MSRC Stem Cell Research & Treatment

Cloned brain cells could help MS, Parkinsons, depression patients

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 02:57:00 EDT

From the birthplace of Dolly the sheep comes another advancement in cloning, as scientists at Scotland’s University of Edinburgh have reportedly created brain tissue from patients suffering from mental illnesses.

According to NewsCore reports, researchers at the university’s Centre for Regenerative Medicine (CRM) have developed a method of taking a patient’s skin sample, turning it into stem cells, and then directing them to grow into brain cells. They then study those man-made brain cells hoping to learn more about patients suffering from ailments such as bipolar depression and schizophrenia.

“A patient’s neurons can tell us a great deal about the psychological conditions that affect them, but you cannot stick a needle in someone’s brain and take out its cells,” CRM Director Charles ffrench-Constant told Robin McKie of The Guardian on Saturday.... [Read More]

Skin transformed into brain cells

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 02:18:00 EDT

Skin cells have been converted directly into cells which develop into the main components of the brain, by researchers studying mice in California.

The experiment, reported in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, skipped the middle "stem cell" stage in the process.

The researchers said they were "thrilled" at the potential medical uses.

Far more tests are needed before the technique could be used on human skin.... [Read More]

Brain support cells from umbilical cord stem cells

Thu, 19 Jan 2012 04:34:00 EDT

For the first time ever, stem cells from umbilical cords have been converted into other types of cells, which may eventually lead to new treatment options for spinal cord injuries and multiple sclerosis, among other nervous system diseases.

"This is the first time this has been done with non-embryonic stem cells," says James Hickman, a University of Central Florida bioengineer and leader of the research group, whose accomplishment is described in the journal ACS Chemical Neuroscience.

"We're very excited about where this could lead because it overcomes many of the obstacles present with embryonic stem cells." ... [Read More]

Autologous mesenchymal stem cells for the treatment of secondary progressive MS

Wed, 18 Jan 2012 02:29:00 EDT

Abstract

BACKGROUND: More than half of patients with multiple sclerosis have progressive disease characterised by accumulating disability. The absence of treatments for progressive multiple sclerosis represents a major unmet clinical need. On the basis of evidence that mesenchymal stem cells have a beneficial effect in acute and chronic animal models of multiple sclerosis, we aimed to assess the safety and efficacy of these cells as a potential neuroprotective treatment for secondary progressive multiple sclerosis.... [Read More]

Scientists unveil first MS stem cell model

Wed, 21 Dec 2011 10:30:00 EDT

Australian researchers have developed the world's first stem cell model of multiple sclerosis, opening up new ways to study the disease and test treatments.

The deputy director of Monash University's immunology and stem cell laboratory, Claude Bernard, said he and his colleagues had used skin cells from MS sufferers to create induced pluripotent stem cells that have the capacity to become brain cells targeted by the disease.

This effectively creates a ''disease in a dish'' that can be replicated and studied by researchers who have previously had only blood cells, autopsy tissue and cerebrospinal fluid to work on. The cells also mean scientists can avoid using human embryos, overcoming ethical concerns.... [Read More]

MS bone marrow stem cell trial to begin

Mon, 05 Dec 2011 05:55:00 EDT

British doctors are to conduct a trial using bone marrow stem cells that they hope could halt or perhaps even reverse the progression of multiple sclerosis (MS).

The Bristol University team wants to recruit 80 people for the research, after a pilot study in six people showed "tantalising" results.

The technique involves harvesting bone marrow from the patient, filtering out the stem cells and then injecting them into the person's veins the same day.

The theory is that the stem cells help repair damage caused to the protective coating of nerve cells, called myelin, which is the cause of MS.... [Read More]

Stem cell promise for multiple sclerosis

Thu, 01 Dec 2011 04:19:00 EDT

New research has found a way to replenish the fatty layer or myelin sheath around nerve cells1 — a finding that could yield a cure for neurodegenerative diseases such as multiple sclerosis.

Researchers have now understood how the right mix of biological growth factors coaxes human embryonic stem cells (ESCs) to form oligodendrocytes, a type of nerve cells that form the myelin sheath.

"We have been able to identify the proteins that are expressed during the differentiation of ESCs into oligodendrocyte progenitor cells, which in turn grow into oligodenrocytes," says Akhilesh Pandey, one of the researchers from the Institute of Bioinformatics, Bangalore and Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, US. "We have also identified several proteins that aid the formation of myelin," he adds.... [Read More]

MSRCNY receives approval for groundbreaking stem cell trial in MS

Tue, 22 Nov 2011 04:44:00 EDT

Landmark Study Targets Repair and Regeneration for MS Patients

The Multiple Sclerosis Research Center of New York (MSRCNY) and the International Cellular Medicine Society (ICMS) jointly announced today the ICMS Institutional Review Board's (IRB) approval of the first study to use autologous brain-like or neural stem cells for multiple sclerosis.

"We are entering a whole new world of possibilities for our patients" said Dr. Saud A. Sadiq, Neurologist and Director of the MSRCNY. "This initial stem cell treatment strategy opens up new avenues of treatment options focused on repair and regeneration that didn't exist before." Dr. Sadiq added, "We are delighted that the ICMS has approved our study and feel both the MSRCNY and the ICMS share the basic ideology of advancing safe and effective treatment in addressing patient needs."... [Read More]

Scientists grow neurons that integrate into brain

Tue, 22 Nov 2011 04:26:00 EDT

Scientists at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have grown human embryonic stem cells into neurons that appear capable of adapting themselves to the brain's machinery by sending and receiving messages from other cells, raising hopes that medicine may one day use this tool to treat patients with such disorders as Multiple Sclerosis, Parkinson's and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, commonly known as Lou Gehrig's disease.

Researchers inserted the human cells into the brains of mice where they successfully integrated themselves into the wiring. Then the UW team applied a new technology, using light to stimulate the human cells and watching as they in turn activated mouse brain cells... [Read More]

Human 'cloning' makes embryonic stem cells

Thu, 06 Oct 2011 02:52:00 EDT

A form of cloning has been used to create personalised embryonic stem cells in humans, say researchers.

Genetic material was taken from an adult skin cell and transferred into a human egg. This was grown to produce an early embryo.

Stem cells have huge potential in medicine as they can transform into any other cell type in the body.

However, the stem cells formed contained chromosomes from both the adult and the egg cells.

The technique used - somatic cell nuclear transfer - shot to fame in 1997 when Dolly the sheep, the first mammal to be cloned from an adult cell, was unveiled to the world.

A South Korean scientist, Hwang Woo-suk, had claimed to have created stem cells from cloned human embryos, but was found to have faked the evidence.

The lead researcher at the New York Stem Cell Foundation Laboratory, Dr Dieter Egli, said there was "a great question mark" about whether the cloning technique could be reliably used in humans.

He said other "groups had tried before, but failed".... [Read More]

Stem cell breakthrough discovery for multiple sclerosis

Mon, 26 Sep 2011 03:53:00 EDT

Researchers have discovered a way to produce huge amounts of myelinating cells in short periods of time – paving the way for revolutionary treatment in neurodegenerative diseases.

How we use our senses and the ways that we respond to them is a common part of what makes us human. More specifically, the communication between special nerve cells called neurons in our nervous system is especially important if we expect to sense, think, and move.

A part of what makes neurons work so efficiently is the protein myelin – a smooth layer of protein that helps speed up nerve impulses between neurons. Losing this myelin causes significant nerve damage; and is the hallmark of debilitating diseases like cerebral palsy and multiple sclerosis.

But scientists at Case Western Reserve University of School of Medicine have discovered a way to produce copious amounts of myelinating cells in a short period of time using stem cells.... [Read More]

New type of spinal cord stem cell discovered

Mon, 19 Sep 2011 05:12:00 EDT

A group led by a University of British Columbia and Vancouver Coastal Health scientist has discovered a type of spinal cord cell that could function as a stem cell, with the ability to regenerate portions of the central nervous system in people with spinal cord injuries, multiple sclerosis or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (Lou Gehrig's disease).

