Source: University of California - Irvine
Date: August 8, 2010
Summary:
Researchers for the first time have induced robust regeneration of nerve connections that control voluntary movement after spinal cord injury, showing the potential for new therapeutic approaches to paralysis and other motor function impairments. In a study on rodents, the UC Irvine, UC San Diego and Harvard University team achieved this breakthrough by turning back the developmental clock in a molecular pathway critical for the growth of corticospinal tract nerve connections. They did this by deleting an enzyme called PTEN (a phosphatase and tensin homolog), which controls a molecular pathway called mTOR that is a key regulator of cell growth. PTEN activity is low early during development, allowing cell proliferation. PTEN then turns on when growth is completed, inhibiting mTOR and precluding any ability to regenerate. Results of the study appear online in Nature Neuroscience.
Sunday, August 08, 2010
Friday, August 06, 2010
Researchers announce stem cell breakthrough
Source: KGO-TV / ABC7 News - San Francisco, CA
Posted: August 5, 2010 11:48 PM PDT
Summary:
KGO-TV / ABC7 News - San Francisco, CA reported a news story about on the announcement by the Gladstone Institute of Cardiovascular Disease (GICD) that scientists have found a new way to make beating heart cells from the body's own cells that could help regenerate damaged hearts. A news video segment of the story follows below:
Posted: August 5, 2010 11:48 PM PDT
Summary:
KGO-TV / ABC7 News - San Francisco, CA reported a news story about on the announcement by the Gladstone Institute of Cardiovascular Disease (GICD) that scientists have found a new way to make beating heart cells from the body's own cells that could help regenerate damaged hearts. A news video segment of the story follows below:
Thursday, August 05, 2010
Two New Paths to the Dream: Regeneration
Source: New York Times
Date: August 5, 2010
Summary:
The New York Times reported a story on the discovery of new approaches to regenerating limbs using the body's own cells. The first, an announcement by researchers at Stanford University School of Medicine, the ability of newts to regenerate tissue was successfully replicated in mice:
In a second experiment, a different technique to regenerating a tissue was announced by researchers at the University of California, San Francisco to regenerate heart tissue by reprogramming heart tissue cells into heart muscle cells reported in the journal Cell:
Date: August 5, 2010
Summary:
The New York Times reported a story on the discovery of new approaches to regenerating limbs using the body's own cells. The first, an announcement by researchers at Stanford University School of Medicine, the ability of newts to regenerate tissue was successfully replicated in mice:
Two research reports published Friday offer novel approaches to the age-old dream of regenerating the body from its own cells. Animals like newts and zebra fish can regenerate limbs, fins, even part of the heart. If only people could do the same, amputees might grow new limbs and stricken hearts be coaxed to repair themselves.
...In the first of the two new approaches, a research group at Stanford University led by Helen M. Blau, Jason H. Pomerantz and Kostandin V. Pajcini has taken a possible first step toward unlocking the human ability to regenerate. By inactivating two genes that work to suppress tumors, they got mouse muscle cells to revert to a younger state, start dividing and help repair tissue.
In a second experiment, a different technique to regenerating a tissue was announced by researchers at the University of California, San Francisco to regenerate heart tissue by reprogramming heart tissue cells into heart muscle cells reported in the journal Cell:
A second, quite different approach to regenerating a tissue is reported in Friday’s issue of Cell by Deepak Srivastava and colleagues at the University of California, San Francisco. Working also in the mouse, they have developed a way of reprogramming the ordinary tissue cells of the heart into heart muscle cells, the type that is irretrievably lost in a heart attack.
The Japanese scientist Shinya Yamanaka showed three years ago that skin cells could be converted to embryonic stem cells simply by adding four proteins known to regulate genes. Inspired by Dr. Yamanaka’s method, Dr. Srivastava and his colleagues selected 14 such proteins and eventually found that with only three of them they could convert heart fibroblast cells into heart muscle cells.
