Pancreas cells can be stimulated to produce insulin

Source: Max Planck Institute
Date: August 6, 2009

Summary:

If the insulin-producing cells of our body based, it can develop diabetes - one of the most common metabolic disease of western industrialized nations. Through the body's own insulin-producing cells to replace, has long been a dream of diabetes researchers. Scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry (Göttingen) this goal are now one step closer to. Turns the researchers in diabetic mice, a single gene in the pancreatic cells, it turned them into insulin-producing cells. Could this conversion in humans selectively regulate the future, this could open up new therapeutic pathways to diabetes successfully treated. The study is published in the journal Cell

Below is additional coverage of this development from various sources:

Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, August 6, 2009: "Researchers Show Non-Insulin-Producing Alpha Cells in the Pancreas Can Be Converted To Insulin-Producing Beta Cells":

"In findings that add to the prospects of regenerating insulin-producing cells in people with type 1 diabetes, researchers in Europe -- co-funded by the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation -- have shown that insulin-producing beta cells can be derived from non-insulin-producing cells in the pancreas."

Los Angeles Times, August 8, 2009: "Scientists alter pancreatic cells to treat Type 1 diabetes":

"... a team of European and American researchers showed that pancreatic cells in diabetic mice could be reprogrammed into beta cells by turning on just one gene, called Pax4. The scientists gave the mice a chemical called streptozotocin that killed off their beta cells while preserving other types of pancreatic cells. Then they activated the Pax4 gene, which does most of its work during fetal development."

What Makes Stem Cells Tick? Researchers Identify Phosphorylated Signaling Proteins in Human Embryonic Stem Cells

Source: Burnham Institute for Medical Research
Date: August 6, 2009

Summary:

LA JOLLA, Calif., -- Investigators at the Burnham Institute for Medical Research (Burnham) and The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have made the first comparative, large-scale phosphoproteomic analysis of human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) and their differentiated derivatives. The data may help stem cell researchers understand the mechanisms that determine whether stem cells divide or differentiate, what types of cells they become and how to control those complex mechanisms to facilitate development of new therapies. The study was published in the August 6 issue of the journal Cell Stem Cell.

Scientists Find Key to Strengthening Immune Response to Chronic Infection

Source: Wistar Institute
Date: August 6, 2009

A team of researchers from The Wistar Institute has identified a protein that could serve as a target for reprogramming immune system cells exhausted by exposure to chronic viral infection into more effective “soldiers” against certain viruses like HIV, hepatitis C, and hepatitis B, as well as some cancers, such as melanoma.

Effective response by key immune cells in the body, called T cells, is crucial for control of many widespread chronic viral infections such as HIV and hepatitis B and C. Virus-specific CD8 T cells, also known as “killer” T cells, often lose their ability to control viral replication and become less effective over time, a process known as T cell exhaustion. Understanding how optimal antiviral T cell responses are suppressed in these circumstances is crucial to developing strategies to prevent and treat such persisting infections.

In the August 6 on-line issue of Immunity, the research team led by Wistar assistant professor E. John Wherry, Ph.D., describes how the protein Blimp-1 (B-lymphocyte-induced maturation protein 1) represses the normal differentiation of CD8 T cells into memory T cells, which recognize disease-causing agents from previous infections and enable the body to mount faster, stronger immune responses. The team also reports that Blimp-1 causes exhausted CD8 T cells to express inhibitory receptors, which prevent recognition of specific antigens, further weakening immune response.

Scientists find common trigger in cancer and normal stem cell reproduction

Source: Stanford University Medical Center
Date: August 6, 2009

Summary:

STANFORD, Calif. — Researchers at Stanford University School of Medicine have discovered, for the first time, a common molecular pathway that is used by both normal stem cells and cancer stem cells when they reproduce themselves. In a paper to be published Aug. 7 in the journal Cell, Michael Clarke, MD, the Karel H. and Avice N. Beekhuis Professor in Cancer Biology, and his colleagues showed that breast cancer stem cells and normal breast stem cells turn down the creation of a specific group of cell signals when they are reproducing. Increasing the amount of one of these signals, called miR-200c, strongly suppressed the ability of both cancer stem cells and normal stem cells to divide and reproduce. The discovery of a common regulatory pathway in both kinds of stem cells supports the idea that cancer stem cells and normal stem cells share fundamental properties.

U of T researchers learn how blood cells 'talk'

Source: University of Toronto
Date: August 5, 2009

Summary:

Researchers at the University of Toronto have developed a new model that explains how cells communicate and specifically reveals how blood cells "talk" to each other. The result could help transform treatments for diseases such as leukemia.

The paper, published online by the journal Molecular Systems Biology, details how a team led by Canada Research Chair in Stem Cell Bioengineering Professor Peter Zandstra (Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering, Department of Chemical Engineering and Applied Chemistry) revealed a new mathematical model that links functional cellular assays to specific model outputs, defines cell-level kinetic parameters such as cell cycle rates and self-renewal probabilities as functions of culture variables, and simulates feedback regulation using cell-cell interaction networks.

Stem cell hierarchy offers potential for isolating, growing cells

Source: University of Toronto
Date: August 4, 2009

Summary:

Researchers at the University of Toronto Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering (IBBME) and Princess Margaret Hospital (PMH), led by U of T's Professor J.E. Davies, have made important progress in stem cell research that will allow for numerous applications of multi-faceted stem cells known as mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs). This research will advance the selection of specific cells to target specific diseases, ultimately enabling clinicians to "personalize" treatment for patients.

The important research published today in the Public Library of Science journal, PloS-ONE [http://www.plosone.org/home.action], is entitled Human Mesenchymal Stem Cells Self-Renew and Differentiate According to a Deterministic Hierarchy. The paper provides the experimental proof of the existence of a human MSC at the single cell level, a key step that has previously eluded the scientific community. The researchers have for the first time, defined a mesenchymal stem cell hierarchy that introduces the possibility of isolating and growing MSCs of different capacities for different clinical applications or drug discovery.This development builds on the team's previous finding that the richest source of MSCs in the body is found in umbilical cord tissue that is normally discarded at birth.

Gene signature for cancer stem cells may provide drug targets

Source: Baylor College of Medicine
Date: August 4, 2009

Summary:

A subset of tumor cells that remain after a woman with breast cancer undergoes treatment with either anti-cancer or anti-hormone therapy shows a "gene signature" that could be used to define targets for developing new drugs against the disease, said a consortium of researchers led by Baylor College of Medicine. The report appears in the current issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

New stem cell research could make lab mice redundant

Source: University of Bath
Date: 04 August 2009

Summary:

Researchers from the University of Bath are embarking on a project to use stem cell technology that could reduce the number of animal experiments used to study conditions such as motor neurone disease. Dr Vasanta Subramanian, from the University’s Department of Biology & Biochemistry, will be developing a technique using human stem cells to study this debilitating neurological disease, greatly reducing the number of animals used in research.

Scientists find way to coax human stem cells into becoming T cells

Source: Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre
Date: August 4, 2009

Summary:

Canadian researchers have developed a way to direct unspecified human stem cells into becoming progenitor (or early) T cells, which then go to the thymus and give rise to mature T cells, an essential ingredient in immune system reconstitution. This critical advance in regenerative medicine, published in the July 30 edition of Blood, makes possible new approaches to treating people with severe immune deficiencies, such as children born with little or no immune system, or people who have had chemotherapy. Scientists at Sunnybrook Research Institute created the human progenitor T cells from stem cells in the lab using a method that they patented. They then implanted them into immune-deficient mice, wherein the unspecified cells travelled to the thymus and produced mature T cells.

Researchers Demonstrate How Stem Cell Line Regenerates New Cardiac Cells

Source: University of Miami Miller School of Medicine
Date: August 3, 2009

Summary:

As the field of stem cell based therapies has progressed, there have been numerous questions about the exact way one of the most promising lines of adult stem cells works to repair damaged heart muscle. Although cells obtained from adult bone marrow are proving to be useful to treat heart disease, there has been a major controversy over whether they are true stem cells capable of forming new heart muscle.

Cardiologists at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine have definitively shown that mesenchymal stem cells from bone marrow do in fact form new heart muscle and blood vessels, leading to major degrees of tissue repair in hearts damaged by a heart attack. Their findings have been published in the August 3 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Finding the Right Connection after Spinal Cord Injury

Source: University of California - San Diego
Date: August 3, 2009

Summary:

In a major step in spinal cord injury research, scientists at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have demonstrated that regenerating axons can be guided to their correct targets and re-form connections after spinal cord injury. Their findings will be published in the advance online edition of the journal Nature Neuroscience on August 2.

The UC San Diego study looked at regenerating sensory axons in rat models of spinal cord injury. Sensory systems of the body send axons – long, slender projections of the neuron – into the spinal cord to convey information regarding touch, position, and pain. Many sensory axons are covered by an insulating myelin sheath which helps these impulses travel efficiently to the brain.

