Stanford scientists bypass stem cells to create nervous system cells

Source: San Jose Mercury News
Posted: January 31, 2012 11:39:47 AM PST
Updated: January 31, 201211:39:48 AM PST

Summary:

The San Jose Mercury News published a story on the announcement by researchers at Stanford University School of Medicine that mouse skin cells can be converted directly into cells that become the three main parts of the nervous system:

Bypassing stem cells, mouse skin cells have been converted directly into cells that become the three main parts of the animal's nervous system, according to new research at the Stanford University School of Medicine. The startling success of this method seems to refute the idea that "pluripotency" -- the ability of stem cells to become nearly any cell in the body -- is necessary for a cell to transform from one cell type to another. It raises the possibility that embryonic stem cell research, as well as a related technique called "induced pluripotency," could be supplanted by a more direct way of generating cells for therapy or research.

Researchers turn skin cells into neural precusors, bypassing stem-cell stage

Source: Stanford University Medical Center
Date: January 30, 2012

Summary:

Mouse skin cells can be converted directly into cells that become the three main parts of the nervous system, according to researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine. The finding is an extension of a previous study by the same group showing that mouse and human skin cells can be directly converted into functional neurons.

The multiple successes of the direct conversion method could refute the idea that pluripotency (a term that describes the ability of stem cells to become nearly any cell in the body) is necessary for a cell to transform from one cell type to another. Together, the results raise the possibility that embryonic stem cell research and another technique called "induced pluripotency" could be supplanted by a more direct way of generating specific types of cells for therapy or research.

This new study, which will be published online Jan. 30 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, is a substantial advance over the previous paper in that it transforms the skin cells into neural precursor cells, as opposed to neurons. While neural precursor cells can differentiate into neurons, they can also become the two other main cell types in the nervous system: astrocytes and oligodendrocytes. In addition to their greater versatility, the newly derived neural precursor cells offer another advantage over neurons because they can be cultivated to large numbers in the laboratory — a feature critical for their long-term usefulness in transplantation or drug screening.

StemCells, Inc. Announces Publication of Preclinical Data Demonstrating Its Human Neural Stem Cells Preserve Vision

Source: StemCells, Inc.
Date: January 30, 2012

Summary:

StemCells, Inc. today announced the publication of preclinical data demonstrating that its proprietary HuCNS-SC® cells (purified human neural stem cells) protect host photoreceptors and preserve vision in an animal model of retinal disease. The preclinical results are highly relevant to human disorders of vision loss, the most notable of which is dry age-related macular degeneration (AMD). The study and will be featured as the cover article in the February issue of the international peer-reviewed European Journal of Neuroscience. The results of the study show that photoreceptors, the key cells of the eye involved in vision, were protected from degeneration following transplantation of HuCNS-SC cells into the Royal College of Surgeons (RCS) rat.

Scientists perform Ontario's first cardiac stem cell transplant

Source: University of Toronto
Date: January 27, 2012

Summary:

University of Toronto faculty members performed the first cardiac stem cell transplant in Ontario recently, using stem cells derived from the patient's own bone marrow, isolated completely within the operating room, and implanted into the heart at the time of coronary bypass surgery. The stem cells were injected following coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery, by a multi-disciplinary team led by Dr. Terrence Yau, a U of T professor of surgery and director of the Cardiac Stem Cell Therapy Program at the hospital’s Peter Munk Cardiac Centre, part of the University Health Network (UHN).

The Toronto Star published a news story on the trial yesterday.

Environment That Nurtures Blood-Forming Stem Cells' Growth Identified

Source: UT Southwestern Medical Center
Date: January 25, 2012

Summary:

Scientists with the new Children's Research Institute at UT Southwestern Medical Center have identified the environment in which blood-forming stem cells survive and thrive within the body, an important step toward increasing the safety and effectiveness of bone-marrow transplantation. Institute investigators asked which cells are responsible for the microenvironment that nurtures haematopoietic stem cells, which produce billions of new blood cells every day. The answer: endothelial and perivascular cells, which line blood vessels. The study is available Jan. 26 in Nature.

Researchers Create Alzheimer's Neurons from Pluripotent Stem Cells: First-Ever Feat Provides New Method to Understand Cause of Disease, Develop Drugs

Source: University of California, San Diego Health Sciences
Date: January 25, 2012

Summary:

Led by researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, scientists have, for the first time, created stem cell-derived, in vitro models of sporadic and hereditary Alzheimer's disease (AD), using induced pluripotent stem cells from patients with the much-dreaded neurodegenerative disorder. The feat, published in the January 25 online edition of the journal Nature, represents a new and much-needed method for studying the causes of AD, a progressive dementia that afflicts approximately 5.4 million Americans. More importantly, the living cells provide an unprecedented tool for developing and testing drugs to treat the disorder.