Human embryonic stem cells purified in new, rapid technique
Source: University of California - San Francisco
Date: August 5, 2010
Summary:
University of California, San Francisco researchers are reporting the first success in very rapidly purifying one type of embryonic stem cell from a mix of many different types of embryonic stem cells in the culture dish. The technique, which avoids the need to genetically alter the cells to distinguish them, is a key advance, the researchers say, for obtaining the appropriate cells for repairing specific damaged tissues.
The new strategy links two existing technologies for the first time: the ability to identify specific embryonic stem cell types in a culture of different embryonic stem cells, and a way to efficiently sort them at a very high rate, a procedure known as “high throughput” processing.
The research finding is currently published online in the journal Stem Cells and Development and will appear later this year in a print edition of the journal. Embryonic stem cells, which replicate indefinitely in the culture dish, are capable of forming almost any tissue in the body. Over time, they begin to specialize as specific cell types, such as cardiomyocytes of the heart or neurons of the brain. One goal for stem cell therapy is to be able to identify cells that have begun to specialize in a particular way so that they could serve as a source of cells to repair specific damaged tissues.
Date: August 5, 2010
Summary:
University of California, San Francisco researchers are reporting the first success in very rapidly purifying one type of embryonic stem cell from a mix of many different types of embryonic stem cells in the culture dish. The technique, which avoids the need to genetically alter the cells to distinguish them, is a key advance, the researchers say, for obtaining the appropriate cells for repairing specific damaged tissues.
The new strategy links two existing technologies for the first time: the ability to identify specific embryonic stem cell types in a culture of different embryonic stem cells, and a way to efficiently sort them at a very high rate, a procedure known as “high throughput” processing.
The research finding is currently published online in the journal Stem Cells and Development and will appear later this year in a print edition of the journal. Embryonic stem cells, which replicate indefinitely in the culture dish, are capable of forming almost any tissue in the body. Over time, they begin to specialize as specific cell types, such as cardiomyocytes of the heart or neurons of the brain. One goal for stem cell therapy is to be able to identify cells that have begun to specialize in a particular way so that they could serve as a source of cells to repair specific damaged tissues.
Human embryonic stem cells and reprogrammed cells virtually identical
Source: Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research
Date: August 5, 2010
Summary:
Human embryonic stem (ES) cells and adult cells reprogrammed to an embryonic stem cell-like state—so-called induced pluripotent stem or iPS cells—exhibit very few differences in their gene expression signatures and are nearly indistinguishable in their chromatin state, according to Whitehead Institute researchers. Their results are published in the August 6 issue of Cell Stem Cell.
iPS cells are made by introducing three key genes into adult cells. These reprogramming factors push the cells from a mature state to a more flexible embryonic stem cell-like state. Like ES cells, iPS cells can then, in theory, be coaxed to mature into almost any type of cell in the body. Unlike ES cells, iPS cells taken from a patient are not likely to be rejected by that patient’s immune system. This difference overcomes a major hurdle in regenerative medicine.
Date: August 5, 2010
Summary:
Human embryonic stem (ES) cells and adult cells reprogrammed to an embryonic stem cell-like state—so-called induced pluripotent stem or iPS cells—exhibit very few differences in their gene expression signatures and are nearly indistinguishable in their chromatin state, according to Whitehead Institute researchers. Their results are published in the August 6 issue of Cell Stem Cell.
iPS cells are made by introducing three key genes into adult cells. These reprogramming factors push the cells from a mature state to a more flexible embryonic stem cell-like state. Like ES cells, iPS cells can then, in theory, be coaxed to mature into almost any type of cell in the body. Unlike ES cells, iPS cells taken from a patient are not likely to be rejected by that patient’s immune system. This difference overcomes a major hurdle in regenerative medicine.