The UC San Diego scientists showed that regenerating axons can be guided to correct targets using a type of chemical hormone called a growth factor. The team utilized a type of chemical hormone, a nervous system growth factor called neurotrophin-3 (NT-3), to guide regenerating sensory axons to the appropriate target and support synapse formation. Regeneration required two other treatments at the same time: placing a cell bridge in the spinal cord injury site to support axon growth, and a “conditioning” stimulus to the injured neuron that turned on regeneration genes for new growth.

Stem cell ‘daughters’ lead to breast cancer

Source: Walter and Eliza Hall Institute
Date: 3 August 2009

Summary:

Walter and Eliza Hall Institute scientists have found that a population of breast cells called luminal progenitor cells are likely to be responsible for breast cancers that develop in women carrying mutations in the gene BRCA1.

BRCA1 gene mutations are found in 10-20 per cent of women with hereditary breast cancer. Women with BRCA1 mutations often develop 'basal-like' breast cancer, which is a particularly aggressive form of the disease.

A team led by Associate Professors Jane Visvader and Geoff Lindeman from the institute's Victorian Breast Cancer Research Consortium Laboratory have discovered that luminal progenitor cells – the 'daughters' of breast stem cells – are the likely source of basal-like breast tumours. Their finding, published in today's issue of the international journal Nature Medicine, represents a major shift in the way scientists think breast cancer develops.

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.

Scientists program blood stem cells to become vision cells

Source: University of Florida
Date: July 30, 2009

Summary:

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — University of Florida researchers were able to program bone marrow stem cells to repair damaged retinas in mice, suggesting a potential treatment for one of the most common causes of vision loss in older people. The success in repairing a damaged layer of retinal cells in mice implies that blood stem cells taken from bone marrow can be programmed to restore a variety of cells and tissues, including ones involved in cardiovascular disorders such as atherosclerosis and coronary artery disease.

In a paper slated to appear in the September issue of the journal Molecular Therapy, scientists describe how they used a virus carrying a gene that gently pushed cultured adult stem cells from mice toward a fate as retinal cells. Only after the stem cells were reintroduced into the mice did they completely transform into the desired type of vision cells, apparently taking environmental cues from the damaged retinas.

Reprogramming human cells without inserting genes

Source: Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Date: July 29, 2009

Summary:

A research team comprised of faculty at Worcester Polytechnic Institute's (WPI) Life Sciences and Bioengineering Center (LSBC) and investigators at CellThera, a private company also located at the LSBC, has discovered a novel way to turn on stem cell genes in human fibroblasts (skin cells) without the risks associated with inserting extra genes or using viruses. This discovery opens a new avenue for reprogramming cells that could eventually lead to treatments for a range of human diseases and traumatic injuries by coaxing a patient's own cells to repair and regenerate the damaged tissues.

The research team reported its findings in the paper "Induction of Stem Cell Gene Expression in Adult Human Fibroblasts without Transgenes," published online July 21, 2009 (in advance of September print publication) as a "fast track" paper from the journal Cloning and Stem Cells. (Cloning, Stem Cells. 2009 Jul 21.) "We show that by manipulating culture conditions alone, we can achieve changes in fibroblasts that would be beneficial in development of patient-specific cell therapy approaches," the authors wrote in the paper.

Male Germ Cells Can Be Directly Converted Into Other Cell Types

Source: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Date: July 28, 2009

Summary:

CHAMPAIGN, lll. – Researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have found a way to directly convert spermatogonial stem cells, the precursors of sperm cells, into tissues of the prostate, skin and uterus. Their approach, described this month in the journal Stem Cells, may prove to be an effective alternative to the medical use of embryonic stem cells. The new method, co-developed by postdoctoral researcher Liz Simon takes advantage of the unusual interaction of two tissue types: the epithelium and the mesenchyme.

The hunt for alternatives to embryonic stem cells has led to some promising yet problematic approaches, some of which involve spermatagonial stem cells (SSCs). Researchers recently observed, for example, that SSCs grown in the laboratory will eventually give rise to a few cells that look and act like embryonic stem cells. This process can take months, however, and only a small percentage of the SSCs are converted into “embryonic stem-like” cells.

How the pathology of Parkinson's disease spreads

Source: University of California - San Diego
Date: July 27, 2009

Summary:

Accumulation of the synaptic protein α-synuclein, resulting in the formation of aggregates called Lewy bodies in the brain, is a hallmark of Parkinson’s and other related neurodegenerative diseases. This pathology appears to spread throughout the brain as the disease progresses. Now, researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and Konkuk University in Seoul, South Korea, have described how this mechanism works. Their findings – the first to show neuron-to-neuron transmission of α-synuclein – will appear in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) on July 29. This insight will impact research into stem cell therapy for Parkinson's disease

Coverage Summary of Reprogrammed Stem Cell Breakthrough

Below is a summary of media coverage of recent experiments by Chinese researchers published in Cell Stem Cell in which a mouse was grown using reprogrammed adult stem cells:

Reuters, July 23, 2009 12:03pm EDT: "Chinese experts grow live mice from skin cells":

"Chinese researchers have managed to create powerful stem cells from mouse skin and used these to generate fertile live mouse pups. They used induced pluripotent skin cells, or iPS cells -- cells that have been reprogrammed to look and act like embryonic stem cells. Embryonic stem cells, taken from days-old embryos, have the power to morph into any cell type and, in mice, can be implanted into a mother's womb to create living mouse pups."

Time, July 23, 2009: "Mice Research Shows Promise of Adult Stem Cells":

"... two groups of scientists in China separately reported that they had created a new kind of mouse — grown entirely from a type of stem cell that originated from already mature cells, instead of from embryos. Researchers took skin cells from donor mice, reprogrammed them to revert back to an embryonic state, then programmed them again to develop into an entire mouse pup."

HealthDay News, July 23, 2009: "Scientists Use Non-Embryonic Stem Cells to Create Healthy Mice. Achievement shows how 'plastic' these cells can be, experts say":

"The mouse may be named 'Tiny,' but what it represents in the world of science is anything but that. According to Chinese researchers, the birth of Tiny (and Tiny's brethren) marks a milestone in stem cell research: Healthy, fertile animals grown using so-called pluripotent stem cells (iPS) derived not from embryonic cells, but rather cells sourced from adult mice."

Los Angeles Times, July 23, 2009: "Researchers produce cells they say are identical to embryonic stem cells":

"Two groups of Chinese researchers have performed an unprecedented feat, it was announced today, by inducing cells from connective tissue in mice to revert back to their embryonic state and producing living mice from them. By demonstrating that cells from adults can be converted into cells that, like embryonic stem cells from fetuses, have the ability to produce any type of tissue, the researchers have made a major advance toward eliminating the need for fetal cells in research and clinical applications."

Washington Post, July 24, 2009: "Researchers May Have Found Equivalent of Embryonic Stem Cells":

"Chinese scientists have bred mice from cells that might offer an alternative to human embryonic stem cells, producing the most definitive evidence yet that the technique could help sidestep many of the explosive ethical issues engulfing the controversial field but raising alarm that the advance could lead to human cloning and designer babies.

In papers published online Thursday by two scientific journals, separate teams of researchers from Beijing and Shanghai reported that they had for the first time created virtual genetic duplicates of mice using skin cells from adult animals that had been coaxed into the equivalent of embryonic stem cells."

Associated Press, July 24, 2009: "Non-embryonic stem cells pass major hurdle in mice":

"Two teams of Chinese scientists have made a major advance in mice in the development of a new kind of stem cell that doesn’t involve destroying embryos. Those cells are derived from ordinary skin cells, and when they were created two years ago from human skin and genetically reprogrammed, it was hailed as a breakthrough. But questions remained whether they could act as chameleon-like as embryonic stem cells and morph into any cell type in the body. One way to show that versatility is if the new reprogrammed stem cells could be used to produce an entire new life. And now researchers have shown they can in mice."

Cell Press, July 24, 2009: "Reprogrammed Mouse Fibroblasts Can Make A Whole Mouse":

Scientists report an important advance in the characterization of reprogrammed induced pluripotent stem cells, or iPSCs. Researchers used established methods to reprogram mouse cells to isolate five new iPSC lines, and then found that, using one of these lines, they were able to make by tetraploid complementation embryos that survived until birth, and one embryo that also survived to adulthood.

Wall Street Journal, July 24, 2009: "Chinese Scientists Reprogram Cells to Create Mice":

"Two teams of Chinese researchers working separately have reprogrammed mature skin cells of mice to an embryonic-like state and used the resulting cells to create live mouse offspring. The reprogramming may bring scientists one step closer to creating medically useful stem-cell lines for treating human disease without having to resort to controversial laboratory techniques. However, the advance poses fresh ethical challenges because the results could make it easier to create human clones and babies with specific genetic traits."