The radial glial cells, which are marked by long projections that can forge through brain tissue, had never previously been found in an adult spinal cord. Radial glia, which are instrumental in building the brain and spinal cord during an organism's embryonic phase, vastly outnumber other potential stem cells in the spinal cord and are much more accessible. Their findings were published online in PLoS One.... [Read More]

Stem cell efforts to treat neurological diseases bolstered with $4.5 million

Thu, 08 Sep 2011 03:51:00 EDT

The endeavor to find better treatments or perhaps even one day a cure for a host of debilitating and fatal neurological diseases has been bolstered by an influx of funding from a mix of private and public sources.

The laboratory headed by Steven Goldman, M.D., Ph.D., chair of the Department of Neurology at the University of Rochester Medical Center, has received $4.5 million in new funding to further its efforts to use stem cells and related molecules to treat several feared disorders for which there are currently no cures – including multiple sclerosis, Huntington’s disease, and fatal childhood diseases known as pediatric leukodystrophies.

The new funding, which will support work in the laboratory for the next three to five years, comes from a mix of private and government sources, including the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, the CHDI Foundation for Huntington’s disease research, Biogen Idec, and the National Institutes of Health.... [Read More]

New clinical trial using adult mesenchymal stem cell transplantation for MS

Sat, 27 Aug 2011 03:44:00 EDT

A team of researchers at three landmark Cleveland institutions have come together to launch a new clinical trial of an experimental treatment for multiple sclerosis (MS). Researchers at the Cleveland Clinic, University Hospitals Seidman Cancer Center, and Case Western Reserve University are collaborating on a ground-breaking study that will test the feasibility and safety of using the body's own stem cells to treat MS.

In patients with MS, the immune system abnormally attacks the central nervous system, causing damage to the nerve cells and their protective myelin sheath. The body has mechanisms that attempt to repair this damage; however, in MS, the repair cannot keep pace with the ongoing damage.

The Phase 1 trial involves harvesting a patient's mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), which are primitive cells in the bone marrow, culturing them in a laboratory, and then injecting the MSCs intravenously back into the patient to see if the procedure is safe, decreases disease activity, and leads to improved repair.... [Read More]

Doctors begin major stem cell trial for MS patients

Fri, 29 Jul 2011 04:37:00 EDT

A major clinical trial will investigate whether stem cells can be safely used to treat multiple sclerosis (MS).

It is hoped eventually to slow, stop or even reverse the damage MS causes to the brain and spinal cord.

The trial, involving up to 150 patients across Europe, is due to start later this year.

Dr Paolo Muraro from Imperial College London said: "There is very strong pre-clinical evidence that stem cells might be an effective treatment."

Researchers will collect stem cells from the bone marrow of patients, grow them in the laboratory and then re-inject them into their blood.

The stem cells will make their way to the brain where it is hoped that they will repair the damage caused by MS.... [Read More]

Nervous system stem cells can replace themselves, give rise to variety of cell types, even amplify

Fri, 01 Jul 2011 05:57:00 EDT

A Johns Hopkins team has discovered in young adult mice that a lone brain stem cell is capable not only of replacing itself and giving rise to specialized neurons and glia - important types of brain cells - but also of taking a wholly unexpected path: generating two new brain stem cells.

A report on their study appears June 24 in Cell.

Although it was known that the brain has the capacity to generate both neurons, which send and receive signals, and the glial cells that surround them, it was unclear whether these various cell types came from a single source. In addition to demonstrating that a single radial glia-like (RGL) brain cell is able to generate two very different functional cell types, the Hopkins researchers, by following the fates of single cells over time, found that a single brain stem cell can even produce two stem cells like itself.... [Read More]

MS stem cell trial at Burden Institute gets $1m grant

Wed, 01 Jun 2011 05:18:00 EDT

Doctors in Bristol are to carry out a trial using stem cells on 80 multiple sclerosis (MS) patients following a $1m (£610k) donation.

People selected will have their bone marrow harvested which is then filtered before being injected into their blood.

Trials on a smaller group of people last year found it increased nerve function by up to 20%.

The research is taking place at the Burden Neurological Institute based at Bristol's Frenchay Hospital.... [Read More]

Skin cells 'turned into neurons' by US scientists

Fri, 27 May 2011 02:35:00 EDT

A Californian team say they have managed to convert human skin cells directly into functioning brain cells.

The scientists manipulated the process by which DNA is transcribed within foetal skin cells to create cells which behaved like neurons.

The technique had previously been demonstrated in mice, says the report in Nature.

It could be used for neurological research, and might conceivably be used to create brain cells for transplant.... [Read More]

Researchers generate functional astrocytes from stem cells

Tue, 24 May 2011 09:30:00 EDT

Scientists have developed the chemically defined conditions necessary to prompt human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) and human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) to differentiate into immature astrocytes.

The University of Wisconsin-Madison team claims the immature astrocytes readily develop into mature astrocytes when implanted in the mouse brain, by forming connections with blood vessels. Writing in Nature Biotechnology, Su-Chung Zhang, Ph.D., and colleagues, report on their achievement in a paper titled “Specification of transplantable astroglial subtypes from human pluripotent stem cells.”... Read More - http://www.msrc.co.uk/index.cfm/fuseaction/show/pageid/1826

Europe's largest stem cell clinic shut down after death of baby

Tue, 10 May 2011 06:41:00 EDT

Europe's largest stem cell clinic, which is at the centre of a scandal over the death of a baby given an injection into the brain, has been shut down.

The closure of the XCell-Center in Dusseldorf follows an undercover investigation by The Sunday Telegraph into its controversial practices, which attracted hundreds of patients from the UK. The clinic charged patients up to £20,000 for stem cell injections into the back and brain despite a lack of scientific proof that the treatments actually worked.

Experts in stem cell research had accused the clinic of preying on vulnerable patients, desperately seeking a cure for such illnesses and diseases as cerebral palsy, multiple sclerosis, autism, Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, heart disease, diabetes and spinal cord injuries.... [Read More]

Scientists create stable, self-renewing neural stem cell

Tue, 26 Apr 2011 03:46:00 EDT

In a paper published in the April 25 early online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, the Gladstone Institutes in San Francisco and colleagues report a game-changing advance in stem cell science: the creation of long-term, self-renewing, primitive neural precursor cells from human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) that can be directed to become many types of neuron without increased risk of tumor formation.

“It’s a big step forward,” said Kang Zhang, MD, PhD, professor of ophthalmology and human genetics at Shiley Eye Center and director of the Institute for Genomic Medicine, both at UC San Diego. “It means we can generate stable, renewable neural stem cells or downstream products quickly, in great quantities and in a clinical grade – millions in less than a week – that can be used for clinical trials and, eventually, for clinical treatments. Until now, that has not been possible.”... [Read More]

Stem cell transplants may treat aggressive MS

Tue, 22 Mar 2011 03:45:00 EDT

Stem cells have long been used to treat cancer patients, but they are still considered experimental in autoimmune diseases like multiple sclerosis.

But many believe they offer great hope.

“It’s the only therapy to date that has been shown to reverse neurologic deficits,” says... [Read More]

New strategies to restore function in myelin-based disorders

Fri, 11 Mar 2011 04:28:00 EDT

Paul Tesar, PhD, of Case Western Reserve University, a member of the inaugural class of The New York Stem Cell Foundation - Robertson Investigators, published his research on the ability to isolate epiblast stem cells from preimplantation mouse embryos. This research enhances our understanding of the many forms of pluriportent stem cells that scientists use for researching so many debilitating diseases.

"I think that this paper will change the way people think about what human ES cells represent from a developmental perspective," said Dr. Kevin Eggan, NYSCF Chief Scientific Officer and Associate Professor of Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology at the Harvard Stem Cell Institute... [Read More]

Stem cells may reverse myelin damage caused by Multiple Sclerosis

Mon, 06 Dec 2010 02:56:00 EDT

For people who have multiple sclerosis (MS), loss of the protective layers called myelin sheaths results in damage to the central nervous system. Now researchers have found a mechanism that could help make stem cells repair the damage.

