Source: University of Florida
Date: August 25, 2010
Summary:
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Production of new nerve cells in the human brain is linked to learning and memory, according to a new study from the University of Florida. The research is the first to show such a link in humans. The findings, published online and in an upcoming print issue of the journal Brain, provide clues about processes involved in age- and health-related memory loss and reveal potential cellular targets for drug therapy. The researchers studied how stem cells in a memory-related region of the brain, called the hippocampus, proliferate and change into different types of nerve cells. Scientists have been unsure of the significance of that process in humans.
... To investigate whether the same is true in humans, the UF researchers, in collaboration with colleagues in Germany, studied 23 patients who had epilepsy and varying degrees of associated memory loss. They analyzed stem cells from brain tissue removed during epilepsy surgery, and evaluated the patients’ pre-surgery memory function. In patients with low memory test scores, stem cells could not generate new nerve cells in laboratory cultures, but in patients with normal memory scores, stem cells were able to proliferate. That showed, for the first time, a clear correlation between patient’s memory and the ability of their stem cells to generate new nerve cells.
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Biosynthetic corneas restore vision in humans
Source: Ottawa Hospital Research Institute
Date: August 25, 2010
Summary:
A new study from researchers at Ottawa Hospital Research Institute in Canada and Linköping University in Sweden has shown that biosynthetic corneas can help regenerate and repair damaged eye tissue and improve vision in humans. The results, from an early phase clinical trial with 10 patients, are published in the August 25th, 2010 issue of Science Translational Medicine.
Date: August 25, 2010
Summary:
A new study from researchers at Ottawa Hospital Research Institute in Canada and Linköping University in Sweden has shown that biosynthetic corneas can help regenerate and repair damaged eye tissue and improve vision in humans. The results, from an early phase clinical trial with 10 patients, are published in the August 25th, 2010 issue of Science Translational Medicine.
Liver cells created from patients’ skin cells
Source: University of Cambridge
Date: 25 August 2010
Summary:
By creating diseased liver cells from a small sample of human skin, scientists have for the first time shown that stem cells can be used to model a diverse range of inherited disorders. The University of Cambridge researchers' findings, which will hopefully lead to new treatments for those suffering from liver diseases, were published today in The Journal of Clinical Investigation.
...By replicating the organ's cells, researchers can not only investigate exactly what is happening in a diseased cell, they can also test the effectiveness of new therapies to treat these conditions. It is hoped that their discovery will lead to tailored treatments for specific individuals and eventually cell-based therapy - when cells from patients with genetic diseases are 'cured' and transplanted back. Additionally, as the process could be used to model cells from other parts of the body, their findings could have implications for conditions affecting other organs.
Date: 25 August 2010
Summary:
By creating diseased liver cells from a small sample of human skin, scientists have for the first time shown that stem cells can be used to model a diverse range of inherited disorders. The University of Cambridge researchers' findings, which will hopefully lead to new treatments for those suffering from liver diseases, were published today in The Journal of Clinical Investigation.
...By replicating the organ's cells, researchers can not only investigate exactly what is happening in a diseased cell, they can also test the effectiveness of new therapies to treat these conditions. It is hoped that their discovery will lead to tailored treatments for specific individuals and eventually cell-based therapy - when cells from patients with genetic diseases are 'cured' and transplanted back. Additionally, as the process could be used to model cells from other parts of the body, their findings could have implications for conditions affecting other organs.
Neuralstem Files FDA Application for First Chronic Spinal Cord Injury Stem Cell Trial
Source: Neuralstem, Inc.
