of AML cells, showing for the first time that LSCs are significant not just in experimental models but also in patients.

From skin cells to motor neurons Researchers find success with direct cellular reprogramming

Source: Harvard University
Date: August 26, 2011

Summary:

A team of Harvard stem cell researchers has succeeded in reprogramming adult mouse skin cells directly into the type of motor neurons damaged in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), best known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, and spinal muscular atrophy (SMA). These new cells, which researchers are calling induced motor neurons (iMNs), can be used to study the development of the paralyzing diseases and to develop treatments for them. In a paper given “Immediate Early Publication” online by Cell Stem Cell, the team reports that the cells they are calling iMNs appear to be fully functional.

Study sheds light on stem cell role in regenerating fingers, toes

Source: Stanford University School of Medicine
Date: August 23, 2011

Summary:

Tissue-specific adult stem cells are responsible for the ability of mammals to re-grow the tips of fingers or toes lost to trauma or surgery, say researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine. The finding discredits a popular theory that holds that previously specialized cells regress, or dedifferentiate, in response to injury to form a pluripotent repair structure called a blastema. The study is published Aug. 24 in Nature.

"Open Wide" for New Stem Cell Potential

Source: American Friends of Tel Aviv University
Date: August 23, 2011

Summary:

Scientists at American Friends of Tel Aviv University have successfully collected cells from oral mucosa and manipulated them into stem cells almost as easy to manipulate as those from embryos. This breakthrough, , which has been published in the journal Stem Cell Studies, opens a new door to stem cell research and potential therapies for neurodegenerative, heart, and autoimmune diseases, as well as diabetes.

Stem Cell Study Offers Hope for Parkinson's Patients

Source: University of Edinburgh
Date: August 23, 2011

Summary:

Scientists at the University of Edinburgh have for the first time generated stem cells from one of the most rapidly progressing forms of Parkinson's disease. The development will help research into the condition as it will enable scientists to model the disease in the laboratory to shed light on why certain nerve cells die.

The research, led by the University of Edinburgh in collaboration with UCL (University College London), then used these skin cells to generate brain nerve cells affected by the disease. The ability to generate these nerve cells will make it easier to monitor the effectiveness of potential new drugs that could slow or halt progress of the condition. The aim would be to find drugs that can prevent the death of these key cells -- known as neurons -- which break down as a result of Parkinson's. The research was published in the journal Nature Communications.

Scientists Offer New Insight into the Regulation of Stem Cells and Cancer Cells

Source: Gladstone Institutes
Date: August 14, 2011

Summary:

Scientists at the Gladstone Institutes have gained new insight into the delicate relationship between two proteins that, when out of balance, can prevent the normal development of stem cells in the heart and may also be important in some types of cancer.
The news, being announced in a paper published online today in Nature Cell Biology, adds to the understanding of the role of stem cells in embryonic heart development, and how that process could be manipulated to create new heart muscle in the future. This paper also provides another example of how the same signals controlling stem cells in the embryo are those that can cause human cancers, providing new insight into treating this devastating disease.

Discovery may eliminate potentially lethal side effect of stem cell therapy

Source: Stanford University Medical Center
Date: August 14, 2011

Summary:

Like fine chefs, scientists are seemingly approaching a day when they will be able to make nearly any type of tissue from human embryonic stem cells. You need nerves or pancreas, bone or skin? With the right combination of growth factors, skill and patience, a laboratory tissue culture dish promises to yield therapeutic wonders. But within these batches of newly generated cells lurks a big potential problem: Any remaining embryonic stem cells -- those that haven't differentiated into the desired tissue -- can go on to become dangerous tumors called teratomas when transplanted into patients.

Now researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine have developed a way to remove these pluripotent human embryonic stem cells from their progeny before the differentiated cells are used in humans. ("Pluripotent" describes cells that are able to become all types of adult tissue.)

The scientists believe the technique could also be used to remove residual tumor-initiating cells from populations of cells derived from induced pluripotent stem, or iPS, cells. These cells may also be useful for therapy but, unlike embryonic stem cells, iPS cells are created in the laboratory from adult tissue.

The research will be published online Aug. 14 in Nature Biotechnology.

Researchers Use Human Cells to Engineer Functional Sphincters in Lab

Source: Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center
Date: August 9, 2011

Summary:

Researchers at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center have built the first functional anal sphincters in the laboratory, suggesting a potential future treatment for both fecal and urinary incontinence. Made from muscle and nerve cells, the sphincters developed a blood supply and maintained function when implanted in mice. The results are reported in the medical journal Gastroenterology.