Repaired myelin sheaths would help multiple sclerosis patients

Multiple sclerosis is a chronic neurological disorder in which themyelin on nerve fibres in the brain and spinal cord are damaged and destroyed. This damage, called demyelination, interferes with the transmission of signals from the brain through the spinal cord and to locations throughout the body.... [Read More]

Joint stem cell study to investigate multiple sclerosis

Thu, 21 Oct 2010 04:18:00 EDT

A $2.2 million project by Victorian and Californian researchers will assess whether stem cell therapies can be used to combat diseases such as Multiple Sclerosis and Type-1 diabetes, and help organ transplant recipients.

Speaking at AusBiotech 2010 in Melbourne today, Innovation Minister Gavin Jennings said the Brumby Labor Government had contributed $575,505 to the project, the fifth to be funded through the $28 million Victoria–California Stem Cell Alliance which was established in 2008 under the Biotechnology Strategic Development Plan.......... [Read More]

Functional nerve cells generated from adult skin cells

Tue, 19 Oct 2010 11:41:00 EDT

Scientists at the University of Connecticut Health Center have successfully converted stem cells derived from the adult skin cells of four humans into region-specific forebrain, midbrain, and spinal cord neurons (nerve cells) with functions. The research is a key step toward realizing the cells’ potential to treat various neurodegenerative diseases.

The UConn team, led by Dr. Ren-He Xu, director of the Health Center’s Stem Cell Core facility, and Dr. Xuejun Li, a neural scientist in the Neuroscience Department, recently published a paper describing how they used cell reprogramming protocols to first transform the adult tissue into "induced pluripotent stem cells" that are all but identical to embryonic stem cells.

This involved treating the adult skin cells with a specialized culture that caused them to regress in their development to an embryonic-like “pluripotent” state, capable of differentiating into any of the many tissue types in the body. The researchers then exposed these reprogrammed human cells (hiPSC) to a series of chemical mixtures to drive them into becoming specialized neuronal cells............ [Read More]

First patient treated in U.S. approved embryonic stem cell trial

Tue, 12 Oct 2010 03:56:00 EDT

The first patient to be treated in a U.S.-government-approved study involving human embryonic stem cells has been injected with millions of the potentially life saving cells.

The patient, being cared for at the Shepherd Center in Atlanta, is partially paralyzed following a spinal cord injury. The center specializes in treating these types of injuries.

According to the trial's protocol, patients must receive the stem cell injection within 14 days of the injury. The trial only involves patients with spinal cord injuries. ... [Read More]

Genetic discovery could lead to brain treatments

Mon, 27 Sep 2010 03:30:00 EDT

British scientists have discovered a genetic mechanism in the development of the nervous system that they say might one day be part of new treatments for stroke, Multiple Sclerosis, Alzheimer's or brain tumors.

In a study in the journal Nature Neuroscience, the scientists found that a gene, named Sox9, is key to the development of neural stem cells in the human embryo -- master cells that in turn develop into brain or spinal tissue.... [Read More]

Health experts warn of 'stem cell tourism' dangers

Fri, 03 Sep 2010 03:40:00 EDT

Thousands of people are putting their health and life savings at risk to travel to private clinics around the world for unproven and potentially dangerous stem cell treatments, British experts said.

A panel of specialists highlighted individual clinics in Germany and China where so-called "stem cell tourists" go for unlicensed treatment, and said there may be up to 700 similar businesses globally offering unproven cell therapies.... [Read More]

Reciprocal Th1 and Th17 regulation by mesenchymal stem cells: Implication for Multiple Sclerosis

Wed, 11 Aug 2010 05:52:00 EDT

Abstract
Human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) are being considered for clinical trials of multiple sclerosis (MS).

We examined the effects of adult bone marrow-derived hMSCs on responses of primary human Th1, Th17, and Th1/17 double-expressing T-cell subsets, all implicated in MS.... [Read More]

FDA approves study using embryonic stem cells

Mon, 02 Aug 2010 05:31:00 EDT

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."... [Read More]

Church supports Multiple Sclerosis stem cell project

Mon, 26 Jul 2010 05:55:00 EDT

Research being carried out in Bristol into the medical use of adult stem cells to help multiple sclerosis sufferers is being funded by the Catholic Church.

The church is opposed to embryonic stem cell research because it involves the destruction of embryos, but it supports the use of adult stem cells, which are found in the bodies of all humans.

In "an inspiring expression of confidence and optimism", £25,000 has been awarded by Catholic parishioners to Bristol professor Neil Scolding, who is undertaking important ethical stem cell research.... [Read More]

Breaching the blood/brain barrier may improve treatment of MS

Fri, 09 Jul 2010 02:54:00 EDT

The University of South Florida's Department of Neurosurgery and Brain Repair has been granted a patent for a cell transplantation procedure combining human umbilical cord blood (HUCB) cells and a sugar-alcohol compound called "mannitol" that may make a big difference in treating life-threatening neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis and stroke, among others. The technology administers the neuroprotective effect of umbilical cord blood cells along with mannitol to permeabilize the blood-brain barrier, allowing for the increased entry of therapeutic growth factors. Saneron CCEL Therapeutics, Inc., a biotechnology R&D USF spin-out company located at the Tampa Bay Technology Incubator, has licensed the technology. "Approximately 750,000 strokes occur every year in the United States, and nearly one third of them are fatal," said Saneron's President and COO, Nicole Kuzmin-Nichols, MBA. "Given the devastating effects of stroke, it is imperative that we develop new therapies to minimize damage to the brain as well as repair the damage. We are excited about this new technology and its potential to help us develop a variety of new products and therapies to do just that." While transplanted HUCB cells may benefit several neurological diseases, getting them past the blood-brain-barrier has presented a problem. The blood-brain barrier separates circulating blood and cerebral spinal fluid in the central nervous system. The newly patented technology is based on mannitol acting as a blood-brain barrier permeabilizer to help get the therapeutic substances secreted by HUCB cells past the blood-brain barrier and into the central nervous system. Mannitol, which temporarily shrinks the tight cells that make up the barrier, allows HUCB cells, via their secreted factors, to reach the site of injury or disease. "Human umbilical cord blood contains a high percentage of stem cells that when intravenously administered can survive and differentiate into neurons in the damaged brain. Equally appealing is their ability to secrete beneficial molecules that potentially promote behavioral recovery," said Dr. Cesar Borlongan, co-inventor and a USF neuroscientist and professor and consultant for Saneron. "Because the blood-brain barrier regulates the entry of many blood-borne substances into the brain, it may exclude potentially therapeutic substances." "The use of stem cell therapy as a treatment for neurodegenerative disorders shows exciting promise, though several hurdles must be overcome and getting the cells correctly positioned is one of those," said Nicole Kuzmin-Nichols. "This technology provides the means to deliver the HUCB cells directly to the damaged brain to maximize their effect." Source: Medical News Today � 2010 MediLexicon International Ltd (09/07/10)

Costa Rica shuts stem cell clinic

Thu, 03 Jun 2010 02:24:00 EDT

Costa Rica has ordered the country's largest stem cell clinic to stop offering treatment, saying there is no proof that it is effective, the country's health minister said on Wednesday. About 400 patients, mostly foreigners from the United States, have been treated at the Institute of Cellular Medicine in San Jose for multiple sclerosis, arthritis, spinal injuries and other illnesses. "This isn't allowed in any serious country in the world," Health Minister Maria Luisa Avila said in a telephone interview. The Health Ministry several weeks ago ordered the clinic, owned by Arizona entrepreneur Neil Riordan, to stop performing the treatment, in which stem cells extracted from the patients are reinjected into their bodies. The ministry said the clinic has a permit to store the stem cells extracted from patients' own fat tissue, bone marrow and donated umbilical cords but is not authorized to perform the treatment. Sylvia Molina, an assistant at the clinic, said it would shut its doors on Friday. Neither Riordan nor the clinic's medical director, Fabio Solano, were immediately available for comment. Riordan's team uses adult stem cells, which can be found throughout the body. These master cells of the body give rise to many different tissues and blood cells and are standard treatments for leukemia and a few other genetic diseases. They are different from embryonic stem cells, taken from human embryos. But Riordan's treatment approach is considered experimental by most experts and the International Society of Stem Cell research has warned against so-called stem cell tourism. Doctors at Riordan's clinic have said that they have seen excellent results from the procedure, but ministry officials said that there is no proof that the treatments work. The stem cell treatments at the Costa Rica institute cost between $5,000 and $30,000. China, Thailand and Mexico also offer stem cell treatments, but Costa Rica's stability, modern tourism infrastructure and proximity to the United States had made it a preferred destination for many patients. Riordan has a U.S. company called Aidan Products that sells, among other things, a nutritional supplement that his team says can stimulate the body's production of blood stem cells. He also operates a stem cell clinic in Panama and is chairman of Arizona-based Medistem Inc. Source: Reuters � Thomson Reuters 2010 (03/06/10)