Date: August 25, 2010
Summary:
In an official company news release, Neuralstem, Inc., a biotechnology company in the field of stem cell research, announced that it filed an application with the Food & Drug Administration to begin a clinical trial to attempt to treat chronic spinal cord injury using adult spinal cord stem cells:
Date: August 25, 2010
Summary:
In an official company news release, Neuralstem, Inc., a biotechnology company in the field of stem cell research, announced that it filed an application with the Food & Drug Administration to begin a clinical trial to attempt to treat chronic spinal cord injury using adult spinal cord stem cells:
Neuralstem, Inc. announced that it has filed an Investigational New Drug (IND) application with the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to begin a Phase I safety clinical trial for chronic spinal cord injury with its spinal cord stem cells. This multicenter Phase I safety trial will enroll a total of 16 long-term, or chronic, spinal cord injury patients, with an American Spinal Injury Association (ASIA) Grade A level of impairment, one-to-two years post-injury. ASIA A refers to a patient with no motor or sensory function in the relevant segments and is considered to be complete paralysis.
Monday, August 23, 2010
Stem cell first: Creating induced pluripotent stem cells
Source: University of New South Wales
Date: August 23, 2010
Summary:
In a world first, Australian researchers have created induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells from human skin without the use of viruses or genetic manipulation, an important step toward their eventual use in treating human disease. The University of New South Wales breakthrough means work can now progress on the use of iPS cells to generate brain cells for the study and eventual treatment of degenerative brain diseases.
“By successfully creating iPS cells without resorting to viruses or genetic manipulation we have removed a major hurdle to their therapeutic use,” said UNSW’s Stem Cell Lab Director, Associate Professor Kuldip Sidhu. The lab is now working closely with Scientia Professor Perminder Sachdev from UNSW’s School of Psychiatry to produce Alzheimer’s, Huntington’s and Parkinson’s stem cell lines. A paper outlining the breakthrough appears this month in the prestigious journal PLoS One.
Date: August 23, 2010
Summary:
In a world first, Australian researchers have created induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells from human skin without the use of viruses or genetic manipulation, an important step toward their eventual use in treating human disease. The University of New South Wales breakthrough means work can now progress on the use of iPS cells to generate brain cells for the study and eventual treatment of degenerative brain diseases.
“By successfully creating iPS cells without resorting to viruses or genetic manipulation we have removed a major hurdle to their therapeutic use,” said UNSW’s Stem Cell Lab Director, Associate Professor Kuldip Sidhu. The lab is now working closely with Scientia Professor Perminder Sachdev from UNSW’s School of Psychiatry to produce Alzheimer’s, Huntington’s and Parkinson’s stem cell lines. A paper outlining the breakthrough appears this month in the prestigious journal PLoS One.
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Researchers develop a better way to grow stem cells
Source: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Date: August 22, 2010
Summary:
Human pluripotent stem cells, which can become any other kind of body cell, hold great potential to treat a wide range of ailments, including Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis and spinal cord injuries. However, scientists who work with such cells have had trouble growing large enough quantities to perform experiments -- in particular, to be used in human studies. Furthermore, most materials now used to grow human stem cells include cells or proteins that come from mice embryos, which help stimulate stem-cell growth but would likely cause an immune reaction if injected into a human patient.
To overcome those issues, MIT chemical engineers, materials scientists and biologists have devised a synthetic surface that includes no foreign animal material and allows stem cells to stay alive and continue reproducing themselves for at least three months. It's also the first synthetic material that allows single cells to form colonies of identical cells, which is necessary to identify cells with desired traits and has been difficult to achieve with existing materials. The research team, led by Professors Robert Langer, Rudolf Jaenisch and Daniel G. Anderson, describes the new material in the Aug. 22 issue of Nature Materials.
Date: August 22, 2010
Summary:
Human pluripotent stem cells, which can become any other kind of body cell, hold great potential to treat a wide range of ailments, including Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis and spinal cord injuries. However, scientists who work with such cells have had trouble growing large enough quantities to perform experiments -- in particular, to be used in human studies. Furthermore, most materials now used to grow human stem cells include cells or proteins that come from mice embryos, which help stimulate stem-cell growth but would likely cause an immune reaction if injected into a human patient.