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Reprogrammed mouse fibroblasts can make a whole mouse

Source: Cell Press
Date: July 23, 2009

Summary:

In a paper publishing online July 23 in Cell Stem Cell, a Cell Press journal, Dr. Shaorong Gao and colleagues from the National Institute of Biological Sciences in Beijing, China, report an important advance in the characterization of reprogrammed induced pluripotent stem cells, or iPSCs.

Unraveling Flatworm Regeneration

Source: Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres
Date: July 21, 2009

Summary:

Planarian flatworms are only a few millimeters up to a few centimeters in length, live in freshwater and are the object of intense research, because they possess the extraordinary ability to regenerate lost tissue with the help of their stem cells (neoblasts) and even grow an entirely new worm out of minute amputated body parts. Now researchers from the Max Delbrück Center in Berlin, Germany together with researchers in the US and Canada present the first comprehensive catalogue of small RNAs of planaria, elements that regulate gene expression. They also have identified small RNAs which may play a role in regeneration and stem cell function, Nikolaus Rajewsky from the MDC points out in the PNAS, Early Edition.

Neural stem cells offer potential treatment for Alzheimer's disease

Source: University of California - Irvine
Date: July 21, 2009

Summary:

UC Irvine scientists have shown for the first time that neural stem cells can rescue memory in mice with advanced Alzheimer's disease, raising hopes of a potential treatment for the leading cause of elderly dementia that afflicts 5.3 million people in the U.S.
Mice genetically engineered to have Alzheimer's performed markedly better on memory tests a month after mouse neural stem cells were injected into their brains. The stem cells secreted a protein that created more neural connections, improving cognitive function.
"Essentially, the cells were producing fertilizer for the brain," said Frank LaFerla, director of UCI's Institute for Memory Impairments and Neurological Disorders, or UCI MIND, and co-author of the study, which appears online the week of July 20 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Skin-like Tissue Developed from Human Embryonic Stem Cells

Source: Tufts University
Date: July 21, 2009

Summary:

Dental and tissue engineering researchers at Tufts University School of Dental Medicine and the Sackler School of Graduate Biomedical Sciences at Tufts have harnessed the pluripotency of human embryonic stem cells (hESC) to generate complex, multilayer tissues that mimic human skin and the oral mucosa (the moist tissue that lines the inside of the mouth). The proof-of-concept study is published online in advance of print in Tissue Engineering Part A.

Induced pluripotent stem cells repair heart, study shows

Source: Mayo Clinic
Date: July 20, 2009

Summary:

In a proof-of-concept study, Mayo Clinic investigators have demonstrated that induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells can be used to treat heart disease. iPS cells are stem cells converted from adult cells. In this study, the researchers reprogrammed ordinary fibroblasts, cells that contribute to scars such as those resulting from a heart attack, converting them into stem cells that fix heart damage caused by infarction. The findings appear in the current online issue of the journal Circulation.

This is the first application of iPS-based technology for heart disease therapy. Previously iPS cells have been used on only three other disease models: Parkinson's disease, sickle cell anemia and hemophilia A. The ultimate goal is to use iPS cells derived from patients to repair injury. Using a person's own cells in the process eliminates the risk of rejection and the need for anti-rejection drugs. One day this regenerative medicine strategy may alleviate the demand for organ transplantation limited by donor shortage, the researchers say.

Discovery of Genetic Toggle Switch Moves Science Closer to Possible Diabetes Cure

Source: Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center
Date: July 20, 2009

Summary:

Scientists have identified a master regulator gene for early embryonic development of the pancreas and other organs, putting researchers closer to coaxing stem cells into pancreatic cells as a possible cure for type1 diabetes. Researchers at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center report their findings in the July 21 Developmental Cell.

Besides having important implications in diabetes research, the study offers new insights into congenital birth defects involving the pancreas and biliary system by concluding both organs share a common cellular ancestry in the early mouse embryo. This discovery reverses a long standing belief that the biliary systems origin is connected to early embryonic formation of the liver, the researchers said. The pancreas regulates digestion and blood sugar, and the biliary system is vital for digestion. If the organs do not form properly during fetal development, it can be fatal. The study reports that one gene, Sox17 (a transcription factor that controls which genes are turned on or off in a cell) is the key regulator for giving instruction to cells in early mouse embryos to become either a pancreatic cell or part of the biliary system.

Students Embed Stem Cells in Sutures to Enhance Healing

Source: Johns Hopkins University
Date: July 20, 2009

Summary:

Johns Hopkins biomedical engineering students have demonstrated a practical way to embed a patient’s own adult stem cells in the surgical thread that doctors use to repair serious orthopedic injuries such as ruptured tendons. The goal, the students said, is to enhance healing and reduce the likelihood of re-injury without changing the surgical procedure itself.

Researchers discover genetic circuit that regulates behavior of stem cells

Source: Universitat Politčcnica de Catalunya
Date: July 20, 2009

Summary:

Jordi Garcia Ojalvo -- a lecturer at the Department of Physics and Nuclear Engineering of the Universitat Politčcnica de Catalunya’s School of Industrial and Aeronautical Engineering of Terrassa (ETSEIAT, Spain) -- has discovered the genetic circuit that controls the behavior of embryonic stem cells. The discovery was made in collaboration with University of Cambridge researchers. The process by which a stem cell is transformed into another type of cell is called differentiation, and the ability to change into other cell types is known as pluripotentiality.

Up until now it was generally believed in the international scientific community that embryonic stem cells are in a state of biochemical repose, static, awaiting a signal that causes them to differentiate, that gives them the initial trait which leads them to become bone, blood or skin cells, or any other type of cell of which an organism is composed. Jordi Garcia Ojalvo, one of the coordinators of the Nonlinear Dynamics, Nonlinear Optics and Lasers research group at the UPC’s Terrassa Campus, has discovered that this view is not correct, and that in fact the state of pluripotentiality in stem cells is anything but static.

Greater efficiency in generating new cells.

In a paper published this July in the prestigious journal PLoS Biology, Jordi Garcia Ojalvo and the group headed by University of Cambridge researcher Alfonso Martínez Arias say that the pluripotentiality of embryonic stem cells is not static and that these cells are in fact constantly changing. Garcia-Ojalvo and Martínez-Arias also found that there is always a subset of stem cells that are on alert, ready to respond to the signals that trigger the process of transformation known as differentiation. This ensures that an embryo’s differentiation program is completed correctly and with the necessary speed.

Placentas found to be rich in stem cells

Source: San Francisco Chronicle
Date: July 18, 2009

Summary:

The San Francisco Chronicle reports researchers have discovered that placentas contain stem cells that can treat blood diseases:

"Bay Area researchers have found that human placentas - typically tossed as medical waste after birth - are full of the kind of stem cells that can treat leukemia and dozens of other diseases of the blood. Placental stem cells, much like the cells retrieved from umbilical cord blood, do not have the broad potential of embryonic stem cells that can turn into nearly any kind of tissue or organ in the body. But they can replace some cells and help rebuild entire systems damaged by disease."

Environmental factors instruct lineage choice of blood progenitor cells

Source: Helmholtz Zentrum München
Date: July 15, 2009

Summary:

The research team led by Dr. Timm Schroeder, stem cell researcher at Helmholtz Zentrum Muenchen, Germany, has developed a new bioimaging method for observing the differentiation of hematopoietic progenitor cells (HPC) at the single-cell level. With this method the researchers were able to prove for the first time that not only cell-intrinsic mechanisms, but also external environmental factors such as growth factors can control HPC lineage choice directly. The findings, published in the current issue of the prestigious journal Science, provide an essential building block for understanding the molecular mechanisms of hematopoiesis and are an important prerequisite for optimizing therapeutic stem cell applications.

Timing is everything: Growth factor keeps brain development on track

Source: Salk Institute
Date: July 15, 2009

Summary:

Just like a conductor cueing musicians in an orchestra, Fgf10, a member of the fibroblast growth factor (Ffg) family of morphogens, lets brain stem cells know that the moment to get to work has arrived, ensuring that they hit their first developmental milestone on time, report scientists at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in the July 16, 2009, edition of the journal Neuron. Their findings not only add new insights into brain development and a novel function for Fgfs, but also reveal a possible mechanism for the selective expansion of specific brain areas over the course of evolution, such as the greatly increased size of the frontal lobe in humans.