Gladstone Scientists Discover New Method for Regenerating Heart Muscle by Direct Reprogramming
Source: Gladstone Institutes
Date: August 5, 2010
Summary:
Scientists at the Gladstone Institute of Cardiovascular Disease (GICD) have found a new way to make beating heart cells from the body's own cells that could help regenerate damaged hearts. Over 5 million Americans suffer from heart failure because the heart has virtually no ability to repair itself after a heart attack. Only 2,000 hearts become available for heart transplant annually in the United States, leaving limited therapeutic options for the remaining millions. In research published in the current issue of Cell, scientists in the laboratory of GICD director Deepak Srivastava, MD, directly reprogrammed structural cells called fibroblasts in the heart to become beating heart cells called cardiomyocytes. In doing so, they also found the first evidence that unrelated adult cells can be reprogrammed from one cell type to another without having to go all the way back to a stem cell state.
Date: August 5, 2010
Summary:
Scientists at the Gladstone Institute of Cardiovascular Disease (GICD) have found a new way to make beating heart cells from the body's own cells that could help regenerate damaged hearts. Over 5 million Americans suffer from heart failure because the heart has virtually no ability to repair itself after a heart attack. Only 2,000 hearts become available for heart transplant annually in the United States, leaving limited therapeutic options for the remaining millions. In research published in the current issue of Cell, scientists in the laboratory of GICD director Deepak Srivastava, MD, directly reprogrammed structural cells called fibroblasts in the heart to become beating heart cells called cardiomyocytes. In doing so, they also found the first evidence that unrelated adult cells can be reprogrammed from one cell type to another without having to go all the way back to a stem cell state.
Wednesday, August 04, 2010
Biologists Discover MicroRNAs that Control Function of Blood Stem Cells
Source: California Institute of Technology
Date: August 4, 2010
Summary:
PASADENA, Calif.—Hematopoietic stem cells provide the body with a constant supply of blood cells, including the red blood cells that deliver oxygen and the white blood cells that make up the immune system. Hematopoietic—or blood—stem cells must also make more copies of themselves to ensure that they are present in adequate numbers to provide blood throughout a person's lifetime, which means they need to strike a delicate balance between self-renewal and development into mature blood-cell lineages. Perturb that balance, and the result can be diseases such as leukemia and anemia.
One key to fighting these diseases is gaining an understanding of the genes and molecules that control the function of these stem cells. Biologists at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) have taken a large step toward that end, with the discovery of a novel group of molecules that are found in high concentrations within hematopoietic stem cells and appear to regulate their production.
A paper about the work was published July 26 in the early online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).
Date: August 4, 2010
Summary:
PASADENA, Calif.—Hematopoietic stem cells provide the body with a constant supply of blood cells, including the red blood cells that deliver oxygen and the white blood cells that make up the immune system. Hematopoietic—or blood—stem cells must also make more copies of themselves to ensure that they are present in adequate numbers to provide blood throughout a person's lifetime, which means they need to strike a delicate balance between self-renewal and development into mature blood-cell lineages. Perturb that balance, and the result can be diseases such as leukemia and anemia.
One key to fighting these diseases is gaining an understanding of the genes and molecules that control the function of these stem cells. Biologists at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) have taken a large step toward that end, with the discovery of a novel group of molecules that are found in high concentrations within hematopoietic stem cells and appear to regulate their production.
A paper about the work was published July 26 in the early online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).
Newts' Ability to Regenerate Tissue Replicated in Mouse Cells
Source: Stanford University
Date: August 4, 2010
Summary:
New research suggests a reason why mammals are unable to re-grow a limb or produce new heart muscle cells: Restricting cells' ability to pop in and out of the cell cycle at will -- a prerequisite for the cell division necessary to make new tissue -- reduces the chances that they'll run amok and form potentially deadly cancers.
Scientists at the Stanford University School of Medicine have taken a big step toward being able to confer this regenerative capacity on mammalian muscle cells; they accomplished this feat in experiments with laboratory mice in which they blocked the expression of just two tumor-suppressing proteins. The finding may move us closer to future regenerative therapies in humans -- surprisingly, by sending us shimmying back down the evolutionary tree. The research will be published in Cell Stem Cell.
Wired magazine published a news story based on this news release.
Date: August 4, 2010
Summary:
New research suggests a reason why mammals are unable to re-grow a limb or produce new heart muscle cells: Restricting cells' ability to pop in and out of the cell cycle at will -- a prerequisite for the cell division necessary to make new tissue -- reduces the chances that they'll run amok and form potentially deadly cancers.