To overcome those issues, MIT chemical engineers, materials scientists and biologists have devised a synthetic surface that includes no foreign animal material and allows stem cells to stay alive and continue reproducing themselves for at least three months. It's also the first synthetic material that allows single cells to form colonies of identical cells, which is necessary to identify cells with desired traits and has been difficult to achieve with existing materials. The research team, led by Professors Robert Langer, Rudolf Jaenisch and Daniel G. Anderson, describes the new material in the Aug. 22 issue of Nature Materials.
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Natural Lung Material Is Promising Scaffold for Engineering Lung Tissue Using Embryonic Stem Cells
Source: Mary Ann Liebert, Inc.
Date: August 19, 2010
Summary:
The first successful report of using cell-depleted lung as a natural growth matrix for generating new rat lung from embryonic stem cells is presented in a breakthrough article in Tissue Engineering, Part A, a peer-reviewed journal published by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. Researchers describe the first attempt to make acellular rat lung and use it as a biological matrix for differentiating ESCs into lung tissue. The authors present evidence of improved cell retention, repopulation of the matrix, and differentiation into the cell types present in healthy lung. They also report signs that the cells are organizing into the 3-D structures characteristic of complex tissues and are producing the chemical signals and growth factors that guide lung tissue function and development.
Date: August 19, 2010
Summary:
The first successful report of using cell-depleted lung as a natural growth matrix for generating new rat lung from embryonic stem cells is presented in a breakthrough article in Tissue Engineering, Part A, a peer-reviewed journal published by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. Researchers describe the first attempt to make acellular rat lung and use it as a biological matrix for differentiating ESCs into lung tissue. The authors present evidence of improved cell retention, repopulation of the matrix, and differentiation into the cell types present in healthy lung. They also report signs that the cells are organizing into the 3-D structures characteristic of complex tissues and are producing the chemical signals and growth factors that guide lung tissue function and development.
StemCells, Inc. Reports Breakthrough Using Human Neural Stem Cells to Restore Motor Function in Chronic Spinal Cord Injury
Source: StemCells, Inc.
Date: August 19, 2010
Summary:
In an official company news release, Stem Cells, Inc., a biotechnology company in the field of stem cell research, announced the publication of new preclinical data demonstrating that human neural stem cells restore lost motor function in mice with chronic spinal cord injury:
A news story about this study was published by Reuters yesterday.
Date: August 19, 2010
Summary:
In an official company news release, Stem Cells, Inc., a biotechnology company in the field of stem cell research, announced the publication of new preclinical data demonstrating that human neural stem cells restore lost motor function in mice with chronic spinal cord injury:
StemCells, Inc. announced today the publication of new preclinical data demonstrating that the Company’s proprietary human neural stem cells restore lost motor function in mice with chronic spinal cord injury. This is the first published study to show that human neural stem cells can restore mobility even when administered at time points beyond the acute phase of trauma, suggesting the prospect of treating a much broader population of injured patients than previously demonstrated. This groundbreaking study, entitled “Human Neural Stem Cells Differentiate and Promote Locomotor Recovery in an Early Chronic Spinal Cord Injury NOD-scid Mouse Model,” was led by Dr. Aileen Anderson of the Sue and Bill Gross Stem Cell Research Center at the University of California, Irvine (UCI). The paper was published yesterday in the international peer-reviewed journal PLoS ONE.
A news story about this study was published by Reuters yesterday.
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Cell treatment helps mice long after spine injury
Source: Reuters
Posted: August 18, 2010 5:32 p.m. EDT
Summary:
Reuters reports researchers from StemCells, Inc., a biotechnology company in the field of stem cell research and regenerative medicine, successfully grew nerve cells in spinal cords of mice which enabled them to walk better:
Posted: August 18, 2010 5:32 p.m. EDT
Summary:
Reuters reports researchers from StemCells, Inc., a biotechnology company in the field of stem cell research and regenerative medicine, successfully grew nerve cells in spinal cords of mice which enabled them to walk better:
Immature human nerve cells grew in the spines of injured mice and helped them walk a little better, researchers said on Wednesday in a study they said shows it may be possible to treat patients weeks or months after their accidents. The study, published in the Public Library of Science journal PLoS ONE, suggests there is a longer period of opportunity than previously thought to treat spinal cord injuries.