The dormant potential of damaged nerve cells: Damaged neurons in the spinal cord retain their ability to grow

Source: Max Planck Institute
Date: July 13, 2009

Summary:

Damaged nerve cells in a finger will regrow, but those in the spinal cord do not. Why the difference? Scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Neurobiology working with an international team of researchers can now explain two important details. Nerve cells in the spinal cord still have the ability to grow even many weeks after an injury. However, the regeneration is prevented by scar tissue created after the injury occurs. Now that they have this knowledge, scientists can search for ways to reduce the scar tissue and activate the relevant growth mechanisms. ( Current Biology, June 2009)

Research May Hold Key to Maintaining Embryonic Stem Cells in Lab

Source: UT Southwestern Medical Center
Date: July 9, 2009

Summary:

In a new study that could transform embryonic stem cell (ES cell) research, scientists at UT Southwestern Medical Center have discovered why mouse ES cells can be easily grown in a laboratory while other mammalian ES cells are difficult, if not impossible, to maintain. If the findings in mice can be applied to other animals, scientists could have an entirely new palette of research tools to work with, said Dr. Steven McKnight, chairman of biochemistry at UT Southwestern and senior author of the study appearing in the July 9 issue of Science Express.

According to the research, the activation of a gene called TDH in mouse ES cells results in the cells entering a unique metabolic state that is similar to that of rapidly growing bacterial cells. The gene controls the production of the threonine dehydrogenase (TDH) enzyme in mouse ES cells. This enzyme breaks down an amino acid called threonine into two products. One of the two products goes on to control a cellular process called one carbon metabolism; the other provides ES cells with an essential metabolic fuel.

New Role Discovered for Molecule Important in Development of Pancreas

Source: University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine
Date: July 9, 2009

Summary:

PHILADELPHIA – For years researchers have been searching for a way to treat diabetics by reactivating their insulin-producing beta cells, to no avail. Now, they may be one step closer, according to new studies published by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. A protein, whose role in pancreatic development has long been recognized, has been discovered to play an additional and previously unknown regulatory role in the development of cells in the immature endocrine system. These cells ultimately give rise to pancreatic islet cells, which include beta cells.

By carefully defining the developmental steps and genetic circuits that lead to mature beta cells, researchers may be able to one day mimic these developmental processes, thereby facilitating beta-cell growth in the lab, and eventually, new therapies. The findings appear in the July 2009 issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation.

Cellular Dynamics International Reprograms Blood Cells into Stem Cells

Source: Cellular Dynamics International, Inc.
Date: July 8, 2009

Summary:

Researchers at Cellular Dynamics International (CDI) report the ability to generate pluripotent stem cells, which have the ability to generate all tissue types in the body, from very small volumes of ordinary human blood samples. This significant breakthrough provides a readily obtainable source of pluripotent stem cells from the millions of samples in storage at blood repositories and healthcare institutions worldwide. These findings, announced today, will be presented during a poster session beginning at 4:45 p.m. on July 10 at the ISSCR annual meeting in Barcelona, Spain.

Stem cells’ “suspended” state preserved by key step, scientists report

Source: University of California - San Francisco
Date: July 8, 2009

Summary:

Scientists have identified a gene that is essential for embryonic stem cells to maintain their all-purpose, pluripotent state. Exploiting the finding may lead to a greater understanding of how cells acquire their specialized states and provide a strategy to efficiently reprogram mature cells back into the pluripotent state, an elusive step in stem cell research but one crucial to a range of potential clinical treatments. The research was led by University of California, San Francisco scientists. It is being reported Wednesday, July 8, 2009, in the advanced online edition of the journal Nature, and will be published in the journal’s print edition at the end of July.

New discovery points to a new treatment avenue for acute myeloid leukemia

Source: University Health Network
Date: July 6, 2009

Summary:

Dr. John Dick, Senior Scientist at the Ontario Cancer Institute, the research arm of Princess Margaret Hospital, part of the University Health Network, co-led a multinational team that has developed the first leukemia therapy that targets a protein, CD123, on the surface of cancer stem cells that drive acute myeloid leukemia (AML), which is an aggressive disease with a poor outcome. Dr. Richard Lock is leading the clinical trial in Australia that expands on research suggesting that antibodies targeting cancer stem cells significantly reduced the growth of human AML cells that had been transplanted into immune-deficient mice, a laboratory model that mimics the human disease, establishing the therapeutic potential of this type of therapy. The research paper Monoclonal Antibody-Mediated Targeting of CD123, IL-3 Receptor α Chain, Eliminates Human Acute Myeloid Leukemic Stem Cells was published in Cell Stem Cell July 2, 2009.

Functional Dendritic Cells Can Be Derived From Embryonic Stem Cells

Source: Geron Corporation
Date: July 6, 2009

Summary:

Geron Corporation today announced the publication of data demonstrating that dendritic cells (DCs) scalably manufactured from human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) exhibit the normal functions of naturally occurring human DCs found in the bloodstream. These findings support the use of hESC-derived DCs in therapeutic vaccine applications for cancer and other diseases. Substituting standardized, off-the-shelf hESC-derived DCs for current approaches using DCs obtained from individual patients may result in more cost effective and reliable approaches to cancer immunotherapy.

The study, authored by Geron scientists and collaborators Prof. Waldmann and Dr. Fairchild at the Sir William Dunn School of Pathology, University of Oxford, appears online in advance of print in the journal Regenerative Medicine.

Scientists find molecular differences between embryonic stem cells and reprogrammed skin cells

Source: University of California - Los Angeles
Date: July 2, 2009

Summary:

UCLA researchers have found that embryonic stem cells and skin cells reprogrammed into embryonic-like cells have inherent molecular differences, demonstrating for the first time that the two cell types are clearly distinguishable from one another. The data from the study suggest that embryonic stem cells and the reprogrammed cells, known as induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells, have overlapping but still distinct gene expression signatures. The differing signatures were evident regardless of where the cell lines were generated, the methods by which they were derived or the species from which they were isolated, said Bill Lowry, a researcher with the Broad Stem Cell Research Center and a study author. The study appears in the July 2, 2009 issue of the journal Cell Stem Cell.

Human cardiac master stem cells identified

Source Harvard University
Date: July 1, 2009

Summary:

Harvard Stem Cell Institute researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital have identified the earliest master human heart stem cell from human embryonic stem cells - ISL1+ progenitors - that give rise to a family of cells that form the essential portions of the human heart. The discovery, by a group led by Kenneth Chien, director of both HSCI’s Cardiovascular Disease Program and the MGH Cardiovascular Research Center, is particularly important because the cells were found in regions of the heart known as hot spots for congenital heart disease. These latest findings, published today in the journal Nature, build upon and expand earlier work by Chien’s team and others in mice.

Blood stem cell growth factor reverses memory decline in mice

Source: University of South Florida Health
Date: July 1, 2009

Summary:

A human growth factor that stimulates blood stem cells to proliferate in the bone marrow reverses memory impairment in mice genetically altered to develop Alzheimer's disease, researchers at the University of South Florida and James A. Haley Hospital found. The granulocyte-colony stimulating factor (GCSF) significantly reduced levels of the brain-clogging protein beta amyloid deposited in excess in the brains of the Alzheimer's mice, increased the production of new neurons and promoted nerve cell connections. The findings are reported online in Neuroscience and are scheduled to appear in the journal's print edition in August.

Stanford discovery pinpoints new connection between cancer cells, stem cells

Source: Stanford University Medical Center
Date: July 1, 2009

Summary:

STANFORD, Calif. — A molecule called telomerase, best known for enabling unlimited cell division of stem cells and cancer cells, has a surprising additional role in the expression of genes in an important stem cell regulatory pathway, say researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine. The unexpected finding may lead to new anticancer therapies and a greater understanding of how adult and embryonic stem cells divide and specialize.

"Telomerase is the factor that accounts for the unlimited division of cancer cells," said Steven Artandi, MD, PhD, associate professor of hematology, "and we're very excited about what this connection might mean in human disease." Artandi is the senior author of the research, which will be published in the July 2 issue of the journal Nature. He is also a member of Stanford's Cancer Center.

First Human Receives Cardiac Stem Cells in Clinical Trial to Heal Damage Caused By Heart Attacks

Source: Cedars-Sinai Medical Center
Date: June 30, 2009

Summary:

Doctors at the Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute announced today the completion of the first procedure in which a patient's own heart tissue was used to grow specialized heart stem cells that were then injected back into the patient's heart in an effort to repair and re-grow healthy muscle in a heart that had been injured by a heart attack. The minimally-invasive procedure was completed on the first patient on Friday, June 26.

The procedure is part of a Phase I investigative study approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and supported by the Specialized Centers for Cell-based Therapies at the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute and the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation. It is the first to use adult cells from a patient's own heart to attempt to heal injured heart muscle.

Neural Stem Cell Differentiation Factor Found

Source: Goethe University Frankfurt
Date: June 30, 2009

Summary:

Neural stem cells represent the cellular backup of our brain. These cells are capable of self-renewal to form new stem cells or differentiate into neurons, astrocytes or oligodendrocytes. Astrocytes have supportive functions in the environment of neurons, while oligodendrocytes form the myelin layer around axons in order to accelerate neuronal signal transmission. But how does a neural stem cell "know" which way it is supposed to develop?