Immune system helps transplanted stem cells navigate in central nervous system

Wed, 02 Jun 2010 05:28:00 EDT

By discovering how adult neural stem cells navigate to injury sites in the central nervous system, UC Irvine researchers have helped solve a puzzle in the creation of stem cell-based treatments: How do these cells know where to go? Tom Lane and Kevin Carbajal of the Sue and Bill Gross Stem Cell Research Center found the answer with the body's immune system. Their study not only identifies an important targeting mechanism in transplanted stem cells but also provides a blueprint for engineering stem cell-based therapies for multiple sclerosis and other chronic neurological diseases in which inflammation occurs. Results appear in this week's early online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. "Previously, we've seen that adult neural stem cells injected into the spinal column knew, amazingly, exactly where to go," said Lane, Chancellor's Fellow and professor of molecular biology & biochemistry. "We wanted to find what directed them to the right injury spots." The researchers used adult neural stem cells to treat mice with a disease similar to MS that destroys myelin, the protective tissue coating on nerves, causing chronic pain and loss of motor function. Adult neural stem cells have shown the ability to change - or differentiate - into oligodendrocytes, the building blocks of myelin, and repair or replace affected tissue. In the mice, inflammatory cells - reacting to the virally induced nerve damage - were observed activating receptors on the adult neural stem cells. These CXCR-4 receptors, in turn, recruited chemokine proteins called CXCL-12 that guided the stem cells to specific sites. Chemokines are produced in acute and chronic inflammation to help mobilize white blood cells. As the stem cells migrated through the central nervous system, they began to transform into the precursor cells for oligodendrocytes. Latching onto their repair sites, they continued the differentiation process. Three weeks after the initial treatment, 90 percent of the cells had grown into fully formed oligodendrocytes. In earlier work, Lane and colleagues demonstrated that adult neural stem cell treatments improved motor function in mice with chronic MS symptoms. "In this study, we've taken an important step by showing the navigational cues in an inflammatory environment like MS that guide stem cells," said Lane. "Hopefully, these cues can be incorporated into stem cell-based treatments to enhance their ability to repair injury." Chris Schaumburg and Joy Kane of UCI and Dr. Robert Strieter of the University of Virginia participated in the study, which received support from the National Institutes of Health and the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. Lane recently received a Collaborative MS Research Center Award from the National Multiple Sclerosis Society to assemble a team to investigate the use of cell replacement therapy to regenerate MS-ravaged nerve tissue. Source: Physorg.com � PhysOrg.com 2003-2010 (02/06/10)

New brain stem cell discovered

Tue, 25 May 2010 05:04:00 EDT

UCSF scientists have discovered a new stem cell in the developing human brain. The cell produces nerve cells that help form the neocortex � the site of higher cognitive function�and likely accounts for the dramatic expansion of the region in the lineages that lead to man, the researchers say. Future studies of these cells are expected to shed light on developmental diseases such as autism and schizophrenia and malformations of brain development, including microcephaly, lissencephaly and neuronal migration disorders, they say, as well as age-related illnesses, such as Alzheimer�s disease. Studies also will allow scientists to track the molecular steps that the cell goes through as it evolves into the nerve cell, or neuron, it produces. This information could then be used to prompt embryonic stem cells to differentiate in the culture dish into neurons for potential use in cell-replacement therapy. The study is reported in a recent issue of the journal Nature, (vol. no. 464, 554-561; issue 7288). �This discovery has the potential to transform our understanding of the development and evolution of the human neocortex, the most uniquely human part of the central nervous system,� says the senior author of the study, neurologist Arnold Kriegstein, MD, PhD, director of the Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regeneration Medicine and Stem Cell Research at UCSF. �It also should inform our understanding of developmental diseases and advance the creation of cell-based therapies. Many neurological diseases develop in neurons or the neural circuits between them. If we�re going to understand how these disorders develop, we have to better understand how the human and primate cerebral cortex develops.� In rodents and humans, the developing cortex contains a layer of neural stem cells called radial glial cells that resides near the fluid-filled ventricles and produces cells that are precursors to neurons. These precursor neurons further proliferate in a region known as the subventricular zone (SVZ), to increase their numbers, and then differentiate into newborn neurons. The neurons then migrate along radial glial fibers up to the neocortex, where they help form the tissue that is the site of sensory perception, motor commands, spatial reasoning, conscious thought and language. In human and nonhuman primates, however, the SVZ has a massively expanded outer region, known as the outer subventricular zone (OSVZ). About 20 years ago, scientists presumed that the OSVZ also contained stem cells, but until now they have lacked evidence. In the current study, lead authors David V. Hansen, PhD, a postdoctoral fellow, and Jan H. Lui, a graduate student in the Kriegstein lab, examined the OSVZ, using new labeling and tracking techniques to follow individual cells and their progeny over time in cultured tissue slices from fetal cortex tissue that had been donated for research. They characterized two kinds of cells within the region�both the novel neural stem cell and its daughter cell, known as the transit amplifying cell. The stem cell closely resembles the radial glial cell in structure and behavior and, like the radial glia, has radial fibers which newborn neurons migrate along up to the neocortex. The region is a busy hub of cell proliferation. The stem cell undergoes asymmetrical cell division, giving rise to two distinct daughter cells�one a copy of the original stem cell, the other a transit amplifying cell. The transit amplifying cell undergoes multiple rounds of symmetrical divisions before all of its daughter cells begin the process of differentiating into neurons. �We are very interested in understanding how these modes of division are regulated,� says Kriegstein. �We suspect that faults in cell-cycle regulation account for a variety of developmental brain diseases.� More broadly, he says the team wants to understand how the new stem cells compare to radial glial cells and how the two sets of neurons they produce integrate in the neocortex. �Neurons are probably being generated in both the SVZ and OSVZ at once,� he says. �They likely end up in the same layer of the neocortex as they migrate into position and start forming circuits. �This suggests to us that there may be a mosaic of cell types in the human neocortex, in which there are cells that originate in the traditional zone and cells produced in the newer zone that intermix in the cortex. The complexity of primate neocortex may be significantly increased by the interaction of the evolutionarily-speaking �younger� neurons with those originating in the more primitive zone.� The massive number of cells within the OSVZ of humans �tells us we have to be careful when modeling human brain diseases in mice,� says Kriegstein. �Especially in the neocortex�the most highly developed part of the brain in primates and humans � there are going to be important differences between rodents and humans.� The other co-author of the study was Philip R. L. Parker, a graduate student in the Kriegstein lab. Source: HealthCanal.com (25/05/10)

Call for Irish stem cell research legislation

Mon, 24 May 2010 04:56:00 EDT

The Irish Stem Cell Foundation is holding a news conference in Dublin later this morning to deal with issues raised in a recent RT� Prime Time report on stem cell treatments. The Foundation wants legislation to be brought in this year for the use of human embryonic stem cells in Ireland, allowing what it says is vital medical research to be accelerated. Supporters say the research has the potential to provide treatments for conditions including multiple sclerosis, spinal injury and Parkinson's disease. Opponents raise concerns that the technology can devalue human life. The Irish Stem Cell Foundation is claiming a lack of legislation is putting patients at unnecessary risk and preventing international investment and expertise coming to Ireland. Source: RT� � RT� Commercial Enterprises Limited 2010 (24/05/10)