Stem cell versatility could help tissue regeneration
Source: University of Edinburgh
Date: August 18, 2010
Summary:
Scientists from the Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne in Switzerland and the University of Edinburgh
have reprogrammed stem cells from a key organ in the immune system in a development that could have implications for tissue regeneration. Their research shows that it is possible to convert one stem type to another without the need for genetic modification.
The researchers used rat models to grow stem cells from the thymus - an organ important for our immune systems - in the laboratory using conditions for growing hair follicle skin stem cells. When the cells were transplanted into developing skin, they were able to maintain skin and hair for more than a year. The transplanted follicles outperformed naturally-produced hair follicle stem cells, which are only able to heal and repair skin for three weeks. Once they were transplanted, the genetic markers of the cells changed to be more similar to those of hair follicle stem cells. The research, published in the journal Nature, shows that triggers from the surrounding environment - in this case from the skin - can reprogramme stem cells to become tissues they are not normally able to generate.
Date: August 18, 2010
Summary:
Scientists from the Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne in Switzerland and the University of Edinburgh
have reprogrammed stem cells from a key organ in the immune system in a development that could have implications for tissue regeneration. Their research shows that it is possible to convert one stem type to another without the need for genetic modification.
The researchers used rat models to grow stem cells from the thymus - an organ important for our immune systems - in the laboratory using conditions for growing hair follicle skin stem cells. When the cells were transplanted into developing skin, they were able to maintain skin and hair for more than a year. The transplanted follicles outperformed naturally-produced hair follicle stem cells, which are only able to heal and repair skin for three weeks. Once they were transplanted, the genetic markers of the cells changed to be more similar to those of hair follicle stem cells. The research, published in the journal Nature, shows that triggers from the surrounding environment - in this case from the skin - can reprogramme stem cells to become tissues they are not normally able to generate.
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Adult lung stem cells, vital to injury repair, associated with poor cancer prognosis
Source: University of California - Los Angeles
Date: August 17, 2010
Summary:
Adult stem cells that are vital for airway repair in the lung but that persist in areas where pre-cancerous lesions are found are associated with a poor prognosis in patients who develop cancer, even those with early-stage disease, researchers at UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center have found.
These adult stem cells are found in areas repairing after injury and also are found in pre-cancerous areas, suggesting that they may mutate and become cancer-causing stem cells, making them a potential cell of origin for lung cancer and a possible target for prevention strategies and new targeted therapies.
The study found that when these adult stem cells are found in excised tumors, they are associated with a poor prognosis, and they could be used as markers to dictate the need for more aggressive treatment, said Jonsson Cancer Center researcher Brigitte Gomperts, an assistant professor of hematology–oncology and co-senior author of the study. The presence of the adult stem cells in the tumors also was found to be associated with a higher likelihood that the cancer had spread to other organs.
The study appeared Aug. 15 in the peer-reviewed journal Cancer Research.
Date: August 17, 2010
Summary:
Adult stem cells that are vital for airway repair in the lung but that persist in areas where pre-cancerous lesions are found are associated with a poor prognosis in patients who develop cancer, even those with early-stage disease, researchers at UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center have found.
These adult stem cells are found in areas repairing after injury and also are found in pre-cancerous areas, suggesting that they may mutate and become cancer-causing stem cells, making them a potential cell of origin for lung cancer and a possible target for prevention strategies and new targeted therapies.
The study found that when these adult stem cells are found in excised tumors, they are associated with a poor prognosis, and they could be used as markers to dictate the need for more aggressive treatment, said Jonsson Cancer Center researcher Brigitte Gomperts, an assistant professor of hematology–oncology and co-senior author of the study. The presence of the adult stem cells in the tumors also was found to be associated with a higher likelihood that the cancer had spread to other organs.
The study appeared Aug. 15 in the peer-reviewed journal Cancer Research.