On the molecular level receptors of the Notch family play a significant role in this process. So far, only stimulating extracellular ligands of Notch receptors had been described. Biochemists of Goethe University Medical School now describe a long time assumed but not yet identified soluble Notch inhibitor.

Franfurt scientists led by Mirko Schmidt and Ivan Dikic reported in the renowned journal Nature Cell Biology that the secreted protein EGFL7 (Epidermal Growth Factor-like domain 7) is such an inhibitory factor. EGFL7 had already been known from its involvement in the development of blood vessels.

Early heart attack therapy with bone marrow extract improves cardiac function

Source: University of California - San Francisco
Date: June 29, 2009

Summary:

A UCSF study for the treatment of heart failure after heart attack found that the extract derived from bone marrow cells is as effective as therapy using bone marrow stem cells for improving cardiac function, decreasing the formation of scar tissue and improving cardiac pumping capacity after heart attack. Findings were published online and in the July 2009 issue of the Journal of Molecular Therapy. The cover of the journal features a microscope image of cells from the UCSF study.

The studies were done in mice using a novel stem cell delivery method developed by UCSF researchers to show that the extract from bone marrow cells is as beneficial to cardiac function as are intact, whole cells. Both the cell and cell extract therapies resulted in the presence of more blood vessels and less cardiac cell death, or apoptosis, than no therapy. The study also showed that heart function benefitted despite the finding that few of the injected cells remained in the heart at one month after therapy.

In a related story, below is a video from CBS News about an experimental procedure using adult stem cells to repair heart attack damage:


Watch CBS Videos Online

Scientists uncovered molecular machinery related to stem cell fate

Source: Stowers Institute for Medical Research
Date: June 26, 2009

Summary:

The Stowers Institute's Xie Lab has revealed how the BAM protein affects germline stem cell differentiation and how it is involved in regulating the quality of stem cells through intercellular competition. The work was published today by PNAS Early Edition.

Maintaining the proper balance between stem cell self-renewal and differentiation is critical for normal homeostasis. An imbalance between the two can lead to tissue degeneration and to the development of tumors. It has long been known that the BAM protein is necessary for germline stem cell differentiation, but the specific molecular mechanism underlying BAM function had remained a mystery until now.

Examining the fruit fly ovary, the Xie Lab established that BAM controls stem cell differentiation and competition by interfering with the function of the protein translation initiation factor eIF4A. EIF4A and BAM antagonize each other to regulate the balance between self-renewal and differentiation by promoting proper expression of E-cadherin — a molecule crucial to the stem cell's ability to attach to its microenvironment (its niche).

Stem Cells Created From Pigs' Connective Tissue Cells

Source: University of Missouri - Columbia
Date: June 25, 2009

Summary:

Scientists at the University of Missouri have developed the ability to take regular cells from a pig's connective tissues, known as fibroblasts, and transform them into stem cells, eliminating several of the hurdles associated with stem cell research. The new study appeared in a recent issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science (PNAS).

Stem Cell Surprise For Tissue Regeneration

Source: Carnegie Institution
Date: June 25, 2009

Summary:

Scientists working at the Carnegie Institution's Department of Embryology, with colleagues, have overturned previous research that identified critical genes for making muscle stem cells. It turns out that the genes that make muscle stem cells in the embryo are surprisingly not needed in adult muscle stem cells to regenerate muscles after injury. The finding challenges the current course of research into muscular dystrophy, muscle injury, and regenerative medicine, which uses stem cells for healing tissues, and it favours using age-matched stem cells for therapy. The study is published in the June 25 advance online edition of Nature.

Discarded Fallopian Tubes Could Be Rich Source Of Stem Cells, Study

Source: Medical News Today
Article Date: 19 June 2009 - 10:00 PDT

Summary:

Medical News Today reports researchers have found that stem cells from fallopian tubes may be potential sources of mesenchymal (blood and bone marrow) stem cells:

"Fallopian tubes normally discarded after hysterectomies and other procedures could become rich potential sources for mesenchymal stem cells which like other types of stem cell can be coaxed to develop into a variety of cell types, according to a new study by researchers in Brazil. Researchers from the University of São Paulo's Human Genome Research Centre, which is directed by Dr Mayana Zatz conducted the study in collaboration with medical doctors from the University's reproductive surgery department. The results are published as an online paper in BioMed Central's open access Journal of Translational Medicine."

Johns Hopkins researchers edit genes in human stem cells

Source: Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions
Date: June 18, 2009

Summary:

Researchers at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine have successfully edited the genome of human- induced pluripotent stem cells, making possible the future development of patient-specific stem cell therapies. Reporting this week in Cell Stem Cell, the team altered a gene responsible for causing the rare blood disease paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria, or PNH, establishing for the first time a useful system to learn more about the disease.

Human Embryonic Stem Cells Could Safely Treat Eye Diseases, Research Suggests

Source: Advanced Cell Technology, Inc.
Date: June 15, 2009

Summary:

Advanced Cell Technology and its collaborators at OHSU report the long-term safety and efficacy of human embryonic stem cell (hESC)-derived retinal pigment epithelium produced under manufacturing conditions suitable for human clinical trials. The research shows long-term functional rescue using hESC-derived cells in both the RCS rat and Elov14 mouse, animal models of retinal degeneration and Stargardt disease, respectively.

The research, which appears online ahead of print in the journal Stem Cells, shows long-term functional rescue using hESC-derived cells in both the RCS rat and Elov14 mouse, animal models of retinal degeneration and Stargardt, respectively. The cells survived transplantation for prolonged periods (>220 days) and sustained visual function without tumor formation or untoward pathological reactions. Near-normal functional rescue was also achieved in the 'Stargardt' mouse. To further address safety concerns, a study was carried out in the NIH III immune deficient mouse model. Long-term data (spanning the life of the animals) revealed no evidence of tumor formation after transplantation.

'Designer Molecules' Being Developed To Fight Disease

Source: University of Leicester
Date: 12 June 2009

Summary:

Researchers in the Department of Cardiovascular Sciences at the University of Leicester are developing a new way to make protein based drugs with potential applications in stroke, vascular inflammation, blood vessel formation, regenerative medicine and tissue engineering. The research carried out by Shikha Sharma in Dr Nick Brindle's group in Department of Cardiovascular Sciences aims to allow researchers to rapidly make 'designer proteins' that can bind to disease causing molecules in the body.

OHSU stem cell test results: OK, so far

Source: The Oregonian
Posted: June 09, 2009, 8:18 PM

Summary;

The Oregonian reports doctors at Oregon Health & Science University found that patieints treated with adult stem cells in a clinical trial to treat Batten Disease, a fatal neurodegenerative disease, have not had any negative side effects from the treatment:

"Starting in 2006, doctors at Oregon Health & Science University opened the brains of six severely ill children and injected special stem cells derived from human fetuses, the first such surgery known. Now, the company behind that experiment has unveiled its take on the results: Five of the six patients are still alive, and none suffered serious problems "considered related to" the stem cells."

No dangerous side effects from stem cell treatment for brain disorder

Source: San Jose Mercury News
Posted: June 8, 2009 11:37:55 AM PDT
Updated: June 8, 2009 108:30:14 PM PDT

Summary:

The San Jose Mercury News reports StemCells Inc., a biotechnology company in the field of stem cell research, announced that its stem cell treatment for a rare and fatal brain disorder has no dangerous side effects in patients with the disorder:

"An experimental stem-cell treatment developed by StemCells of Palo Alto has shown no dangerous side effects after being injected into six children with a rare and as-yet always fatal brain disorder, the company said Monday. The groundbreaking study begun in 2006 involves children suffering from Batten disease, a heretofore incurable malady that often causes its mostly young victims to suffer seizures and blindness before killing them."

Details of the treatment procedure are described below:

"The ailment results from a defective gene that fails to create an enzyme the brain needs to dispose of cellular waste. The waste piles up and kills healthy cells until the patients die, typically before they reach their teens. By injecting fetal stem cells into the children's brains, researchers hope the cells will help the brains produce the missing enzyme. In the study, approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and involving children in advanced stages of the disease, the stem cells "were well tolerated by all six patients" and produced no ill effects, the company said in a prepared statement."

Fatal brain disease at work well before symptoms appear

Source: University of Florida
Date June 8, 2009

Summary:

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — University of Florida scientists have discovered why a paralyzing brain disorder speeds along more rapidly in some patients than others — a finding that may finally give researchers an entry point toward an effective treatment for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, often referred to as ALS or Lou Gehrig’s disease. Of more than 100 possible mutations of a single gene inherited by people with familial ALS, the mutations most inclined to produce clumps of problematic cellular debris known as “protein aggregates” appear to be associated with quicker progress of the disease, according to researchers with the University of Florida’s McKnight Brain Institute writing online this week in Human Molecular Genetics.

