Showing posts with label autonomic function. Show all posts
Showing posts with label autonomic function. Show all posts

Wednesday, March 07, 2012

Fourteenth Patient Dosed in Neuralstem ALS Stem Cell Trial

Source: Neuralstem, Inc.
Date: March 7, 2012

Summary:

ROCKVILLE, Md., March 7, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Neuralstem, Inc. announced that the second patient to receive stem cells in the cervical (upper back) region of the spine was dosed on February 29th in the ongoing Phase I trial of its spinal cord neural stem cells in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS or Lou Gehrig's disease). Patient 14 is also the first woman to be treated in the trial. Stem cell transplantation into the cervical region of the spinal cord could support breathing, a key function that is lost as ALS progresses. The first twelve patients in the trial received stem cell transplants in the lumbar (lower back) region of the spinal cord only.

Tuesday, August 09, 2011

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.

Thursday, July 07, 2011

First Successful Transplantation of a Synthetic Tissue Engineered Windpipe

Source: Karolinska University Hospital
Date: July 7, 2011

Summary:

For the first time in history, a patient has been given a new trachea made from a synthetic scaffold seeded with his own stem cells. The operation was performed on June 9th 2011 at Karolinska University Hospital in Huddinge, Stockholm, by Professor Paolo Macchiarini, of Karolinska University Hospital and Karolinska Institutet, and colleagues.

The patient, a 36-year old man, is well on the way to full recovery from the recent operation in Sweden and is now being discharged from the hospital. Researchers produced a specifically designed bioreactor used to seed the scaffold with the patient's own stem cells. The cells were grown on the scaffold inside the bioreactor for two days before transplantation to the patient. Because the cells used to regenerate the trachea were the patient's own, there has been no rejection of the transplant and the patient is not taking immunosuppressive drugs.

The successful transplantation of tissue engineered synthetic organs, referred to as regenerative medicine, could open new and very promising therapeutic possibilities for the thousands of patients who suffer from tracheal cancer or other conditions that destroy, block or constrict the airway.

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Human Lung Stem Cell Discovered

Source: Brigham and Women's Hospital
Date: May 11, 2011

Summary:

For the first time, researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) have identified a human lung stem cell that is self-renewing and capable of forming and integrating multiple biological structures of the lung including bronchioles, alveoli and pulmonary vessels. This research is published in the May 12, 2011 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

Using lung tissue from surgical samples, researchers identified and isolated the human lung stem cell and tested the functionality of the stem cell both in vitro and in vivo. Once the stem cell was isolated, researchers demonstrated in vitro that the cell was capable of dividing both into new stem cells and also into cells that would grow into various types of lung tissue. Next, researchers injected the stem cell into mice with damaged lungs. The injected stem cells differentiated into new bronchioles, alveoli and pulmonary vessel cells which not only formed new lung tissue, but also integrated structurally to the existing lung tissue in the mice.

Monday, March 07, 2011

Laboratory-Grown Urethras Implanted in Patients, Scientists Report

Source: Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center
Date: March 7, 2011

Summary:

WINSTON-SALEM, NC –– Researchers at the Institute for Regenerative Medicine at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center and colleagues reported today on a new advance in tissue engineering. The team is the first in the world to use patients’ own cells to build tailor-made urinary tubes and successfully replace damaged tissue. In an article published Online First by The Lancet, the research team reports replacing damaged segments of urinary tubes (urethras) in five boys. Tests to measure urine flow and tube diameter showed that the engineered tissue remained functional throughout the six-year (median) follow-up period.

Here is a link to a summary of news media coverage about this finding from the Wake Forest University Office of Communications and External Relations.

Monday, November 22, 2010

New study into bladder regeneration heralds organ replacement treatment

Source: Children's Memorial Research Center
Date: November 22, 2010

Summary:

Researchers at Children's Memorial Research Center have developed a medical model for regenerating bladders using stem cells harvested from a patient’s own bone marrow. The research, published in STEM CELLS, is especially relevant for pediatric patients suffering from abnormally developed bladders, but also represents another step towards new organ replacement therapies.

Monday, August 17, 2009

How to Make a Lung: Cell-Regeneration Molecules Essential Signals for Early Lung Development, Penn Study Finds

Source: University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine
Date: August 17, 2009

Summary:

A tissue-repair-and-regeneration pathway in the human body, including wound healing, is essential for the early lung to develop properly. Genetically engineered mice fail to develop lungs when two molecules in this pathway, Wnt2 and Wnt2b, are knocked out. The findings are described by University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine this week in Developmental Cell. Several molecular signals are important for proper lung development but not much is known about the early signals that turn on the genes needed to specify the lung at the right place and time in the embryo. Clinically, understanding how a lung develops is important in treating or preventing a host of lung and pulmonary diseases in children.

Monday, August 03, 2009

Scientists discover bladder cancer stem cell

Source: Stanford University Medical Center
Date: August 3, 2009

Summary:

STANFORD, Calif. — Researchers at Stanford's School of Medicine have identified the first human bladder cancer stem cell and revealed how it works to escape the body's natural defenses. The study will be published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on Aug. 3.

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Bone marrow stem cells may help control inflammatory bowel disease

Source: Massachusetts General Hospital
Date: August 20, 2008

Summary:

Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) investigators have found that infusions of a particular bone marrow stem cell appeared to protect gastrointestinal tissue from autoimmune attack in a mouse model. In their report published in the journal Stem Cells, the team from the MGH Center for Engineering in Medicine report that mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), known to control several immune system activities, allowed the regeneration of the gastrointestinal lining in mice with a genetic mutation leading to multiorgan autoimmune disease.