Monday, August 16, 2010
New stem cell discovery a preliminary step for regenerative medicine
Source: University of Queensland
Date: 16 August 2010
Summary:
A discovery by researchers at University of Queenland's Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (AIBN) will enable better methods to grow stem cells for use in cancer research and regenerative medicine. The research team led by AIBN's Associate Professor Ernst Wolvetang found that the inclusion of vitamin C in cell culture media was responsible for chemical modification of DNA which has been known to cause chromosome instability and cancer in laboratory stem cell populations. According to Dr. Wolvetang, this discovery is important for stem cell researchers because they rely on genetically stable, non-cancerous stem cells to develop methods to repair damaged or diseased tissues. This work was the subject of two publications in the international journal Stem Cells.
Date: 16 August 2010
Summary:
A discovery by researchers at University of Queenland's Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (AIBN) will enable better methods to grow stem cells for use in cancer research and regenerative medicine. The research team led by AIBN's Associate Professor Ernst Wolvetang found that the inclusion of vitamin C in cell culture media was responsible for chemical modification of DNA which has been known to cause chromosome instability and cancer in laboratory stem cell populations. According to Dr. Wolvetang, this discovery is important for stem cell researchers because they rely on genetically stable, non-cancerous stem cells to develop methods to repair damaged or diseased tissues. This work was the subject of two publications in the international journal Stem Cells.
Scientists successfully use human induced pluripotent stem cells to treat Parkinson's in rodents
Source: Buck Institute for Age Research
Date: August 16, 2010
Summary:
Researchers at the Buck Institute for Age Research have successfully used human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) to treat rodents afflicted with Parkinson's Disease (PD). The research, which validates a scalable protocol that the same group had previously developed, can be used to manufacture the type of neurons needed to treat the disease and paves the way for the use of iPSC's in various biomedical applications. Results of the research, from the laboratory of Buck faculty Xianmin Zeng, Ph.D., are published August 16, 2010 in the on-line edition of the journal Stem Cells.
A news story was published about this study in today's Contra Costa Times.
Date: August 16, 2010
Summary:
Researchers at the Buck Institute for Age Research have successfully used human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) to treat rodents afflicted with Parkinson's Disease (PD). The research, which validates a scalable protocol that the same group had previously developed, can be used to manufacture the type of neurons needed to treat the disease and paves the way for the use of iPSC's in various biomedical applications. Results of the research, from the laboratory of Buck faculty Xianmin Zeng, Ph.D., are published August 16, 2010 in the on-line edition of the journal Stem Cells.
A news story was published about this study in today's Contra Costa Times.
Repairing spinal cord injury with manipulated neural stem cells
Source: Journal of Clinical Investigation
Date: August 16, 2010
Summary:
One of the most common causes of disability in young adults is spinal cord injury. Currently, there is no proven reparative treatment. Hope that neural stem cells (NSCs) might be of benefit to individuals with severe spinal cord injury has now been provided by the work of a team of researchers, led by Kinichi Nakashima, at Nara Institute of Science and Technology, Japan, in a mouse model of this devastating condition.
In the study, published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation, mice with severe spinal cord injury were transplanted with NSCs and administered a drug known as valproic acid, which is used in the treatment of epilepsy. The valproic acid promoted the transplanted NSCs to generate nerve cells, rather than other brain cell types, and the combination therapy resulted in impressive restoration of hind limb function. The authors hope that this approach, whereby the fate of transplanted NSCs is manipulated, for example by administration of valproic acid, could be developed as an effective treatment for severe spinal cord injury.
Date: August 16, 2010
Summary:
One of the most common causes of disability in young adults is spinal cord injury. Currently, there is no proven reparative treatment. Hope that neural stem cells (NSCs) might be of benefit to individuals with severe spinal cord injury has now been provided by the work of a team of researchers, led by Kinichi Nakashima, at Nara Institute of Science and Technology, Japan, in a mouse model of this devastating condition.