StemCells, Inc. Announces Positive Trial Results

Source: StemCells, Inc.
Date: June 8, 2009

Summary:

In an official company news release, Stem Cells, Inc., a biotechnology company in the field of stem cell research, announced positive results from its clinical trial using purified human neural stem cells to treat Batten disease:

" StemCells, Inc. announced today positive results from the first Phase I clinical trial of its proprietary HuCNS-SC ® product candidate (purified human neural stem cells), including demonstration of a favorable safety profile along with evidence of engraftment and long-term survival of the HuCNS-SC cells. The Phase I trial was designed primarily to assess the safety of HuCNS-SC cells as a potential cell-based therapeutic. Six patients with advanced stages of infantile and late infantile neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis (NCL), often referred to as Batten disease, were transplanted with HuCNS-SC cells and followed for 12 months. Overall, the Phase I data demonstrated that high doses of HuCNS-SC cells, delivered by a direct transplantation procedure into multiple sites within the brain, followed by twelve months of immunosuppression, were well tolerated by all six patients enrolled in the trial. The patients’ medical, neurological and neuropsychological conditions, following transplantation, appeared consistent with the normal course of the disease."

Landmark Stem Cells Trial Yields Positive Results

Source: Oregon Health & Science University
Date: June 8, 2009

Summary:

A groundbreaking clinical trial to test the safety and preliminary efficacy of StemCells, Inc.’s (NASDAQ: STEM) proprietary HuCNS-SC® product candidate in children with a rare neurodegenerative disease has yielded a favorable safety profile of the product and evidence of engraftment and long-term survival of the donor cells. The study results were presented at the 12th International Congress on Neuronal Ceroid Lipofuscinoses (NCL) held June 3 - 6, 2009, in Hamburg, Germany.

The Phase I trial of HuCNS-SC (purified human neural stem cells) conducted at OHSU Doernbecher Children's Hospital included six children with advanced stages of infantile and late-infantile neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis (NCL), often referred to as Batten disease. The study participants were transplanted with HuCNS-SC cells and followed for 12 months.

Overall, the Phase I data demonstrated that high doses of HuCNS-SC cells transplanted directly into multiple sites within the brain followed by 12 months of immunosuppression were well tolerated by all six patients. The patients' medical, neurological and neuropsychological conditions following transplantation appeared consistent with the normal course of the disease.

Sleuths follow lung stem cells for generations to shed light on healing

Source: Duke University Medical Center
Date: June 4, 2009

Summary:

More than one kind of stem cell is required to support the upkeep and repair of the lungs, according to a new study published in the journal Cell Stem Cell. Scientists at Duke University Medical Center painstakingly followed and counted genetically labeled cells in the mouse lung for over a year, under differing conditions, to learn more about natural renewal and healing processes. This information may shed light on what goes wrong in conditions like lung cancer, chronic bronchitis and asthma.

Ottawa scientists discover new way to enhance stem cells to stimulate muscle regeneration

Source: Ottawa Hospital Research Institute
Date: June 4, 2009

Summary:

Scientists at the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute (OHRI) and the University of Ottawa have discovered a powerful new way to stimulate muscle regeneration, paving the way for new treatments for debilitating conditions such as muscular dystrophy. The research, to be published in the June 5 issue of Cell Stem Cell, shows for the first time that a protein called Wnt7a increases the number of stem cells in muscle tissue, leading to accelerated growth and repair of skeletal muscle.

Researchers make pig stem cells

Source: Reuters
Posted: June 2, 2009 8:09pm EDT

Summary:

Reuters reports researchers have turn cells from pigs into stem cells that may be able to treat human disease:

"Researchers have found a way to transform ordinary cells from pigs into powerful stem cells in a move that may have implications for human health. With these stem cells, they hope to modify porcine genes that are related to the immune system so that its organs may some day be used for people in need of transplants. In an article published in the Journal of Molecular Cell Biology, the researchers from China described how they managed to re-program ordinary cells taken from the ear and bone marrow of a 10-week-old pig using a virus."

World first: Chinese scientists create pig stem cells

Source: Oxford University
Date: June 2, 2009

Summary:

Scientists have managed to induce cells from pigs to transform into pluripotent stem cells - cells that, like embryonic stem cells, are capable of developing into any type of cell in the body. It is the first time in the world that this has been achieved using somatic cells (cells that are not sperm or egg cells) from any animal with hooves (known as ungulates). The implications of this achievement are far-reaching; the research could open the way to creating models for human genetic diseases, genetically engineering animals for organ transplants for humans, and for developing pigs that are resistant to diseases such as swine flu. The work is the first research paper to be published online today (Wednesday 3 June) in the newly launched Journal of Molecular Cell Biology[1].

Stem cell protein offers a new cancer target

Source: Children's Hospital Boston
Date: June 1, 2009

Summary:

A protein abundant in embryonic stem cells is now shown to be important in cancer, and offers a possible new target for drug development, report researchers from the Stem Cell Program at Children's Hospital Boston.

Last year, George Daley, MD, PhD, and graduate student Srinivas Viswanathan, in collaboration with Richard Gregory, PhD, also of the Stem Cell Program at Children's, showed that the protein LIN28 regulates an important group of tumor-suppressing microRNAs known as let-7. Increasing LIN28 production in a cell prevented let-7 from maturing, making the cell more immature and stem-like. Since these qualities also make a cell more cancerous, and because low levels of mature let-7 have been associated with breast and lung cancer, the discovery suggested that LIN28 might be oncogenic.

Now, publishing Advance Online in Nature Genetics on May 31, Daley, Viswanathan and colleagues show directly that LIN28 can transform cells to a cancerous state, and that it is abundant in a variety of advanced human cancers, particularly liver cancer, ovarian cancer, chronic myeloid leukemia, germ cell tumors and Wilm's tumor (a childhood kidney cancer). They believe that overall, LIN28 and a related protein, LIN28B, may be involved in some 15 percent of human cancers. By blocking or suppressing LIN28, it might be possible to revive the let-7 family's natural tumor-suppressing action.

Salk scientists report success with stem cell therapy

Source: San Diego Union-Tribune
Posted: May 31, 2009 7:59 p.m. PDT

Summary:

The San Diego Union-Tribune reports researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies have made progress toward using stem cells and gene therapy to treat a genetic disease:

"Scientists at La Jolla's Salk Institute for Biological Studies say they've taken a significant step toward using stem cells and gene therapy to cure a genetic disease. The team led by Salk Professor Juan-Carlos Izpisua Belmonte corrected a defective gene in cells taken from patients with Fanconi anemia, a disease that can lead to bone marrow failure, leukemia and other cancers. Their work, published online Sunday by the journal Nature, offers the first proof that the technology can work in human cells – though more work remains for it to be tried in patients."

Genetic Re-disposition: Combined stem cell-gene therapy approach cures human genetic disease in vitro

Source: Salk Institute for Biological Studies
Date: June 1, 2009

Summary:

La Jolla, CA—A study led by researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, has catapulted the field of regenerative medicine significantly forward, proving in principle that a human genetic disease can be cured using a combination of gene therapy and induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cell technology. The study, published in the May 31, 2009 early online edition of Nature, is a major milestone on the path from the laboratory to the clinic.

Adult Bone Marrow Stem Cells Injected into Skeletal Muscle Can Repair Heart Tissue

Source: University at Buffalo
Date: May 28, 2009

Summary:

University at Buffalo researchers have demonstrated for the first time that injecting adult bone marrow stem cells into skeletal muscle can repair cardiac tissue, reversing heart failure. Using an animal model, the researchers showed that this non-invasive procedure increased myocytes, or heart cells, by two-fold and reduced cardiac tissue injury by 60 percent. The therapy also improved function of the left ventricle, the primary pumping chamber of the heart, by 40 percent and reduced fibrosis, the hardening of the heart lining that impairs its ability to contract, by up to 50 percent.

The paper reporting this development appears online in the Articles-in-Press section of the American Journal of Physiology -- Heart Circulation Physiology .

New Therapy Substitutes Missing Protein in Those with Muscular Dystrophy

Source: University of Minnesota
Date: May 26, 2009

Summary:

Researchers at the University of Minnesota Medical School have discovered a new therapy that shows potential to treat people with Duchenne muscular dystrophy, a fatal disease and the most common form of muscular dystrophy in children. In the mouse model, researchers were able to substitute for the missing protein – dystrophin, which forms a key part of the framework that holds muscle tissue together – that results in the disease, effectively repairing weakened muscle tissue.

Researchers injected dystrophic mice with a protein called utrophin – a very close relative of dystrophin – that was modified with a cell-penetrating tag, called TAT. The study is the first to establish the efficacy and feasibility of the TAT-utrophin-based protein as a viable therapy for the treatment of muscular dystrophy as well as cardiac muscle diseases caused by loss of dystrophin. The research is published in the May 26, 2009 issue of PLoS Medicine.