Scientists at the Stanford University School of Medicine have taken a big step toward being able to confer this regenerative capacity on mammalian muscle cells; they accomplished this feat in experiments with laboratory mice in which they blocked the expression of just two tumor-suppressing proteins. The finding may move us closer to future regenerative therapies in humans -- surprisingly, by sending us shimmying back down the evolutionary tree. The research will be published in Cell Stem Cell.
Wired magazine published a news story based on this news release.
MicroRNA molecule increases number of blood stem cells, may help improve cancer treatment
Source: Massachusetts General Hospital
Date: August 4, 2010
Summary:
Investigators have identified a new mechanism that controls the number of hematopoietic stem cells - cells that give rise to all blood and immune system cells. In a report in the online Early Edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and the Harvard Stem Cell Institute identify a tiny RNA molecule that increases the number of these blood stem cells, an advance that may improve treatment of blood system cancers.
Date: August 4, 2010
Summary:
Investigators have identified a new mechanism that controls the number of hematopoietic stem cells - cells that give rise to all blood and immune system cells. In a report in the online Early Edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and the Harvard Stem Cell Institute identify a tiny RNA molecule that increases the number of these blood stem cells, an advance that may improve treatment of blood system cancers.
Monday, August 02, 2010
Purified blood stem cells improve success of bone marrow transplants in mice, study shows
Source: Stanford University School of Medicine
Date: August 2, 2010
Summary:
Researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine have challenged decades of accepted wisdom about bone marrow transplantation with a new study showing that mice receiving purified blood stem cells are less prone to complications than mice receiving stem cells plus purified T cells. The study, led by Judith Shizuru, MD, PhD, associate professor of medicine, will be published online Aug. 2 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Date: August 2, 2010
Summary:
Researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine have challenged decades of accepted wisdom about bone marrow transplantation with a new study showing that mice receiving purified blood stem cells are less prone to complications than mice receiving stem cells plus purified T cells. The study, led by Judith Shizuru, MD, PhD, associate professor of medicine, will be published online Aug. 2 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Synthetic bone graft recruits stem cells for faster bone healing
Source: Queen Mary, University of London
Date: 2 August 2010
Summary:
Scientists at Queen Mary, University of London have developed a material for bone grafts that could one day replace the 'gold standard' natural bone implants. A new study shows how particles of a ceramic called calcium phosphate have the ability to stimulate promising bone regrowth by attracting stem cells and 'growth factors' to promote healing and the integration of the grafted tissue.
The researchers tested natural bone grafts against ceramic particles with varied structural and chemical properties. They found that micro-porous ceramic particles composed of calcium phosphate, the primary component of bone ash, induced stem cells to develop into bone cells in the test tube and stimulated bone growth in live tissue in mice, dogs and sheep.
Bone injuries packed with the ceramic particles healed similarly to implants constructed from the animals' own bone, reports Professor de Bruijn along with collaborators from the University of Twente, Netherlands, in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The study also shows how it also matches a commercially available product that contains artificial growth factors and has the undesirable side-effect of causing bone fragments to form in nearby soft tissue, such as muscle.
Date: 2 August 2010
Summary:
Scientists at Queen Mary, University of London have developed a material for bone grafts that could one day replace the 'gold standard' natural bone implants. A new study shows how particles of a ceramic called calcium phosphate have the ability to stimulate promising bone regrowth by attracting stem cells and 'growth factors' to promote healing and the integration of the grafted tissue.
The researchers tested natural bone grafts against ceramic particles with varied structural and chemical properties. They found that micro-porous ceramic particles composed of calcium phosphate, the primary component of bone ash, induced stem cells to develop into bone cells in the test tube and stimulated bone growth in live tissue in mice, dogs and sheep.
Bone injuries packed with the ceramic particles healed similarly to implants constructed from the animals' own bone, reports Professor de Bruijn along with collaborators from the University of Twente, Netherlands, in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The study also shows how it also matches a commercially available product that contains artificial growth factors and has the undesirable side-effect of causing bone fragments to form in nearby soft tissue, such as muscle.