In the study, published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation, mice with severe spinal cord injury were transplanted with NSCs and administered a drug known as valproic acid, which is used in the treatment of epilepsy. The valproic acid promoted the transplanted NSCs to generate nerve cells, rather than other brain cell types, and the combination therapy resulted in impressive restoration of hind limb function. The authors hope that this approach, whereby the fate of transplanted NSCs is manipulated, for example by administration of valproic acid, could be developed as an effective treatment for severe spinal cord injury.
Blood stem cell, leukemia link illuminated in UCSF-led study
Source: University of California, San Francisco
Date: August 16, 2010
Summary:
A University of California, San Francisco-led team has discovered at least one key reason why blood stem cells are susceptible to developing the genetic mutations that can lead to adult leukemia. Their finding also may explain, they say, why some other age-related hematological disorders develop. The study, reported in Cell Stem Cell (Aug. 6, 2010) and reviewed in Cell Stem Cell and Cell, opens a new frontier for studying the molecular underpinnings of adult leukemia. The discovery also suggests a possible therapeutic strategy, the scientists say, for reducing the risk of leukemia that results from chemotherapy used to treat solid tumors. Finally, it may explain why other types of adult stem cells are susceptible to accumulating potentially lethal mutations.
Date: August 16, 2010
Summary:
A University of California, San Francisco-led team has discovered at least one key reason why blood stem cells are susceptible to developing the genetic mutations that can lead to adult leukemia. Their finding also may explain, they say, why some other age-related hematological disorders develop. The study, reported in Cell Stem Cell (Aug. 6, 2010) and reviewed in Cell Stem Cell and Cell, opens a new frontier for studying the molecular underpinnings of adult leukemia. The discovery also suggests a possible therapeutic strategy, the scientists say, for reducing the risk of leukemia that results from chemotherapy used to treat solid tumors. Finally, it may explain why other types of adult stem cells are susceptible to accumulating potentially lethal mutations.
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Merlin Protein Found to Control Liver Stem Cells, Prevent Tumor Development
Source: Massachusetts General Hospital
Date: August 12, 2010
Summary:
A protein known to be involved in a rare hereditary cancer syndrome may have a role in the regulation of liver stem cells and the development of liver cancer. In the August 15 issue of Genes & Development, a Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) research team describes finding that the protein called merlin, encoded by the NF2 (neurofibromatosis type 2) gene, controls the activity of adult stem cells that give rise to the two major types of liver cells.
Date: August 12, 2010
Summary:
A protein known to be involved in a rare hereditary cancer syndrome may have a role in the regulation of liver stem cells and the development of liver cancer. In the August 15 issue of Genes & Development, a Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) research team describes finding that the protein called merlin, encoded by the NF2 (neurofibromatosis type 2) gene, controls the activity of adult stem cells that give rise to the two major types of liver cells.
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Stem Cells Used to Treat Children With Life-Threatening, Blistering Skin Disease
Source: University of Minnesota
Date: August 12, 2010
Summary:
University of Minnesota Physician-researchers have demonstrated that a lethal skin disease can be successfully treated with stem cell therapy. Medical School researchers John E. Wagner, M.D., and Jakub Tolar, M.D., Ph.D., in collaboration with researchers in Portland, Oregon, the United Kingdom, and Japan have for the first time used stem cells from bone marrow to repair the skin of patients with a fatal skin disease called recessive dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa, or RDEB. This is the first time researchers have shown that bone marrow stem cells can home to the skin and upper gastrointestinal tract and alter the natural course of the disease. The results are published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
Below is a summary of media coverage of about this development:
Los Angeles Times, August 11, 2010, 1:59 p.m. PDT: "Stem cell therapy appears successful in treating rare, deadly skin disease":
Agence France Presse (AFP), August 11, 2010, 5:04 pm ET: "Doctors use bone marrow stem cells to treat skin disorder":
Reuters, August 11, 2010 5:27 pm EDT: "Stem cells may hold key for fatal skin disease":
High-risk bone marrow transplants partially cured five children with a potentially deadly genetic defect in which proteins that hold layers of skin together are absent, U.S. researchers said Wednesday. But one other child died from side effects of a drug used to prepare for a transplant and a second died from a post-transplant infection.