Stem-cell treatment gives MS patient his life back

Tue, 18 May 2010 03:55:00 EDT

A new stem cell treatment has saved the life of a young Australian with multiple sclerosis, but MS Australia still warns the procedure is "experimental". Ben Leahy, 18, suffers from MS. The first sign something was wrong was when his leg became sore. "My legs started going numb, probably from my feet up - one leg feet up and my other leg from the waist down," the Canberra student told The 7.30 Report. "It was probably over a week but I thought nothing was wrong. Then in a week it probably got really bad." So bad that his family, including his step-father, GP Dr Don Curtotti, rushed Ben to intensive care at Canberra Hospital, fearing a brain tumour. For his mother Prue, the diagnosis of multiple sclerosis was the least-worst outcome. "I was relieved, believe it or not. I am sorry if it sounds stupid but Don had warned me that he could have had a tumour," she said. "I wouldn't have thought MS in a boy because it's extremely rare, and so I was relieved. I just thought, 'I am not going to bury my son in the next six months from bone cancer'." However, the family's respite was short-lived. MS - a disease that attacks the protective sheath around the nerves in the brain and spinal column - is generally a long-term degenerative process. But the MS lesions in Ben's brain were multiplying fast, dangerously pressing on areas that controlled his key bodily functions. In a matter of weeks, Ben's body started shutting down. Rushed back to Canberra Hospital, consultant neurologist Dr Colin Andrews assessed Ben's cascading physical impairments. "The onset was over a matter of days, with weakness in his legs and then it progressed to weakness in his arms," Dr Andrews said. "Eventually his limbs were totally paralysed and he couldn't breathe without assistance." In medical terms, Ben's MS is known as "rapid onset", but the swiftness with which the disease robbed the teenager of his core functions was shocking. Dr Andrew's assessment was blunt: "If he wasn't in intensive care he would have died." Ben's life was reduced to mere survival. "I couldn't talk or move," Ben recalled. "My eyes were opened but no-one would notice that I was still alive." The young man's chances of survival were nil and Dr Andrews decided to attempt a treatment he had only heard about from overseas - an autologous stem cell transplant. The experimental procedure had never successfully been performed in Australia and required the co-operation of the neurological department at Canberra Hospital. The answer was no. "I remember having to go and say [to Ben's parents], 'I'm sorry, I can't get consensus from my colleagues, so what are we going to do now?'" Dr Andrews said. 'A step in the dark' But the Curtottis had undertaken their own research. "We had read about a fellow in Athens who had [this] stem cell procedure done well. I was all for it at this stage, it was all we had," Ms Curtotti said. Dr Andrews went back to the hospital and this time haematologist Dr Michael Pidcock said yes. "It was a step in the dark, " Dr Pidcock recalled. "We hadn't done something like this before." The procedure is akin to rebooting the patient's immune system. The first step was to extract some of Ben's stem cells from his bone marrow. "Following some chemotherapy and administration of marrow stimulating drugs, the patient's own bone marrow stem cells are harvested from the bloodstream on a machine during a narrow window of time," Dr Pidcock explained. Ben's extracted stem cells were stored in Canberra Hospital's liquid nitrogen tank, waiting for his body to be ready to receive them back. For this to happen, Ben was subjected to a second dose of chemotherapy to knock out his immune system and remaining bone marrow cells. Within weeks of the treatment, Ben was out of intensive care and walking - something he had not been able to do for more than nine months. A year later, MRI scans of Ben's brain revealed almost all the life-threatening lesions had disappeared. The result is the best in Dr Andrews's long career. "It is the most dramatic change that I've ever seen in someone with MS," he said. However, for the Curtottis, the decision to proceed with the radical stem cell treatment was taken against the advice of the respected MS Australia. "[They told us] we don't do it in Australia and probably won't for another 10 years because there is just not enough information around," Ms Curtotti said. MS Australia's consultant, Professor Bill Carroll, justifies this precaution in the interests of protecting vulnerable patients against false hope. "I must say however it still is very experimental," Professor Carroll said. "The case of Ben Leahy is terrific for Ben, but may not be translatable to all people with MS." For Ben the outcome is straightforward. "I've got a life again," he said. Source: ABC News � 2010 ABC (18/05/10)

First coordinated international approach to MS stem cell research

Mon, 17 May 2010 02:28:00 EDT

International consensus on the future of stem cell transplantation research for people with MS was published today, paving the way for more coordinated global research efforts and potentially better, and quicker, patient access to stem cell clinical trials. The guidelines, developed by an international panel of MS experts with input from MS Societies around the world, spell out hope for the future of MS stem cell research and debunk myths about overseas stem cell clinics claiming to cure the condition. The paper appears in the May 6, 2010 issue of Nature Reviews Neurology. The consensus is timely, since small-scale trials of stem cells, such as adult mesenchymal stem cells (from bone marrow and other bodily tissues), are already underway or in planning stages 1 for the treatment of multiple sclerosis. A public information booklet on stem cells, "Stem Cell Therapies in MS," produced in partnership by MS Societies from the UK, USA, Italy, France and Australia and the MS International Federation, summarizes the current status of stem cell research in MS and frequently asked questions, and is available to download (.pdf). Professor Gianvito Martino from the San Raffaele Scientific Institute in Milan, Italy, and Professor Robin Franklin from the University of Cambridge, UK, are lead authors for the landmark guidelines, which: - outline the promise stem cell transplantation has shown in early stage clinical trials and ways they could be used to treat MS in the future; - describe the different types of stem cells that might be used to treat different types of MS - detail methods of delivering these stem cell therapies into patients; - highlight best practice in conducting clinical trials to evaluate the safety and efficacy of stem cell therapies in MS. The guidelines are the result of an international stem cell consensus summit held in London in May 2009 which was organized by the MS Society in the UK and USA, and supported by the MS Society of Canada, Italy, France, Australia and the MS International Federation. Dr. Patricia O'Looney, vice president biomedical research, National MS Society, USA reported, "This unique collaboration and sharing of information among MS specialists around the world will both speed and enhance the research that will one day lead to effective new treatments for those living with MS." Researchers have agreed that stem cells are likely to have a significant role to play in the treatment of MS, but also warn that expectations should be realistic. Professor Gianvito Martino said, "At this stage it is unreasonable to claim that stem cells are a magic cure for MS. It is, however, likely that they will one day play an important role in treating the condition." Professor Robin Franklin added, "It is only by working together will we get the answer as to whether stem cell transplants hold promise in the treatment of MS. The guidelines will help the research community get to that answer more quickly than we would by working in isolation." Source: Medical News Today � 2010 MediLexicon International Ltd (17/05/10)