Human Skin Cells Converted Directly into Functional Neurons

Source: Columbia University Medical Center
Date: August 4, 2011

Summary:

(NEW YORK, NY) – Columbia University Medical Center researchers have for the first time directly converted human skin cells into functional forebrain neurons, without the need for stem cells of any kind. The findings offer a new and potentially more direct way to produce replacement cell therapies for Alzheimer’s and other neurodegenerative diseases. Such cells may prove especially useful for testing new therapeutic leads. The study was published in the August 4 online issue of the journal Cell.

A Patient's Own Skin Cells May One Day Treat Multiple Diseases

Source: University of California - Davis Health System
Date: August 4, 2011

Summary:

The possibility of developing stem cells from a patient's own skin and using them to treat conditions as diverse as Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease and cancer has generated tremendous excitement in the stem cell research community in recent years. Such therapies would avoid the controversial need for using stem cells derived from human embryos, and in theory, also bypass immunological problems inherent in using cells from one person to treat another.

A roadmap for finding solutions to the problems identified with iPSCs, written by researchers at UC Davis, is available online and will be published in the Aug. 5 issue of the journal Cell Stem Cell. The publication suggests research strategies to advance the field more rapidly toward applications for human diseases.

Regrowing Blood Vessels With a Potent Molecule: Researcher’s method of delivering growth factors could lead to revolutionary heart disease treatment

Source: University of Pittsburgh
Date: August 2, 2011

Summary:

University of Pittsburgh researchers have developed a minimally invasive method of delivering growth factor to regrow blood vessels. The research, published this week in the Aug. 1 issue of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, could be used to treat heart disease, the most common cause of death in the Western world.

When the researchers injected their growth factor compound under the skin of mice, they saw something amazing: New blood vessels grew, and large ones, not just tiny capillaries. Moreover, the structures stuck around. At least a month later, after only one injection of the growth factor complex, the new blood vessels were still there.

Scientist Converts Human Skin Cells into Functional Brain Cells

Source: Gladstone Institutes
Date: July 28, 2011

Summary:

A scientist at the Gladstone Institutes has discovered a novel way to convert human skin cells into brain cells, advancing medicine and human health by offering new hope for regenerative medicine and personalized drug discovery and development.
In a paper being published online today in the scientific journal Cell Stem Cell, Sheng Ding, PhD, reveals efficient and robust methods for transforming adult skin cells into neurons that are capable of transmitting brain signals, marking one of the first documented experiments for transforming an adult human's skin cells into functioning brain cells.

Cystic fibrosis-associated changes in lung stem cells may contribute to disease progression

Source: University of Iowa
Date: July 25, 2011

Summary:

Researchers at the University of Iowa's Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine have discovered that in cystic fibrosis (CF) patients, the airway glands are depleted of a specific population of airway stem cells that participate in airway repair following injury. Their results are published in the July 18 issue of Journal of Clinical Investigation.

Scientists Complete First Mapping of Molecule Found in Human Embryonic Stem Cells

Source: University of California - Los Angeles
Date: July 22, 2011

Summary:

Stem cell researchers at UCLA have generated the first genome-wide mapping of a DNA modification called 5-hydroxymethylcytosine (5hmC) in embryonic stem cells, and discovered that it is predominantly found in genes that are turned on, or active. The finding by researchers with the Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research at UCLA may prove to be important in controlling diseases like cancer, where the regulation of certain genes plays a role in disease development. The study appears in the July issue of the journal Genome Biology.

USC Research: Cancer Cells and Stem Cells Share Same Origin

Source: University of Southern California
Date: July 18, 2011

Summary:

Oncogenes are generally thought to be genes that, when mutated, change healthy cells into cancerous tumor cells. Scientists at the Keck School of Medicine of USC have proven that those genes also can change normal cells into stem-like cells, paving the way to a safer and more practical approach to treating diseases like multiple sclerosis and cancer with stem cell therapy.

Zhong and colleagues at the Children’s Hospital of Orange County (CHOC) in California and Good Samaritan Hospital Medical Center in New York successfully converted human skin cells into brain cells by suppressing the expression of p53, a protein encoded by a widely studied oncogene. This suggests that p53 mutation helps determine cell fate — good or bad — rather than only the outcome of cancer.

The study is slated to appear in the online edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, a peer-reviewed scientific journal, the week of July 18, 2011.