People with recessive dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa, or RDEB, are plagued by painful blisters on the skin, mouth and throat, caused by the slightest trauma that can expose the body to infection and, in some cases, an aggressive form of cancer. With the new treatment, "there was improved healing, fewer blisters, and their quality of life was positively affected. They could do things they couldn't do before, like ride a bicycle or go on a trampoline," said Dr. John Wagner of the University of Minnesota, who worked on the study.
It was published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
Minneapolis Star-Tribune, August 11, 2010 - 8:37 PM CDT: "U doctors find treatment for painful, lethal skin disease":
HealthDay News, August 11, 2010: "Stem Cell Treatment May Offer Hope Against Fatal Skin Disorder":
Date: August 12, 2010
Summary:
University of Minnesota Physician-researchers have demonstrated that a lethal skin disease can be successfully treated with stem cell therapy. Medical School researchers John E. Wagner, M.D., and Jakub Tolar, M.D., Ph.D., in collaboration with researchers in Portland, Oregon, the United Kingdom, and Japan have for the first time used stem cells from bone marrow to repair the skin of patients with a fatal skin disease called recessive dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa, or RDEB. This is the first time researchers have shown that bone marrow stem cells can home to the skin and upper gastrointestinal tract and alter the natural course of the disease. The results are published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
Below is a summary of media coverage of about this development:
Los Angeles Times, August 11, 2010, 1:59 p.m. PDT: "Stem cell therapy appears successful in treating rare, deadly skin disease":
Stem cell therapies hold enormous promise. But, so far, there are few confirmed stem cell treatments beyond traditional bone marrow transplantation. Researchers reported Wednesday, however, that they have been able to use stem cells to treat a rare, often-fatal skin disease in children. The results of the experimental therapy suggest that stem cells from bone marrow can travel to injured skin cells and repair damage to those cells.
Agence France Presse (AFP), August 11, 2010, 5:04 pm ET: "Doctors use bone marrow stem cells to treat skin disorder":
In what is believed to be a medical first, researchers have used stem cells from bone marrow to repair the skin of young patients with a painful and usually deadly skin disease, a study published Wednesday says. Researchers led by University of Minnesota doctors John Wagner and Jakub Tolar in 2007 began treating children with a rare genetic skin disorder, called recessive dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa (RDEB), with bone marrow stem cells that had been found in lab tests to repair skin in mice.
Reuters, August 11, 2010 5:27 pm EDT: "Stem cells may hold key for fatal skin disease":
High-risk bone marrow transplants partially cured five children with a potentially deadly genetic defect in which proteins that hold layers of skin together are absent, U.S. researchers said Wednesday. But one other child died from side effects of a drug used to prepare for a transplant and a second died from a post-transplant infection.
People with recessive dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa, or RDEB, are plagued by painful blisters on the skin, mouth and throat, caused by the slightest trauma that can expose the body to infection and, in some cases, an aggressive form of cancer. With the new treatment, "there was improved healing, fewer blisters, and their quality of life was positively affected. They could do things they couldn't do before, like ride a bicycle or go on a trampoline," said Dr. John Wagner of the University of Minnesota, who worked on the study.
It was published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
Minneapolis Star-Tribune, August 11, 2010 - 8:37 PM CDT: "U doctors find treatment for painful, lethal skin disease":
Two years ago, doctors at the University of Minnesota took an enormous risk by putting a little boy with a terrible skin disease through a bone marrow transplant. For that boy, Nate Liao, it worked out, and he is healthier now. Thursday, in a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine, the researchers are for the first time making public their results treating seven other children with the same genetic disease. In it, they acknowledge just how risky the procedure is: Two of the seven, including the older brother of the first patient, died as a result of the treatment. But in the others it worked -- a leap forward for a devastating and painful genetic disease for which there is no other treatment and a potentially significant advance for the use of adult stem cells.