Sunday, August 01, 2010
New insights into how stem cells determine what tissue to become
Source: University of Michigan
Date: August 1, 2010
Summary:
Within 24 hours of culturing adult human stem cells on a new type of matrix, University of Michigan researchers were able to make predictions about how the cells would differentiate, or what type of tissue they would become. Their results are published in the Aug. 1 edition of Nature Methods.
In this study, the researchers examined stem cell mechanics, the slight forces the cells exert on the materials they are attached to. These traction forces were suspected to be involved in differentiation, but they have not been as widely studied as the chemical triggers. In this paper, the researchers show that the stiffness of the material on which stem cells are cultivated in a lab does, in fact, help to determine what type of cells they turn into.
Date: August 1, 2010
Summary:
Within 24 hours of culturing adult human stem cells on a new type of matrix, University of Michigan researchers were able to make predictions about how the cells would differentiate, or what type of tissue they would become. Their results are published in the Aug. 1 edition of Nature Methods.
In this study, the researchers examined stem cell mechanics, the slight forces the cells exert on the materials they are attached to. These traction forces were suspected to be involved in differentiation, but they have not been as widely studied as the chemical triggers. In this paper, the researchers show that the stiffness of the material on which stem cells are cultivated in a lab does, in fact, help to determine what type of cells they turn into.
Revolutionary Findings Prove Novel Mechanism of Stem Cells
Source: University of Miami Miller School of Medicine
Date: August 1, 2010
Summary:
researchers at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine have demonstrated exactly how mesenchymal stem cells from bone marrow can repair the heart – a critical step in stem cell research that could in the near future help millions of patients with heart failure. The findings, published in the July 29 issue of Circulation Research, a journal of the American Heart Association, address an area that has been of enormous interest to cardiologists since the first suggestion that bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells regenerate heart muscle damaged by a myocardial infarction (heart attack). Joshua M. Hare, M.D., director of the Interdisciplinary Stem Cell Institute at the Miller School, led the discovery which settles several major controversies in the field and shows that the stem cells used can restore heart function back to normal very rapidly after heart attack.
Below is an excerpt of a news story published in the Miami Herald yesterday about the study:
Date: August 1, 2010
Summary:
researchers at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine have demonstrated exactly how mesenchymal stem cells from bone marrow can repair the heart – a critical step in stem cell research that could in the near future help millions of patients with heart failure. The findings, published in the July 29 issue of Circulation Research, a journal of the American Heart Association, address an area that has been of enormous interest to cardiologists since the first suggestion that bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells regenerate heart muscle damaged by a myocardial infarction (heart attack). Joshua M. Hare, M.D., director of the Interdisciplinary Stem Cell Institute at the Miller School, led the discovery which settles several major controversies in the field and shows that the stem cells used can restore heart function back to normal very rapidly after heart attack.
Below is an excerpt of a news story published in the Miami Herald yesterday about the study:
A medical research team led by University of Miami doctors injected stem cells into the hearts of pigs that had been damaged by heart attacks. Within two months, the doctors said, the stem cells made the pigs' hearts good as new. ...The new study, published in the July 29 issue of Circulation Research, a journal of the American Heart Association, builds on another UM study published in December. In that study, immature ``mesenchymnal'' human stem cells extracted from bone marrow and infused into the hearts of human heart-attack victims made their hearts less prone to dangerous arrhythmias and better able to pump blood.
The new UM study found that the stem cells helped the heart in two ways. First, some of the stem cells -- injected into the heart via catheter into the groin and up the femoral artery -- actually turned into new, healthy heart cells themselves. They replaced heart tissue killed by the heart attack, and became part of the heart muscle that contracts and beats to circulate the blood. Another part of the injected stem cells didn't turn into new heart cells but instead induced stem cells already existing in the heart to greatly multiply, building more heart muscle.