EU agency prepares to assess first stem cell drug

Thu, 13 May 2010 03:04:00 EDT

The first regenerative medicine based on stem cells could be filed for approval in Europe later this year, bringing the groundbreaking medical technology a step closer to reality. The European Medicines Agency (EMEA) said on Wednesday it had been informed about the "intent of a European manufacturer to submit the first application for marketing authorization for a stem cell-based product." Drugmakers typically send a letter of intent to the London-based watchdog four to six months before a formal application, a spokeswoman said, so this would imply a filing toward the end of 2010. The EMEA declined to name the company involved. In preparation for the first of a possible wave of applications, officials from the EMEA met this week with drug company officials, regulators from the United States and Japan, and academic scientists to discuss guidelines for approving such treatments. Research into stem cells has increased dramatically in recent years and there are currently some 40 clinical trials underway in the European Union exploring the use of stem cells to regenerate lost or damaged tissues and tackle various cancers. The majority use adult mesenchymal stem cells. Stem cells -- which are particularly flexible when taken from days-old embryos -- are the body's master cells and can potentially be used to repair the heart, spinal cord, liver, pancreas, eyes and other parts of the body. But their use is controversial and involves risk -- notably the danger that foreign cells might be rejected or could proliferate uncontrollably, leading to tumors. MANAGING RISKS To address some of these issues, the EMEA has drafted a "reflection paper" on the process for approving stem cell-based therapies, which will be finalized by the end of 2010. "Stem cells hold the promise of an unlimited source of cells for therapeutic applications to treat patients who have no or only unsatisfactory treatment options," said Christian Schneider, chairman of the agency's Committee for Advanced Therapies. "However, these therapies bear certain risks, such as tumourgenicity and immunorejection, and hence need to be carefully regulated with the input from multi-disciplinary expertise." For many investors, stem cells remain off the radar screen for now after early excitement about the science was followed by delays and disappointments in the clinic. But companies pioneering the technology have not given up and a growing number of large pharmaceutical companies are also starting to dip their toes in the water. Believers see a parallel between the evolution of stem cell treatment and monoclonal antibodies. Antibody technology was first developed in the 1970s but it is only recently that such drugs have become blockbusters. Among listed companies, Britain's ReNeuron is about to start the world's first stroke trial using foetal stem cells, while U.S.-based Geron hopes to restart a study using embryonic cells to treat spinal cord injuries in the third quarter of 2010. Any stem cell treatment filed with the EMEA later this year could, in theory, become commercially in 2011. The agency's scientific committee has instructions to issue an opinion within 210 days of receiving an application, or 120 days in the case of an accelerated procedure, although this regulatory clock can be stopped if more information is needed. Source: Reuters � Copyright 2010 Thomson Reuters (13/05/10)

Stem cells use GPS to generate proper nerve cells

Wed, 12 May 2010 02:04:00 EDT

An unknown function that regulates how stem cells produce different types of cells in different parts of the nervous system has been discovered by Stefan Thor, professor of Developmental Biology, and graduate students Daniel Karlsson and Magnus Baumgardt, at Link�ping University in Sweden. The results improve our understanding of how stem cells work, which is crucial for our ability to use stem cells to treat and repair organs. The findings are publishing next week in the online, open-access journal PLoS Biology. Stem cells are responsible for the creation of all cells in an organism during development. Previous research has shown that stem cells give rise to different types of cells in different parts of the nervous system. This process is partly regulated by the so-called Hox genes, which are active in various parts of the body and work to give each piece its unique regional identity - a kind of GPS system of the body. But how does a stem cell know that it is in a certain region? How does it read the body's "GPS" signals? And how is this information used to control the creation of specific nerve cells? In order to address these issues, the LiU researchers studied a specific stem cell in the nervous system of the fruit fly. It is present in all segments of the nervous system, but it is only in the thorax, or chest region, that it produces a certain type of nerve cell. To investigate why this cell type is not created in the stomach or head region they manipulated the Hox genes' activity in the fly embryo. It turned out that the Hox genes in the stomach region stop stem cells from splitting before the specific cells are produced. In contrast, the specific nerve cells are actually produced in the head region, but the Hox genes turn them into another, unknown, type of cell. Hox genes can thus exert their influence both on the genes that control stem cell division behaviour and on the genes that control the type of nerve cells that are created. "We constantly find new regulating mechanisms, and it is probably more difficult than previously thought to routinely use stem cells in treating diseases and repairing organs, especially in the nervous system", says Thor. Funding:This work was supported by the Swedish Research Council, by the Swedish Strategic Research Foundation, by the Knut and Alice Wallenberg foundation, by the Swedish Brain Foundation, by the Swedish Cancer Foundation, and by the Swedish Royal Academy of Sciences to ST. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. Competing interests statement: The authors declare that no competing interests exist. Citation: Karlsson D, Baumgardt M, Thor S (2010) Segment-Specific Neuronal Subtype Specification by the Integration of Anteroposterior and Temporal Cues. PLoS Biol 8(5): e1000368. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.1000368 Eureka Alert! (12/05/10)

Stem cell transplantation in multiple sclerosis

Thu, 06 May 2010 10:05:00 EDT

Stem cell transplantation in multiple sclerosis: current status and future prospects. This article provides an overview of the current knowledge relating to the potential use of transplanted stem cells in the treatment of patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). Two types of stem cells, CNS-derived neural stem/precursor cells (NPCs) and bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are considered to provide reproducible and robust therapeutic effects when intravenously or intrathecally injected into both rodents and primates with experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis. Furthermore, preliminary safety data concerning the use of intrathecally injected autologous MSCs in patients with progressive MS are available. We discuss how the data gathered to date challenge the narrow view that the therapeutic effects of NPCs and MSCs observed in the treatment of MS are accomplished solely by cell replacement. Both types of stem cell, when transplanted systemically, might instead influence disease outcome by releasing a plethora of factors that are immunomodulatory or neuroprotective, thereby directly or indirectly influencing the regenerative properties of intrinsic CNS stem/precursor cells. Author of the article, Professor Gianvito Martino said: �At this stage it is unreasonable to claim that stem cells are a magic cure for MS. It is, however, likely that they will one day play an important role in treating the condition.� Professor Robin Franklin added: �It is only by working together will we get the answer as to whether stem cell transplants hold promise in the treatment of MS. The guidelines will help the research community get to that answer more quickly than we would by working in isolation.� Gianvito Martino, Robin J. M. Franklin, Anne Baron Van Evercooren, Douglas A. Kerr Source: Nature Reviews Neurology � 2010 Nature Publishing Group (06/05/10)

Bone-marrow stem cell study in MS shows promising results

Thu, 06 May 2010 06:19:00 EDT

A groundbreaking trial to test bone marrow stem cell therapy with a small group of patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) has been shown to have possible benefits for the treatment of the disease. Bone marrow stem cells have been shown in several experimental studies to have beneficial effects in disease models of MS. The research team, led by Neil Scolding, Burden Professor of Clinical Neurosciences for the University of Bristol and North Bristol NHS Trust, have now completed a small trial in patients with MS to begin translating these findings from the laboratory to the clinic. The Bristol team report on this pioneering trial in an article published online in Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics. The paper, 'Safety and feasibility of autologous bone marrow cellular therapy in relapsing-progressive multiple sclerosis' was performed at the Institute of Clinical Neurosciences, Frenchay Hospital, Bristol and the Bristol Haematology and Oncology Centre. The study explored the safety and feasibility of cell therapy in patients with MS. Participants had a general anaesthetic during which bone marrow was harvested. The marrow cells were filtered and prepared so that they could be injected into the patient's vein later the same day. The procedure was well tolerated and the participants were followed up for a year. No serious adverse effects were encountered. The results of clinical scores were consistent with stable disease. The results of neurophysiological tests raised the possibility of benefit. Professor Neil Scolding said: "We are encouraged by the results of this early study. The safety data are reassuring and the suggestion of benefit tantalising. A larger study is required to assess the effectiveness of bone marrow cellular therapy in treating MS. We are hopeful that recruitment to this phase 2/3 study may begin towards the end of this year. "Research into the underlying mechanisms is ongoing and vital, in order to build on these results. We believe that stem cells mobilised from the marrow to the blood are responsible, and that they help improve disease in several ways, including neuroprotection and immune modulation." The aim of the trial was to find out what effects, good or bad, bone marrow stem cells has on patients with MS, and their disability. Bone marrow is known to contain stem cells capable of replacing cells in many types of tissues and organs - and so is of great interest to those working to develop new treatments for many diseases, including those affecting the nervous system. The study has been funded by the Adrian Wright Bequest, The Patrick Berthoud Charitable Trust, the Silverman Family Foundation, The Myelin Project, the Captain SK Trust and The Burden Trust. Source: Eureka! Alert (06/05/10)