HealthDay News, August 11, 2010: "Stem Cell Treatment May Offer Hope Against Fatal Skin Disorder":
A debilitating and usually fatal skin disorder may be treated by bone marrow stem cell transplant, a new study finds. The results may have implications for the treatment of other skin diseases and also for the potential of stem cells in bone marrow to turn into other cell types, according to the study published in the Aug. 12 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.
Stem Cell Technology Yields First ‘Knockout’ Rats
Source: University of Southern California
Date: August 11, 2010
Summary:
Researchers at the Keck School of Medicine of USC have, for the first time, generated “knockout” rats — animals that are genetically modified to lack one or more genes — through embryonic stem (ES) cell-based gene targeting. The long-awaited achievement provides scientists with a far more effective animal model to study a range of human diseases.
The research was published online in the journal Nature and will appear in an upcoming print edition of the journal.
Date: August 11, 2010
Summary:
Researchers at the Keck School of Medicine of USC have, for the first time, generated “knockout” rats — animals that are genetically modified to lack one or more genes — through embryonic stem (ES) cell-based gene targeting. The long-awaited achievement provides scientists with a far more effective animal model to study a range of human diseases.
The research was published online in the journal Nature and will appear in an upcoming print edition of the journal.
SCIENTISTS MAP EPIGENETIC CHANGES DURING BLOOD CELL DIFFERENTIATION
Source: Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions
Date: August 11, 2010
Summary:
Having charted the occurrence of a common chemical change that takes place while stem cells decide their fates and progress from precursor to progeny, a Johns Hopkins-led team of scientists has produced the first-ever epigenetic landscape map for tissue differentiation. The details of this collaborative study between Johns Hopkins, Stanford and Harvard appear August 15 in the early online publication of Nature.
Date: August 11, 2010
Summary:
Having charted the occurrence of a common chemical change that takes place while stem cells decide their fates and progress from precursor to progeny, a Johns Hopkins-led team of scientists has produced the first-ever epigenetic landscape map for tissue differentiation. The details of this collaborative study between Johns Hopkins, Stanford and Harvard appear August 15 in the early online publication of Nature.
Monday, August 09, 2010
New Strategy to Fix a Broken Heart: Scaffold Supports Stem Cell-Derived Cardiac Muscle Cells
Source: University of Washington
Date: August 9, 2010
Summary:
Stem cells now offer hope for achieving what the body can't do: mending broken hearts. Engineers and physicians at the University of Washington have built a scaffold that supports the growth and integration of stem cell-derived cardiac muscle cells. A description of the scaffold, which supports the growth of cardiac cells in the lab and encourages blood vessel growth in living animals, is published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
The researchers built a tiny tubular porous scaffold that supports and stabilizes the fragile cardiac cells and can be injected into a damaged heart, where it will foster cell growth and eventually dissolve away. The new scaffold not only supports cardiac muscle growth, but potentially accelerates the body's ability to supply oxygen and nutrients to the transplanted tissue. Eventually, the idea is that doctors would seed the scaffold with stem cells from either the patient or a donor, then implant it when the patient is treated for a heart attack, before scar tissue has formed.
Date: August 9, 2010
Summary:
Stem cells now offer hope for achieving what the body can't do: mending broken hearts. Engineers and physicians at the University of Washington have built a scaffold that supports the growth and integration of stem cell-derived cardiac muscle cells. A description of the scaffold, which supports the growth of cardiac cells in the lab and encourages blood vessel growth in living animals, is published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
The researchers built a tiny tubular porous scaffold that supports and stabilizes the fragile cardiac cells and can be injected into a damaged heart, where it will foster cell growth and eventually dissolve away. The new scaffold not only supports cardiac muscle growth, but potentially accelerates the body's ability to supply oxygen and nutrients to the transplanted tissue. Eventually, the idea is that doctors would seed the scaffold with stem cells from either the patient or a donor, then implant it when the patient is treated for a heart attack, before scar tissue has formed.
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