Saturday, July 31, 2010
Coverage Summary: Geron Corporation Embryonic Stem Cell Clinical Trial
Below is a summary of media coverage from various sources of the recent announcement by Geron Corporation that it received federal regulatory approval from the Food and Drug Administration to begin resuming human clinical trials using human embryonic stem cells to attempt to treat spinal cord injuries:
New York Times, July 30, 2010, 11:21 AM EDT: "F.D.A. Clears Way for Embryonic Stem Cell Trial Using Patients":
United Press International, July 30, 2010 at 9:28 PM: "FDA: Stem cell trial can proceed":
Bloomberg News, July 30, 2010: "FDA: Stem cell trial can proceed":
San Jose Mercury News, July 31, 2010 : "FDA approves Geron's groundbreaking study of embryonic cells":
Associated Press, July 30, 2010: "Geron says FDA lifts hold on stem cell trial":
NEW YORK — Regulators on Friday gave the all-clear to a clinical trial that will test embryonic stem cells as a treatment for spinal cord injury, potentially the first time embryonic stem cells are tested on humans. The developer of the treatment, Geron Corp., said the Food and Drug Administration removed a clinical hold on its GRNOPC1 therapy. The FDA accepted Geron's study application in January 2009, which gave the company clearance to test GRNOPC1 on humans. But the FDA placed any potential study on hold in August because some mice treated with GRNOPC1 developed microscopic spinal cysts.
Geron hopes to start testing GRNOPC1 on humans by year-end. The company plans to enroll eight to 10 patients in the study at sites nationwide. The trial will take about two years, with each patient being studied for one year. Early-stage clinical trials are primarily designed to test a therapy's safety, although Geron said it will also measure the effectiveness of GRNOPC1.
A successful test would lead to larger and longer studies that would focus on the effectiveness of GRNOPC1. The company plans to continue monitoring patients for a total of 15 years for safety.
KGO-TV, San Francisco, CA, July 30, 2010: "Menlo Park-based Geron resumes stem cell trials":
MENLO PARK, CA (KGO) -- The Food and Drug Administration has given Menlo Park-based Geron the green light to resume trials of a stem cell treatment that could help repair injured spinal cords. The new drug by Geron will be injected into patients within seven days of a spinal cord injury.
New York Times, July 30, 2010, 11:21 AM EDT: "F.D.A. Clears Way for Embryonic Stem Cell Trial Using Patients":
The world’s first authorized test in people of a treatment derived from human embryonic stem cells has been cleared to begin by the Food and Drug Administration. The trial will test cells developed by Geron Corporation and the University of California, Irvine in patients with new spinal cord injuries.
United Press International, July 30, 2010 at 9:28 PM: "FDA: Stem cell trial can proceed":
The Food and Drug Administration has given approval to proceed with the world's first human clinical trial of a human embryonic stem cell-based therapy. Geron Corp., headquartered in Menlo Park, Calif., says it will proceed with its trial of GRNOPC1, a stem-cell therapy intended to treat patients with acute spinal cord injury, a company release said Friday.
Bloomberg News, July 30, 2010: "FDA: Stem cell trial can proceed":
Geron Corp. said it was cleared by U.S. regulators to proceed with the first human test of an embryonic stem-cell therapy, aimed at patients with spinal-cord injuries. The shares rose 17 percent. The Food and Drug Administration lifted a clinical hold on the study imposed last August when the company revealed that mice used in experimental work had developed cysts, Geron said in a statement. The company may start recruiting patients with new spinal cord injuries in about one month, said Thomas Okarma, Geron’s president and chief executive officer, in a telephone interview today.
The FDA’s action will allow the company to proceed with a long-awaited milestone -- the first authorized clinical trial in the world using stem cells derived from human embryos. The approval comes after almost a year of Geron’s testing and genetic analysis to resolve FDA questions, and paves the way for future trials.
San Jose Mercury News, July 31, 2010 : "FDA approves Geron's groundbreaking study of embryonic cells":
A Menlo Park biotech firm said Friday that federal regulators will let it proceed with the world's first human test of a treatment made from embryonic stem cells, a much-anticipated but controversial study of patients with spinal cord injuries that had been placed on hold for nearly a year because of safety concerns.