Stem cells hold promise in treating retinal degeneration

Source: University of Louisville
Date: May 21, 2009

Summary:

A team of University of Louisville scientists have discovered that stem cells taken from bone marrow can restore damaged retinal tissue by generating new cells. This is the first known study where stem cells derived from bone marrow have been used to restore the pigmented cell layer just outside the retina or the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE). During their experiments, UofL researchers found that bone-marrow derived stem cells (BMSCs) were attracted to damaged RPE, and were able to differentiate or move from less specialized cells into components of RPE. The study, published recently in the Archives of Ophthalmology. The research moves science a step closer to helping those who suffer from vision loss and blindness due to age-related macular degeneration and hereditary retinal degenerations.

Gene Therapy Could Expand Stem Cells' Promise

Source: New York- Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center/Weill Cornell Medical College
Date: May 21, 2009

Summary:

Once placed into a patient's body, stem cells intended to treat or cure a disease could end up wreaking havoc simply because they are no longer under the control of the clinician. But gene therapy has the potential to solve this problem, according to a perspective article from physician-scientists at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital Weill Cornell Medical Center published in a recent issue of the journal Cell Stem Cell. The paper details strategies for genetically modifying stem cells prior to transplantation in order to ensure their safety.

New stem cell research unlocks unknown therapies

Source: Karolinska Institutet
Date: May 21, 2009

Summary:

New treatments for the devastating Parkinson's disease and ALS are in clinical studies in Sweden, thanks to breaking new stem cell research. This news was presented today by Dr. Jonas Frisen, Professor of stem cell research at Karolinska Institutet, at the world's largest biotech convention, BIO 2009 in Atlanta.

Scientists Develop Novel Method to Stimulate Growth of New Neurons in Adult Brain

Source: University at Buffalo
Date: May 20, 2009

Summary:

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- University at Buffalo researchers have identified a new mechanism that plays a central role in adult brain stem cell development and prompts brain stem cells to differentiate into neurons. Their discovery, known as Integrative FGFR1 Signaling (INFS), has fundamentally challenged the prevailing ideas of how signals are processed in cells during neuronal development. The INFS mechanism is considered capable of repopulating degenerated brain areas, raising possibilities for new treatments for Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease and other neurodegenerative disorders, and may be a promising anti-cancer therapy. Results of the research appear in a recent issue of Integrative Biology.

Stem Cell Research Made Safer with Latest Discovery

Source: University of California - Riverside
Date: May 15, 2009

Summary:

A new development in stem cell research has resulted from a completed study by a collaboration of scientists using the drug Rapamycin to inhibit mTOR, an intracellular protein necessary in cell proliferation. University of California, Riverside’s Jiayu Liao, assistant professor in the Department of Bioengineering at Bourns College of Engineering, recently published a paper on the results in the Proceeding of the National Academy of Sciences dealing with human embryonic stem cell pluripotency. His team inhibited mTOR using Rapamycin, a drug approved by the Food and Drug Administration, and found that pluripotency (the ability to create all cell types) was impaired, stem cell self-renew was prevented, and endodermal and mesodermal differentiation were enhanced.

How an enzyme tells stem cells which way to divide

Source: University of Oregon
Date: May 14, 2009

Summary:

Driving Miranda, a protein in fruit flies crucial to switch a stem cell's fate, is not as complex as biologists thought, according to University of Oregon biochemists. They've found that one enzyme (aPKC) stands alone and acts as a traffic cop that directs which roads daughter cells will take.

"Wherever aPKC is at on a cell's cortex or membrane, Miranda isn't," says Kenneth E. Prehoda, a professor in the chemistry department and member of the University of Oregon's Institute of Molecular Biology. When a stem cell duplicates into daughter cells, the side, or cortical domain, containing aPKC (atypical protein kinase C) continues as a stem cell, while the other domain with Miranda becomes a differentiated cell such as a neuron that forms the central nervous system.

Prehoda and co-author Scott X. Atwood, who studied in Prehoda's lab and recently earned his doctorate, describe how the mechanism works in the May 12 issue of the journal Current Biology.

Embryo's heartbeat drives blood stem cell formation

Source: Children's Hospital Boston
Date: May 13, 2009

Summary:

Biologists have long wondered why the embryonic heart begins beating so early, before the tissues actually need to be infused with blood. Two groups of researchers from Children's Hospital Boston, Brigham and Women's Hospital, and the Harvard Stem Cell Institute (HSCI) -- presenting multiple lines of evidence from zebrafish, mice and mouse embryonic stem cells -- provide an intriguing answer: A beating heart and blood flow are necessary for development of the blood system, which relies on mechanical stresses to cue its formation.

Their studies, published online by the journals Cell and Nature, respectively, on May 13, together offer clues that may help in treating blood diseases such as leukemia, immune deficiency and sickle cell anemia, suggesting new ways scientists can make the types of blood cells a patient needs. This would help patients who require marrow or cord blood transplants, who do not have a perfect donor match.

Method To Neutralize Tumor Growth In Embryonic Stem Cell Therapy Discovered

Source: Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Date: May 6, 2009

Summary:

Researchers at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem have discovered a method to potentially eliminate the tumor-risk factor in utilizing human embryonic stem cells. Their work paves the way for further progress in the promising field of stem cell therapy. A major drawback to the use of stem cells, however, remains the demonstrated tendency of such cells to grow into a specific kind of tumor, called teratoma, when they are implanted in laboratory experiments into mice. It is assumed that this tumorigenic feature will be manifested upon transplantation to human patients as well.

A team of researchers at the Stem Cell Unit in the Department of Genetics at the Silberman Institute of Life Sciences at the Hebrew University has been working on various approaches to deal with this problem.

In their latest project, the researchers analyzed the genetic basis of tumor formation from human embryonic stem cells and identified a key gene that is involved in this unique tumorigenicity. This gene, called survivin, is expressed in most cancers and in early stage embryos, but it is almost completely absent from mature normal tissues.

Extreme makeover: Scientists explore new way to change cell's identity

Source: Stanford University Medical Center
Date: May 5, 2009

Summary:

Even cells aren't immune to peer pressure. Scientists at the Stanford University School of Medicine have now shown that skin cells can be coaxed to behave like muscle cells -- and muscle cells like skin cells -- solely by altering who they hang out with: the relative levels of the ingredients inside the cell. The fickleness of the cells, and the relative ease with which they make the switch, provide a glimpse into the genetic reprogramming that must occur for a cell to become something it's not.

Harnessing these genetic makeovers will allow scientists to better understand how to induce specialized adult cells to revert to a stem-cell-like state in a process called induced pluripotency. These newly pluripotent, or iPS, cells, which can then be encouraged to branch out into a variety of other cell types, have shown increasing promise as possible therapies for disorders like diabetes. But Blau's experiments suggest an intriguing alternative to iPS: that of enticing specialized adult cells to move sideways from one developmental fate to another without requiring a dip into the stem cell pool.

Process controlling T cell growth and production identified

Source: Baylor College of Medicine
Date: May 3, 2009

Summary:

Identifying one of the processes that plays a role in naďve and memory T-cells' growth and production could one day lead to better vaccines and possibly more effective cancer immunotherapy, said researchers at Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Children's Hospital in a report that appears in the current edition of Nature Immunology.

Scientists Shed Light on Inner Workings of Human Embryonic Stem Cells; Findings Expected to Help Cancer Research

Source: University of California - Santa Barbara
Date: April 30, 2009

Summary:

Scientists at UC Santa Barbara have made a significant discovery in understanding the way human embryonic stem cells function. They explain nature's way of controlling whether these cells will renew, or will transform to become part of an ear, a liver, or any other part of the human body. The study is reported in the May 1 issue of the journal Cell. The scientists say the finding bodes well for cancer research, since tumor stem cells are the engines responsible for the growth of tumors. The discovery is also expected to help with other diseases and injuries. The study describes nature's negative feedback loop in cell biology.

Zebrafish offer clues to treatments for motor neurone disease

Source: University of Edinburgh
Date: 29 April 2009

Summary:

Tiny zebrafish could hold the key to stem cell treatments for motor neurone disease. Scientists at the University of Edinburgh have found that these fish are able to produce motor neurones - cells that control all muscle activity such as speaking, walking and breathing in humans - when they repair damage to their spinal cords. Researchers are now screening small molecules with a view to finding drugs that could kick-start the process of motor neurone regeneration in zebrafish, with a view to translating their findings into treatments for humans. The discovery could help patients with motor neurone disease, in which the motor neurone cells die and are not replaced.