New stem cells will reduce the need for animal testing

Tue, 04 May 2010 02:14:00 EDT

Powerful stem cells made by reprogramming adult tissue could reduce the need for animal testing of new drugs, according to a scientific pioneer of the technology. Jamie Thomson, of the University of Wisconsin, told The Times that �in-vitro trials� based on so-called induced pluripotent stem (IPS) cells would refine pharmaceutical development so that fewer animal experiments would be required. The cells were already being used as a source of human tissue for testing candidate drugs for safety and effectiveness, he said. As a result, fewer unworkable drugs would advance to animal studies, and some animal tests may become unnecessary. �If what we are doing is successful it will dramatically reduce animal testing, and maybe towards the end of our lifespan actually eliminate it for some things,� Professor Thomson said. �I think we will have much better models for these things.� IPS cells, which were created in 2007 by teams led by Professor Thomson and Professor Shinya Yamanaka, of Kyoto University in Japan, are made by manipulating adult skin tissue to give it versatile properties of embryonic stem (ES) cells. These master cells can be grown into any type of tissue, offering a limitless source of specialised cells for use in research. There is hope that they may eventually be used to produce cell therapies for Parkinson�s disease, diabetes and paralysis. As IPS cells are made without destroying embryos, their use is ethically acceptable. Cellular Dynamics, a company founded by Professor Thomson, is already using IPS cells to grow heart cells for pharmaceutical companies to use in the development of cardiac drugs. Next year Cellular Dynamics will produce heart cells using IPS cells taken from people with particular ethnic backgrounds or genetic traits. Any candidate drugs that have damaging side-effects on cells with a particular genetic profile or on cells from people from certain ethnic groups could then be withdrawn, averting the failure of an expensive full-patient trial. As much of this toxicity testing is currently performed in animals, there is great potential for reducing the number of animal experiments. Human tissue grown from IPS cells may even provide a better laboratory model than animals, Professor Thomson said. �I trained as a veterinary pathologist, and the correlation [between results in animal and human trials] is not that great at the end of the day,� he said. Professor Thomson said that the chief value of IPS cells would be as laboratory models for studying disease and testing drugs, rather than cell replacement. While it may prove possible to grow patient-specific spare-part tissue, which would not risk immune rejection, the costs are high. �This gives us access to the basic building blocks of the human body,� he said. �We�ll learn a tremendous amount about the human body, and that will profoundly change human medicine.� The master key � Stem cells are master cells from which all types of human tissue are ultimately derived � Induced pluripotent stem (IPS) cells, pictured, are made by genetically modifying skin cells. This turns them into an embryo-like state, allowing them to develop into any type of tissue. � IPS cells are acceptable to some opponents of embryo research, and as they are grown from skin they can carry genetic characteristics. � Adult stem cells are less powerful than IPS or embryonic stem cells, as they have already started to �specialise�. They can be used to make only a narrower range of tissue. Source: Times Online Copyright 2010 Times Newspapers Ltd.(03/05/10)

Stem cells could be used to repair brain damage

Thu, 15 Apr 2010 06:47:00 EDT

It may soon be possible to repair damage to the human brain by reactivating stem cells within the body that can grow on specially constructed "biological scaffolding" inserted into the brain, scientists say. The hope is that the brain could be regenerated in the same way that tissue can regrow in animals such as salamanders and fish where nerves are capable of repairing themselves in the same way the human body can repair skin or bone. Mike Modo, of the Institute of Psychiatry, in London said that medical scaffolds made of synthetically made biological materials inserted into the brain could provide the structural framework for naturally existing stem cells to repair damaged regions caused by strokes or trauma. "If we have damage to the brain, we are trying to put biomaterials in there to provide a structure for these cells to attach and to start forming connections between each other and eventually, hopefully, to regenerate the tissue that has been lost," Dr Modo said. "Theoretically the hope is that these biomaterials can be guided to support these cells and that they can be engineered to secrete particular [growth] factors," he said. More than 180,000 people each year in Britain suffer from brain damage caused by strokes. Brain damage is often permanent because at present there is no way of regenerating nervous tissue to repair the cells that have been killed. Professor Andrea Brand of the Gurdon Institute at Cambridge University said that the human brain was known to contain inactive stem cells and one possibility was to reactivate them so that they could begin to replace lost cells, which was what probably happens in the brains of salamanders and fish. "We know there are stem cells in the human brain. If we can reactivate stem cells that are in the right place at the right time, that would be ideal," said Professor Brand, who is speaking at the British Neuroscience Association meeting in London. "We know that stem cells will sometimes go to sleep and we're studying ways of reactivating them. This is really key because what we'd like to do eventually in terms of repairing the brain is to reactivate someone's own stem cells in situ to give rise, hopefully, to the neurons that will replace those that have been damaged," Professor Brand said. "In particular, we are interested in how these stem cells can generate all the different types of nerve cells that you find in the human brain," she said. The human brain contains about 100 billion neurons, or nerve cells, and scientists are studying the simpler nervous systems of laboratory animals, such as fruit flies, to find the genes that are involved in turning stem cells off and on. Source: The Indenpent �independent.co.uk 2010 (15/04/10)

Stem cells doctor exploited MS patients, GMC panel finds

Tue, 13 Apr 2010 02:45:00 EDT

Robert Trossel used stem cells that were not designed for human use and exaggerated benefits of therapy. A doctor who exploited a group of "vulnerable" multiple sclerosis patients used stem cells that were not designed for human use, a General Medical Council panel found. Nine men and women, most suffering from incurable conditions, visited Dr Robert Trossel, "desperate" to find relief for their disease and prepared to raise large sums of money to fund their therapy. But the panel found Trossel, 55, exaggerated the benefits of treatment which was based on "anecdotal and aspirational information" and "scientific research that had been carried out only on animals". The Dutch-trained doctor also lacked the necessary knowledge to embark on the therapy, the panel said, while overstating his success rate at treating people with multiple sclerosis. He also failed to respect the rights of the patients to be fully involved in decisions about their care when they visited him in his clinic in Rotterdam, it said. At an earlier hearing, Trossel said he only discovered phials sent to him in 2006 by Advanced Cell Therapeutics were not designed for human use when he took part in a BBC Newsnight programme. A sticker providing information about where the phials came from was later brought to his attention. Trossel said he looked into California-based All Cells � named on the sticker � and found a disclaimer stating it only produced materials for laboratory use. He said he was told the consignment had been sent in error and was provided by All Cells for research. Besides his clinic in Rotterdam, Trossel had consulting rooms in New Cavendish Street and Wimpole Street, London. In October 2006, he was ordered by the Dutch authorities to cease stem cell treatment, the GMC heard. The panel also heard that the doctor's fitness to practise was impaired because of a conviction in Antwerp last year over stem cell treatment offences under Belgian law. It will resume consideration of the case on September 6. Source: guardian.co.uk � Guardian News and Media Limited 2010 (13/04/10) - http://www.msrc.co.uk/index.cfm/fuseaction/show/pageid/1831