Monday, May 19, 2008

Working bladders grown from progenitor cells

Source: Reuters
Posted: May 19, 2008 2:35pm EDT

Summary:

Reuters reports researchers have created bladders from progenitor cells:

"Months after being implanted into research animals, "neo-bladders" created from progenitor cells appear to function much like natural bladders, researchers have shown. Stem cells become progenitor cells on the way to becoming specialized cells forming particular types of tissue. Neo-bladders are created by removing bladder progenitor cells during bladder biopsies, growing the cells in culture and then seeding them onto a biodegradable bladder-shaped scaffold made out of collagen or other material."

Preclinical Data Demonstrate Ability to Regenerate an Entire Bladder with Tengion Neo-Bladder Replacement™

Source: Tengion, Inc.
Date: May 19, 2008

Summary:

Tengion, Inc., a clinical stage biotechnology company focused on the development of neo-organs and neo-vessels, presented preclinical efficacy data for its Tengion Neo-Bladder Replacement™ at the Annual Meeting of the American Urological Association (AUA) in Orlando, Florida on May 18, 2008.

Thursday, February 07, 2008

Bone Marrow Stem Cell Release Regulated By Brain's Biological Clock

Source: Mount Sinai Medical Center
Date: February 7, 2008

Summary:

Researchers have discovered that the release of blood stem cells from bone marrow is regulated by the brain through the cyclical human biological clock, via adrenergic signals transmitted by the sympathetic nervous system. These new findings point out that the harvest of stem cells for transplantation may be improved by timing it at the peak of their release.

Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Stem Cells May Gradually Replace Antirejection Drugs For Kidney Transplant Patients

Source: Northwestern Memorial Hospital
Date: January 23, 2008

Summary:

After transplant surgery, antirejection drugs for the organ recipient are a must. But prolonged use can have serious side effects, including infections, heart disease and even cancer. A new study seeks to eliminate the need for antirejection drugs by transplanting stem cells from a kidney donor's bone marrow into the organ recipient. Researchers at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine are working with Northwestern Memorial Hospital’s department of organ transplantation to enroll qualifying subjects in a new research study that seeks to transplants stem cells from a kidney donor’s bone marrow into the recipient, with the hope of gradually eliminating the need for anti-rejection drugs. If research proves successful, it would mean a dramatic change in the post-transplant quality of life for the transplant recipient.

Monday, October 29, 2007

Preclinical Efficacy Data Demonstrate Ability of Tengion’s Neo-Bladder Augment to Restore Bladder Function

Source: Tengion, Inc.
Posted: October 29, 2007 8:00 am ET

Summary:

Tengion, Inc., a leader in regenerative medicine, announced today that findings from a preclinical study being presented today at the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) National Conference and Exhibition demonstrate the ability of the Tengion Neo-Bladder Augment™ to restore bladder function in a well-established preclinical model of a bladder augmentation cystoplasty.

Wednesday, October 03, 2007

Jefferson Urologists Studying Regenerated Neo-Bladder to Help Spinal Cord Injury Patients

Source: Thomas Jefferson University
Date: October 3, 2007

Summary:

Urologists at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital are studying whether a neo-bladder construct grown from a patient’s own cells can improve bladder function for adult spinal cord injury patients. Jefferson is only one of six sites in the U.S. enrolling participants in this clinical trial for the lab-grown neo-bladder construct that will involve a total of 10 patients. The neo-bladder constructs are being developed by Tengion, Inc. in their pilot manufacturing facility.

Monday, September 17, 2007

Tengion Launches Second Phase 2 Clinical Trial of Regenerated Human Organ

Source: Tengion Inc.
Date: September 17, 2007

Summary:

Tengion, Inc., a leader in regenerative medicine, announced today it has initiated a Phase 2 multi-center clinical trial of its neo-bladder construct, derived from a patient’s own cells. The U.S.-based study is being conducted in 10 adult patients with neurogenic bladder due to spinal cord injuries. Neurogenic bladder is a condition that can occur due to spinal cord injury and may lead to kidney failure and incontinence, even when patients receive optimal medical treatment.

Wednesday, August 01, 2007

Scientists move closer to bio-engineered bladders

Source: Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council
Date: August 1, 2007

Summary:

Researchers at the University of York are using an understanding of the special cells that line the bladder to develop ways of restoring continence to patients with serious bladder conditions, including cancer.

Friday, July 06, 2007

Injecting Autologous Cells Could Relieve Urinary Incontinence

Source: The Lancet
Date: July 6, 2007

Summary:

Transurethral injections of autologous myoblasts and fibroblasts could relieve stress urinary incontinence in women, conclude authors of an Article published in The Lancet. And an accompanying comment hails the development as the beginning of a new era in urogynaecology.

Thursday, June 28, 2007

Stem Cells Help Urinary Incontinence?

Source: WebMD
Date: June 28, 2007

Summary:

Injections of stem cells and other cells obtained from a woman's own body can treat stress urinary incontinence with dramatically better results than conventional collagen injections, according to a new study from Austria.

Wednesday, May 23, 2007

Developments In Tissue Engineering Offer New Sources For Stem Cell Treatments

Source: American Urological Association
Posted: 23 May 2007 - 14:00 PDT

Summary:

Tissue engineering and regenerative medicine offer future patients greater options for treatment and cure of a wide array of urologic conditions, and controversies surrounding the sources of stem cells as well as their use have fueled increased research. Developers from around the world are researching new sources and applications of stem cells.