Scientists identify key factors in heart cell creation

Source: Gladstone Institutes
Date: April 26, 2009

Summary:

Scientists at the Gladstone Institute of Cardiovascular Disease have identified for the first time key genetic factors that drive the process of generating new heart cells. The discovery, reported in the current issue of the journal Nature, provides important new directions on how stem cells may be used to repair damaged hearts. For decades, scientists were unable to identify a single factor that could turn nonmuscle cells into beating heart cells. Using a clever approach, the research team led by Benoit Bruneau, Ph.D., found that a combination of three genes could do the trick. This is the first time any combination of factors has been found to activate cardiac differentiation in mammalian cells or tissues.

Major Breakthrough In Generating Safer, Therapeutic Stem Cells From Adult Cells

Source: Scripps Research Institute
Date: April 23, 2009

Summary:

A group of researchers at The Scripps Research Institute and other institutions have achieved a breakthrough in converting adult cells all the way back to the most primitive embryonic-like cells without using the dangerous genetic manipulations associated with previous methods. The new technique solves one of the most challenging safety hurdles associated with personalized stem cell-based medicine because for the first time it enables scientists to make stem cells in the laboratory from adult cells without genetically altering them. This discovery has the potential to spark the development of many new types of therapies for humans, for diseases that range from Type 1 diabetes to Parkinson's disease.

The study was published in an advance, online issue of the journal Cell Stem Cell on April 23, 2009.

Cell transplants may cure deafness

Source: Uppsala University
Date: April 22, 2009

Summary:

When Uppsala researchers found immature stem cells in the inner ear of humans a few years ago, it caused a global sensation. They have also managed to grow hearing nerves from stem cells and human tissue from donated cochleae. Moving images of how nerve cells, like social, swimming beings, seek out each other are now suggesting entirely new and breathtaking perspectives to researchers. The next step will be to study how this growth is affected by electric fields. The researchers want to see, on the one hand, whether electric stimulation can get remaining nerve fibers to grow in hearing impaired individuals and, on the other hand, whether nerves can be made to grow out again after having been damaged or exposed to alcohol and other toxins.

Human stem cells promote healing of diabetic ulcers

Source: University of Bristol
Date: April 20, 2009

Summary:

Treatment of chronic wounds is a continuing clinical problem and socio-economic burden with diabetic foot ulcers alone costing the NHS £300 million a year. Scientists in Bristol have found that human foetal stem cells can effectively be used to treat back leg ischaemic ulcers in a model of type 1 diabetes. The researchers also found the culture in which the stem cells had been grown mimicked the wound-healing ability of the cells, suggesting that they could be used as a "factory" of wound-healing substances. Alternatively, the active ingredients in the culture, once identified, could be used instead; this would avoid the ethical concerns of using human foetal stem cells. Paolo Madeddu, Professor of Experimental Cardiovascluar Medicine and colleagues at the Bristol Heart Institute, previously used stem cells in models of back leg ischaemia, showing that foetal stem cells could be more therapeutically effective than adult stem cells.

Study Yields Clue to How Stem Cells Form

Source: Emory University
Date: April 17, 2009

Summary:

An Emory University study shows some of the first direct evidence of a process required for epigenetic reprogramming between generations – a finding that could shed more light on the mechanisms of fertilization, stem-cell formation and cloning. The journal Cell published the results of the study on the nematode worm C. elegans in its April 17 issue.

Scientists use RNA to reprogram one cell type into another

Source: University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine
Date: April 16, 2009

Summary:

For the past decade, researchers have tried to tweak cells at the gene and nucleus level to reprogram their identity. Now, working on the idea that the signature of a cell is defined by molecules called messenger RNAs, which contain the chemical blueprint for how to make a protein, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, School of Arts and Sciences and School of Engineering have found another way to change one cell type into another.

By simply flooding one cell type, a nerve cell, with the an abundance of a specific type of messenger RNA (mRNA) from another cell type, the investigators changed a neuron into an astrocyte-like cell, a star-shaped brain cell that helps to maintain the blood-brain barrier, regulates the chemical environment around cells, responds to injury, and releases regulatory substances.

Researchers succeed in multiplying blood cells in the lab

Source: University of Montreal
Date: April 16, 2009

Summary:

A team from the Institute for Research in Immunology and Cancer (IRIC) at Université de Montréal has succeeded in producing a large quantity of laboratory stem cells from a small number of blood stem cells obtained from bone marrow. The multidisciplinary team, directed by Dr. Guy Sauvageau, thus took a giant step towards the development of a revolutionary treatment based on these stem cells. This worldwide first will advance stem cell research and could have major implications in several fields for which no treatment currently exists.

Stroke Patient's Own Stem Cells Used In Trial For First Time

Source: University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston
Date: April 15, 2009

Summary:

For the first time in the United States, a stroke patient has been intravenously injected with his own bone marrow stem cells as part of a research trial at The University of Texas Medical School at Houston.

Research Finding: Stem Cells Reset Immune Systems in Diabetes

Source: Northwestern University
Date: April 14, 2009

CHICAGO --- The majority of patients with Type 1 diabetes who underwent transplantation with their own stem cells to reset their immune systems became insulin free, several for more than three years. Richard Burt, M.D., co-author of the study and associate professor of medicine at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, reports these patients also showed an increased level of a substance that indicates improved functioning of their beta cells, a cell in the pancreas that secretes insulin. The substance is C-peptide, a byproduct of insulin production. The study was published in the April 15 Journal of the American Medical Association.

Creating Ideal Neural Cells for Clinical Use

Source: Burnham Institute for Medical Research
Date: April 13, 2009

Summary:

Investigators at the Burnham Institute for Medical Research (Burnham) have developed a protocol to rapidly differentiate human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) into neural progenitor cells that may be ideal for transplantation. The research, conducted by Alexei Terskikh, Ph.D., and colleagues, outlines a method to create these committed neural precursor cells (C-NPCs) that is replicable, does not produce mutations in the cells and could be useful for clinical applications. The research was published on March 13 in the journal Cell Death and Differentiation.

Embryonic Stem Cells Progress Slowly In Myelin's Direction

Source: Development
Date: April 9, 2009

Summary:

Scientists from the University of Wisconsin report in the journal Development the successful generation from human embryonic stem cells of a type of cell that can make myelin, a finding that opens up new possibilities for both basic and clinical research. Myelin loss, as occurs in multiple sclerosis, stops nerves from working with devastating consequences. Creating these cells has long been a challenge partly because they take an unexpectedly long time to develop from human ES cells.

Stem Cell Therapy Makes Cloudy Corneas Clear

Source: University of Pittsburgh Schools of the Health Sciences
Date: April 9, 2009

Summary:

Stem cells collected from human corneas restore transparency and don’t trigger a rejection response when injected into eyes that are scarred and hazy, according to experiments conducted in mice by researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. Their study will be published in the journal Stem Cells and appears online today. The findings suggest that cell-based therapies might be an effective way to treat human corneal blindness and vision impairment due to the scarring that occurs after infection, trauma and other common eye problems, said senior investigator James L. Funderburgh, Ph.D., associate professor, Department of Ophthalmology. The Pitt corneal stem cells were able to remodel scar-like tissue back to normal.

Stem cell marker for possible ‘root’ of colon cancer identified

Source: University of Florida
Date: April 7, 2009

Summary:

To truly kill colon cancer and eliminate the risk of recurrence, it is important to kill the “root” of the disease, according to a University of Florida College of Medicine surgeon. Her findings, available online now and to be featured on the cover of the April 15 print version of Cancer Research, identify a biomarker for colon cancer stem cells that she believes will help researchers further evaluate the cancers’ origins and progression. The discovery sheds light on the cancer stem cell theory, an idea that has arisen because cancer cells and stem cells share many qualities, including the ability of cancer stem cells to demonstrate self-renewal.

Stem cell therapy grows new blood vessels

Source: University of Western Ontario
Date: April 6, 2009

Summary:

Research led by David Hess of the Robarts Research Institute at The University of Western Ontario has identified how to use selected stem cells from bone marrow to grow new blood vessels to treat diseases such as peripheral artery disease. It's one of the severe complications often faced by people who've had diabetes for a long time.

Hess drew human bone marrow and simultaneously isolated three different types of stem cells that co-ordinate together to form new blood vessels. These are called pro-angiogenic stem cells. They were purified to remove any inflammatory or contaminated cells, and then injected into the circulation of mice which had one of their leg arteries ligated and removed. The researchers showed how these stem cells have a natural ability to hone in on the area of ischemia to induce blood vessel repair and improve blood flow. Hess says this research is clinically-applicable because they studied the function of human stem cells in immune-deficient mice.

Cure for hearing loss one step closer

Source: University of Sheffield
Date: 02 April 2009

Summary:

Researchers at the University of Sheffield successfully isolated human stem cells and discovered how to turn these into either cells that behave like sensory hair cells or auditory neurons. The cells could be used to restore hearing. The research has been published in the May edition ofStem Cells. The results show there is now a system based on human cells for testing new therapies in the laboratory.