COVERAGE SUMMARY: ACT Publishes First Report of Embryonic Stem Cell (ESC)-Derived Cells Transplanted Into Patients

Below is a summary of media coverage of the announcement by Advanced Cell Technology Inc. that Phase 1/2 clinical data published in The Lancet as an early online publication demonstrate the safety of ACT’s human embryonic stem cell (hESC)-derived retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) cells for the treatment of Stargardt’s macular dystrophy (SMD) and dry age-related macular degeneration (dry AMD):

Washington Post, January 23, 2012: "Embryonic stem cells appear to restore some vision to legally blind patient":

For the first time, an experimental treatment made from human embryonic stem cells has shown evidence of helping someone, partially restoring sight to two people suffering from slowly progressing forms of blindness. Although the purpose of the experiment was to test the safety of stem cells injected into the eye, both patients “had measurable improvement in their vision that persisted through the duration of the study,” said Robert Lanza, chief scientific officer at Advanced Cell Technology, the Massachusetts biotech company that sponsored the closely watched experiment.

NPR, All Things Considered, January 23, 2012, 11:46 am EST: "First Hints That Stem Cells Can Help Patients Get Better":

Two women losing their sight to progressive forms of blindness may have regained some vision while participating in an experiment testing a treatment made from human embryonic stem cells, researchers reported today. The report marks the first time that scientists have produced direct evidence that human embryonic stem cells may have helped a patient. The cells had only previously been tested in the laboratory or in animals.

Reuters, January 23, 2012 6:32 pm EST: "First patients shown to improve with embryonic stem cells":

Before treatment, the 51-year-old graphic artist was legally blind, unable to read a single letter on a standard eye chart. She has suffered from Stargardt's disease, the most common form of macular degeneration in young patients, since she was a teenager, and it was getting progressively worse.

A second patient, aged 78, suffered from dry macular degeneration - the leading cause of blindness in the elderly -and could not even see well enough to go shopping. But after being treated with stem cells from a donated human embryo, both women have improved dramatically, researchers said on Monday. Stem cells are master cells that can differentiate into any of the 200 kinds of cells in the human body. Their results are the first-ever report of the medical use of stem cells taken from human embryos, making them crucial barometers of whether the controversial technique will ever find widespread therapeutic uses.

Associated Press, January 23, 2012: "Study: Stem cells may aid vision in blind people":

Two legally blind women appeared to gain some vision after receiving an experimental treatment using embryonic stem cells, scientists reported Monday. While embryonic stem cells were first isolated more than a decade ago, most of the research has been done in lab animals. The new results come from the first tests in humans for a vision problem. Researchers caution the work is still very preliminary.

USA Today, January 23, 2012: "Stem cells offer first glimpse of blindness treatment":

In the first published results of a therapy using human embryonic stem cells, the controversial treatment slightly improved the vision of two legally blind patients, researchers reported Monday. Intended as a safety test, the experiment reported in the journal The Lancet follows more than a decade of debate over human embryonic stem cells. Seen as a potential treatment of diseases such as diabetes and blindness, the therapy has also drawn criticism from conservative groups that have decried the cells' origins — removed from early human embryos that are destroyed in the process, and then grown into colonies for research.

New York Times, January 23, 2012: "Stem Cell Treatment for Eye Diseases Shows Promise":

A treatment for eye diseases that is derived from human embryonic stem cells might have improved the vision of two patients, bolstering the beleaguered field, researchers reported Monday. The report, published online in the medical journal The Lancet, is the first to describe the effect on patients of a therapy involving human embryonic stem cells.

Daily Telegraph, 23 January 2012 4:18PM GMT: "Human stem cell therapy works in blind patients in first trial":

Scientists have improved the sight of two people who were almost blind by injecting their eyes with stem cells from embryos. Marcus Hilton is the first person in Europe to take part in stem cell trial for a rare eye disease. The two women, both registered as blind, saw their vision improve in a matter of weeks after being given the embryo-derived cells in the US safety trial. The breakthrough holds out the hope of a cure in the future for age-related macular degeneration, which currently affects some 500,000 people in Britain. The results, published this week in The Lancet, provide a major boost for the field of stem cell research.

Toronto Star, January 23, 2012: "Can stem cells cure blindness?":

Two women who are legally blind appear to have some vision restored after being treated with stem cells from a donated human embryo, scientists reported Monday. One patient, a 51-year-old graphic artist with Stargardt’s macular dystrophy, the most common form of macular degeneration in young patients, reported seeing a greater range of colours and felt comfortable riding a bike after the treatment. More crucially, the scientists reported no adverse affects or safety concerns in either woman four months after the experimental therapy. The study is the first-ever to report on the medical use of human embryonic stem cells in patients for the treatment of any disease.

HealthDay News, January 23, 2012: "Small Stem Cell Study Claims Early Success in Treating Eye Disease: Two patients appeared to benefit from therapy for macular degeneration":

Using human embryonic stem cells to treat the eye disease macular degeneration appears to be safe and leads to some vision improvement, a small, early-stage study found. The study included one elderly patient and one younger adult patient with different types of macular degeneration that had led to severe vision loss.

After four months, the embryonic stem cell transplants seemed safe and both patients had some improvement in vision, the U.S. researchers said. The study, published online Jan. 23 in The Lancet, is the first report of the use of human embryonic stem cells (hESC) in humans for any purpose, the researchers said in a news release from the journal.