If the treatment from Geron works, it 'would be revolutionary,' said Dr. Richard Fessler, a neurological surgeon at Northwestern University, who will lead the study of a stem-cell treatment designed to be injected into patients with spinal injuries to restore their motor function. "The therapy would provide a viable treatment option for thousands of patients who suffer severe spinal cord injuries each year."
Associated Press, July 30, 2010: "Geron says FDA lifts hold on stem cell trial":
NEW YORK — Regulators on Friday gave the all-clear to a clinical trial that will test embryonic stem cells as a treatment for spinal cord injury, potentially the first time embryonic stem cells are tested on humans. The developer of the treatment, Geron Corp., said the Food and Drug Administration removed a clinical hold on its GRNOPC1 therapy. The FDA accepted Geron's study application in January 2009, which gave the company clearance to test GRNOPC1 on humans. But the FDA placed any potential study on hold in August because some mice treated with GRNOPC1 developed microscopic spinal cysts.
Geron hopes to start testing GRNOPC1 on humans by year-end. The company plans to enroll eight to 10 patients in the study at sites nationwide. The trial will take about two years, with each patient being studied for one year. Early-stage clinical trials are primarily designed to test a therapy's safety, although Geron said it will also measure the effectiveness of GRNOPC1.
A successful test would lead to larger and longer studies that would focus on the effectiveness of GRNOPC1. The company plans to continue monitoring patients for a total of 15 years for safety.
KGO-TV, San Francisco, CA, July 30, 2010: "Menlo Park-based Geron resumes stem cell trials":
MENLO PARK, CA (KGO) -- The Food and Drug Administration has given Menlo Park-based Geron the green light to resume trials of a stem cell treatment that could help repair injured spinal cords. The new drug by Geron will be injected into patients within seven days of a spinal cord injury.
Friday, July 30, 2010
Researchers Build New Joint with Stem Cells
Source: Columbia University
Date: July 30, 2010
Summary:
A pioneering study published "Online First" in The Lancet this week shows that failing joints can be replaced with a joint grown "naturally," using the host's own stem cells. The work paves the way for future joints that would last longer than today's artificial joints. The work was carried out in the Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine Laboratory of Dr. Jeremy Mao, the Edward V. Zegarelli Professor at Columbia University, along with his team at Columbia University Medical Center, and colleagues from the University of Missouri and Clemson University.
Date: July 30, 2010
Summary:
A pioneering study published "Online First" in The Lancet this week shows that failing joints can be replaced with a joint grown "naturally," using the host's own stem cells. The work paves the way for future joints that would last longer than today's artificial joints. The work was carried out in the Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine Laboratory of Dr. Jeremy Mao, the Edward V. Zegarelli Professor at Columbia University, along with his team at Columbia University Medical Center, and colleagues from the University of Missouri and Clemson University.
Geron to Proceed with First Human Clinical Trial of Embryonic Stem Cell-Based Therapy
Source: Geron Corporation
Date: July 30, 2010
Summary:
Geron Corporation announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has notified the company that the clinical hold placed on Geron's Investigational New Drug (IND) application has been lifted and the company's Phase I clinical trial of GRNOPC1 in patients with acute spinal cord injury may proceed.
The FDA notification enables Geron to move forward with the world's first clinical trial of a human embryonic stem cell (hESC)-based therapy in man. The Phase I multi-center trial is designed to establish the safety of GRNOPC1 in patients with "complete" American Spinal Injury Association (ASIA) Impairment Scale grade A subacute thoracic spinal cord injuries.
Date: July 30, 2010
Summary:
Geron Corporation announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has notified the company that the clinical hold placed on Geron's Investigational New Drug (IND) application has been lifted and the company's Phase I clinical trial of GRNOPC1 in patients with acute spinal cord injury may proceed.
The FDA notification enables Geron to move forward with the world's first clinical trial of a human embryonic stem cell (hESC)-based therapy in man. The Phase I multi-center trial is designed to establish the safety of GRNOPC1 in patients with "complete" American Spinal Injury Association (ASIA) Impairment Scale grade A subacute thoracic spinal cord injuries.