New technique boosts efficiency of blood cell production from human stem cells

Source: Salk Institute for Biological Studies
Date: July 14, 2011

Summary:

Scientists at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies have developed an improved technique for generating large numbers of blood cells from a patient's own cells. The new technique will be immediately useful in further stem cell studies, and when perfected, could be used in stem cell therapies for a wide variety of conditions including cancers and immune ailments. The report is published in the July edition of the journal Stem Cells.

First patients treated in new human embryonic stem cell study

Source: Washington Post
Posted: July 14, 2011 08:30 AM ET

Summary:

The Washington Post reports researchers have treated the first two patients in the second government-authorized attempt to evaluate a therapy created using human embryonic stem cells to treat Stargardt Macular Dystrophy, a progressive form of blindness:

Researchers have treated the first two patients in the second government-authorized attempt to evaluate a therapy created using human embryonic stem cells in the United States. A team led by Steven Schwartz at UCLA administered about 50,000 cells Tuesday into one eye of a volunteer suffering from Stargardt Macular Dystrophy, a progressive form of blindness that usually begins in childhood, and another with Dry Age-Related Macular Degeneration, the leading cause of blindness in the developed world, Advanced Cell Technology, which is sponsoring the study, announced Thursday.

ACT Announces First Patients Undergo Embryonic Stem Cell Transplantation Treatment for Stargardt's Disease and Macular Degeneration

Source: Advanced Cell Technology, Inc.
Date: July 14, 2011

Summary:

MARLBOROUGH, Mass. -- Advanced Cell Technology, Inc., a leader in the field of regenerative medicine, today announced the dosing of the first patients in each of its two Phase 1/2 clinical trials for Stargardt's macular dystrophy and dry age-related macular degeneration (dry AMD) using retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells derived from human embryonic stem cells (hESCs). The patients were treated Tuesday (July 12) by Steven Schwartz, M.D., Ahmanson Professor of Ophthalmology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and retina division chief at UCLA's Jules Stein Eye Institute. Robert Lanza, M.D., chief scientific officer of ACT, attended the procedures. Both patients successfully underwent the outpatient transplantation surgeries and are recovering uneventfully.

Hope for millions of Alzheimer's sufferers as scientists make brain cells from human skin

Source: The Independent
Date: 14 July 2011


The Independent reports researchers from the Stanford University School of Medicine have converted adult skin cells directly into mature nerve cells:

Skin cells from a 30-year-old woman have been turned directly into mature nerve cells similar to those found in the brain using a procedure that promises to revolutionise the emerging field of regenerative medicine. Scientists said they were astonished to discover that they could convert a person's skin tissue into functioning nerve cells – bypassing an intermediate stem-cell stage – by the relatively simple procedure of adding a few short strands of RNA, a genetic molecule similar to DNA. The breakthrough could soon lead to the generation of different types of human brain cells in a test tube which could be used to study a range of neurodegenerative conditions such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's disease.

Efficient process using microRNA converts human skin cells into neurons, study shows

Source: Stanford University
Date: July 13, 2011

Summary:

The addition of two particular gene snippets to a skin cell’s usual genetic material is enough to turn that cell into a fully functional neuron, report researchers from the Stanford University School of Medicine. The finding, published online July 13 in Nature, is one of just a few recent reports of ways to create human neurons in a lab dish. The new capability to essentially grow neurons from scratch is a big step for neuroscience research, which has been stymied by the lack of human neurons for study.

Stem cells restore cognitive abilities impaired by brain cancer treatment

Source: University of California - Irvine
Date: July 13, 2011

Summary:

— Irvine, Calif. — Human neural stem cells are capable of helping people regain learning and memory abilities lost due to radiation treatment for brain tumors, a UC Irvine study suggests. Research with rats found that stem cells transplanted two days after cranial irradiation restored cognitive function, as measured in one- and four-month assessments. In contrast, irradiated rats not treated with stem cells showed no cognitive improvement. Study results appear in the July 15 issue of Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.

The Orange County Register published a news story about this finding today.

Researchers Demystify a Fountain of Youth in the Adult Brain

Source: Duke University Medical Center
Date: July 13, 2011

Summary:

Duke University Medical Center researchers have found that a “fountain of youth” that sustains the production of new neurons in the brains of rodents is also believed to be present in the human brain. The existence of a vital support system of cells around stem cells in the brain explains why stem cells by themselves can’t generate neurons in a lab dish, a major roadblock in using these stem cells for injury repair. The study is the cover story in the July issue of Neuron, published online July 14.