ACT Publishes First Report of Embryonic Stem Cell (ESC)-Derived Cells Transplanted Into Patients

Source: Advanced Cell Technology, Inc.
Date: January 23, 2012

Summary:

MARLBOROUGH, Mass. —– Advanced Cell Technology, Inc., a leader in the field of regenerative medicine, announced today that Phase 1/2 clinical data published in The Lancet as an early online publication demonstrate the safety of ACT’s human embryonic stem cell (hESC)-derived retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) cells for the treatment of Stargardt’s macular dystrophy (SMD) and dry age-related macular degeneration (dry AMD). Results were reported for two patients, the first in each of the Phase 1/2 clinical trials. In addition to showing no adverse safety issues, structural evidence confirmed that the hESC-derived cells survived and continued to persist during the study period reported. Both patients had measurable improvements in their vision that persisted for more than four months.

At four months following treatment, no hyperproliferation, tumorigenicity, ectopic tissue formation, or apparent rejection were observed in either patient at any time. Detailed clinical and diagnostic laboratory assessments were performed at multiple post-transplantation evaluations. Abnormal growth (or tumor formation) would be considered a significant safety concern for stem-cell based therapies, in particular those derived from hESCs due to their pluripotency; it is therefore critical to control the differentiation of hESCs. Results reported indicate that stem cell differentiation was well controlled in these patients. No adverse safety signals were detected.

INVESTIGATORS ACHIEVE IMPORTANT STEP TOWARD TREATING HUNTINGTON'S DISEASE

Source: University of California - Davis
Date: January 19, 2012

Summary:

A team of researchers at the UC Davis Institute for Regenerative Cures has developed a technique for using stem cells to deliver therapy that specifically targets the genetic abnormality found in Huntington's disease, a hereditary brain disorder that causes progressive uncontrolled movements, dementia and death. The findings, now available online in the journal Molecular and Cellular Neuroscience, suggest a promising approach that might block the disease from advancing.

BrainStorm Announces Clinical Data Supporting Safety and Efficacy of NurOwn™ Based on Initial Patient Results

Source: BrainStorm Cell Therapeutics Inc.
Date: January 17, 2012

Summary:

BrainStorm Cell Therapeutics Inc., an innovative developer of adult stem cell technologies and Central Nervous System (CNS) therapeutics, today announced that the data from the initial patients in its ALS Phase I/II human clinical trial treated with its NurOwn™ technology did not present any significant side effects and that the NurOwn™ treatment has so far proven to be safe. Prof. Dimitrios Karussis, who is leading the clinical trial at Hadassah Medical Center, stated, “There have been no significant side effects in the initial patients we have treated with BrainStorm’s NurOwn™ technology. In addition, even though we are conducting a safety trial, the early clinical follow up of the patients treated with the stem cells shows indications of beneficial clinical effects, such as an improvement in breathing and swallowing ability as well as in muscular power. I am very excited about the safety results, as well as these indications of efficacy, we are seeing. This may represent the biggest hope in this field of degenerative diseases, like ALS.”

After reviewing the safety data from the first four patients, the Hadassah Medical Center ethical committee granted approval for the trial to advance to transplanting the next patients.

Scientists learn how stem cell implants help heal traumatic brain injury

Source: University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston
Date: January 12, 2012

Summary:

For years, researchers seeking new therapies for traumatic brain injury have been tantalized by the results of animal experiments with stem cells. In numerous studies, stem cell implantation has substantially improved brain function in experimental animals with brain trauma. But just how these improvements occur has remained a mystery.

Now, an important part of this puzzle has been pieced together by researchers at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston. In experiments with both laboratory rats and an apparatus that enabled them to simulate the impact of trauma on human neurons, they identified key molecular mechanisms by which implanted human neural stem cells — stem cells that are in the process of developing into neurons but have not yet taken their final form — aid recovery from traumatic axonal injury. The research appears in the Journal of Neurotrauma.

Stem Cell Therapy Reverses Diabetes: Stem Cells from Cord Blood Used to Re-Educate Diabetic's Own T Cells

Source: BioMed Central
Date: January 9, 2012

Summary:

Type 1 diabetes is caused by the body's own immune system attacking its pancreatic islet beta cells and requires daily injections of insulin to regulate the patient's blood glucose levels. A new method described in BioMed Central's open access journal BMC Medicine uses stem cells from cord blood to re-educate a diabetic's own T cells and consequently restart pancreatic function reducing the need for insulin.

A Shot of Young Stem Cells Made Rapidly Aging Mice Live Longer and Healthier, Pitt Team Says

Source: University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
Date: January 3, 2012

Summary:

PITTSBURGH – Mice bred to age too quickly seemed to have sipped from the fountain of youth after scientists at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine injected them with stem cell-like progenitor cells derived from the muscle of young, healthy animals. Instead of becoming infirm and dying early as untreated mice did, animals that got the stem/progenitor cells improved their health and lived two to three times longer than expected, according to findings published in the Jan. 3 edition of Nature Communications.

ABC News, MSNBC, The Daily Mail and the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review carried news stories today on this development.