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Scientists find cell of origin for human prostate cancer
Source: University of California - Los Angeles
Date: July 29, 2010
Summary:
University of California, Los Angeles scientists have identified for the first time a cell of origin for human prostate cancer, a discovery that could result in better predictive and diagnostic tools and the development of new and more effective targeted treatments for the disease. The researchers, from UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, proved that basal cells found in benign prostate tissue could become human prostate cancer in mice with suppressed immune systems, a finding that bucks conventional wisdom.
The study appears July 30 in the peer-reviewed journal Science.
Date: July 29, 2010
Summary:
University of California, Los Angeles scientists have identified for the first time a cell of origin for human prostate cancer, a discovery that could result in better predictive and diagnostic tools and the development of new and more effective targeted treatments for the disease. The researchers, from UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, proved that basal cells found in benign prostate tissue could become human prostate cancer in mice with suppressed immune systems, a finding that bucks conventional wisdom.
The study appears July 30 in the peer-reviewed journal Science.
Researchers Make Progress Toward Regenerating Tissue to Replace Joints
Source: National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering
Date: July 29, 2010
Summary:
A team of NIH-funded researchers has successfully regenerated rabbit joints using a cutting edge process to form the joint inside the body, or in vivo. Regenerative in vivo procedures are performed by stimulating previously irreparable organs or tissues to heal themselves. In this study, bioscaffolds, or three-dimensional structures made of biocompatible and biodegradable materials in the shape of the tissue, were infused with a protein to promote growth of the rabbit joint. The experiment demonstrated the feasibility of an approach to growing dissimilar tissues, such as cartilage and bone, derived entirely from the host’s own cells. Results of the study are in the July 29 issue of The Lancet.
Date: July 29, 2010
Summary:
A team of NIH-funded researchers has successfully regenerated rabbit joints using a cutting edge process to form the joint inside the body, or in vivo. Regenerative in vivo procedures are performed by stimulating previously irreparable organs or tissues to heal themselves. In this study, bioscaffolds, or three-dimensional structures made of biocompatible and biodegradable materials in the shape of the tissue, were infused with a protein to promote growth of the rabbit joint. The experiment demonstrated the feasibility of an approach to growing dissimilar tissues, such as cartilage and bone, derived entirely from the host’s own cells. Results of the study are in the July 29 issue of The Lancet.
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Rabbits grow their own joint replacements in study
Source: Reuters
Posted: July 28, 2010 6:32pm EDT
Summary:
Reuters reports rabbits implanted with artificial bones re-grew their own joints:
Posted: July 28, 2010 6:32pm EDT
Summary:
Reuters reports rabbits implanted with artificial bones re-grew their own joints:
Rabbits implanted with artificial bones re-grew their own joints, complete with cartilage, researchers reported on Thursday. Only a single compound called a growth factor was needed to induce the rabbits' bodies to remodel the joint tissue, said the team at Columbia University in New York, Clemson University in South Carolina and the University of Missouri.
Gene essential to stem cell health discovered
Source: University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa
Date: July 28, 2010
Summary:
Researchers at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa’s John A. Burns School of Medicine (JABSOM) have discovered a gene that is essential to keeping stem cells healthy. The gene, hypoxia inducible factor 1, helps keep levels of telomerase constant. Telomerase is an enzyme that is critical to a stem cell’s lifespan, helping to prevent or slow deterioration in the cells. When telomerase is reduced in a stem cell, the stem cell ages faster. The research results are published in July’s online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).
Date: July 28, 2010
Summary:
Researchers at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa’s John A. Burns School of Medicine (JABSOM) have discovered a gene that is essential to keeping stem cells healthy. The gene, hypoxia inducible factor 1, helps keep levels of telomerase constant. Telomerase is an enzyme that is critical to a stem cell’s lifespan, helping to prevent or slow deterioration in the cells. When telomerase is reduced in a stem cell, the stem cell ages faster. The research results are published in July’s online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).
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