New period of brain 'plasticity' created with transplanted embryonic cells

Mon, 29 Mar 2010 05:20:00 EDT

UCSF scientists report that they were able to prompt a new period of 'plasticity,' or capacity for change, in the neural circuitry of the visual cortex of juvenile mice. The approach, they say, might some day be used to create new periods of plasticity in the human brain that would allow for the repair of neural circuits following injury or disease. The strategy - which involved transplanting a specific type of immature neurone from embryonic mice into the visual cortex of young mice - could be used to treat neural circuits disrupted in abnormal foetal or postnatal development, stroke, traumatic brain injury, psychiatric illness and ageing. Like all regions of the brain, the visual cortex undergoes a highly plastic period during early life. Cells respond strongly to visual signals, which they relay in a rapid, directed way from one appropriate cell to the next in a process known as synaptic transmission. The chemical connections created in this process produce neural circuitry that is crucial for the function of the visual system. In mice, this critical period of plasticity occurs around the end of the fourth week of life. The catalyst for the so-called critical period plasticity in the visual cortex is the development of synaptic signalling by neurones that release the inhibitory neurotransmitter GABA. These neurones receive excitatory signals from other neurones, thus helping to maintain the balance of excitation and inhibition in the visual system. In their study, published in the journal Science, (Vol. 327. no. 5969, 2010), the scientists wanted to see if the embryonic neurones, once they had matured into GABA-producing inhibitory neurones, could induce plasticity in mice after the normal critical period had closed. The team first dissected the immature neurones from their origin in the embryonic medial ganglionic eminence (MGE) of the embryonic mice. Then they transplanted the MGE cells into the animals' visual cortex at two different juvenile stages. The cells, targeted to the visual cortex, dispersed through the region, matured into GABAergic inhibitory neurones, and made widespread synaptic connections with excitatory neurones. The scientists then carried out a process known as monocular visual deprivation, in which they blocked the visual signals to one eye in each of the animals for four days. When this process is carried out during the critical period, cells in the visual cortex quickly become less responsive to the eye deprived of sensory input, and become more responsive to the non-deprived eye, creating alterations in the neural circuitry. This phenomenon, known as ocular dominance plasticity, greatly diminishes as the brain matures past this critical postnatal developmental period. The team wanted to see if the transplanted cells would affect the visual system's response to the visual deprivation after the critical period. They studied the cells' effects after allowing them to mature for varying lengths of time. When the cells were as young as 17 days old or as old as 43 days old, they had little impact on the neural circuitry of the region. However, when they were 33-39 days old, their impact was significant. During that time, monocular visual deprivation shifted the neural responses away from the deprived eye and toward the non-deprived eye, revealing the state of ocular dominance plasticity. Naturally occurring, or endogenous, inhibitory neurones are also around 33-39 days old when the normal critical period for plasticity occurs. Thus, the transplanted cells' impact occurred once they had reached the cellular age of inhibitory neurones during the normal critical period. The finding, the team says, suggests that the normal critical period of plasticity in the visual cortex is regulated by a developmental program intrinsic to inhibitory neurones, and that embryonic inhibitory neurone precursors can retain and execute this program when transplanted into the postnatal cortex, thereby creating a new period of plasticity. 'The findings suggest it ultimately might be possible to use inhibitory neurone transplantation, or some factor that is produced by inhibitory neurones, to create a new period of plasticity of limited duration for repairing damaged brains,' says author Sunil P. Gandhi, PhD, a postdoctoral fellow in the lab of Michael Stryker, PhD, professor of physiology and a member of the Keck Centre for Integrative Neurosciences at UCSF. 'It will be important to determine whether transplantation is equally effective in older animals.' Likewise, 'the results raise a fundamental question: how do these cells, as they pass through a specific stage in their development, create these windows of plasticity?' says author Derek G. Southwell, PhD, a student in the lab of Arturo Alvarez-Buylla, PhD, Heather and Melanie Muss Professor of Neurological Surgery and a member of the Eli and Edythe Broad Centre of Regeneration Medicine and Stem Cell Research at UCSF. The findings could be relevant to understanding why learning certain behaviours, such as language, occurs with ease in young children but not in adults, says Alvarez-Buylla. 'Grafted MGE cells may some day provide a way to induce cortical plasticity and learning later in life.' The findings also complement two other recent UCSF studies using MGE cells to modify neural circuits. In a collaborative study among the laboratories of Scott Baraban, PhD, professor of neurological surgery; John Rubenstein, MD, PhD, professor of psychiatry, and Alvarez-Buylla, the cells were grafted into the neocortex of juvenile rodents, where they reduced the intensity and frequency of epileptic seizures. (Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, vol. 106, no. 36, 2009). Other teams are exploring this tactic, as well. In the other study (Cell Stem Cell, vol. 6, issue 3, 2010), UCSF scientists reported the first use of MGEs to treat motor symptoms in mice with a condition designed to mimick Parkinson's disease. The finding was reported by the lab of Arnold Kriegstein, MD, PhD, UCSF professor of neurology and director of the Eli and Edythe Broad Centre of Regeneration Medicine and Stem Cell Research at UCSF, in collaboration with Alvarez-Buylla and Krys Bankiewicz, MD, PhD, UCSF professor of neurological surgery. Source: Science Centric � 2007�2010 Agency Science (29/03/10)

UK firm gets final green light for neurological stem cell trial

Wed, 10 Feb 2010 04:58:00 EDT

British biotech company ReNeuron and a team of doctors in Scotland have won final approval to start a pioneering clinical trial to assess whether stem cell therapy can help patients disabled by stroke. The treatment involves injecting neural stem cells developed from human fetuses into patients' brains in the hope they will repair areas damaged by stroke, thereby improving both mental and physical function. The final green light from Britain's Gene Therapy Advisory Committee (GTAC), announced on Wednesday, follows months of delays and questions, reflecting the ground-breaking nature of the research. ReNeuron received an okay from Britain's main drugs watchdog back in January 2009 but still needed a recommendation from the GTAC before it could start the Phase I clinical trial. The first patient in the study is now expected to receive treatment through the National Health Service at the Institute of Neurological Sciences, Southern General Hospital, Glasgow, during the second quarter of this year. In total, 12 patients will get ReNeuron's ReN001 cell therapy between six and 24 months after having an ischemic stroke -- caused by a blockage of blood flow in the brain -- and their progress will be followed for two years. The procedure involves the direct injection of millions of cells into the affected brain region. The initial tests will look primarily at the safety and feasibility of the treatment. If the first study is successful, researchers plan to pursue accelerated clinical development in later-stage clinical trials, focusing initially on more severely disabled stroke patients. About half of all stroke survivors are left with permanent disabilities as a result of brain damage. The potential of different kinds of stem cells -- master cells that can develop into specialized tissue in the body -- is being examined by experts around the world for many diseases. But the technology is controversial, in part because some stem cell lines are derived from embryos or fetuses. ReNeuron had initially hoped to test its stroke treatment in the United States. It decided to switch its efforts to Britain in 2008, however, following delays at the Food and Drug Administration. The group became Europe's first stem cell company to float in 2000, but was taken private in 2003 after a series of clinical setbacks and the bursting of the technology bubble hammered its share price. It relisted in 2005. Source: Reuters Copywrite Thomson Reuters 2010 (10/02/10)

Skin cells turned directly into neurons

Fri, 29 Jan 2010 01:36:00 EDT

Stem cell scientists at Stanford University in California announced "a huge step forward", with the publication of research that turned skin into nerve cells without any intermediate step. The production of neurons [nerve cells] directly from other adult cells, without making stem cells en route, could transform "regenerative medicine" - providing a plentiful supply of neurons for treating people with degenerative brain diseases such as Parkinson's or those with spinal injuries. "We actively and directly induced one cell type to become a completely different cell type," said Marius Wernig of Stanford's Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine. "These are fully functional neurons. They can do all the principal things that neurons in the brain do." This includes making connections with and signalling to other nerve cells - critical functions if the cells are eventually to be used as therapy for brain disease. The study is published online in the journal Nature . Although research had suggested that specialised cells could be coaxed to show properties of other cell types, this is the first time skin cells have been converted into neurons in a laboratory. The change happened within a week of treating mouse skin cells with a mixture of three genes, with an efficiency of up to nearly 20 per cent. The scientists are now working to duplicate the feat with human cells. Until recently, scientists believed cellular differentiation was a one-way process, with primitive and versatile embryonic stem cells giving rise to all the body's more specialised cells. Then, in 2007 they discovered how to turn the clock back, reversing the specialisation process by converting adult cells to "induced pluripotent stem cells", which could then become a different type of cell. The latest discovery shows that this intermediate step is unnecessary. But many years of work will be needed before direct conversion reaches the clinic. Source: The Financial Times Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2010. (29/01/10)

Stem cells 'reverse' Multiple Sclerosis in Canberra man

Tue, 15 Dec 2009 02:35:00 EDT

A Canberra man diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS) just over 12 months ago appears to be on the road to recovery after being treated with stem cells. Ben Leahy was in a wheelchair earlier this year and had suffered partial vision loss in one eye, but has since recovered to the point where he is walking. The 20-year-old's remarkable recovery came after he underwent a procedure in which stem cells were harvested from his bone marrow, before chemicals were used to destroy all his existing immune cells. Mr Leahy's stem cells were then re-injected. ACT neurologist Dr Colin Andrews said the treatment appeared to have reversed the effects of MS which Mr Leahy was diagnosed with in August 2008. Dr Andrews said Mr Leahy still had mild weakness in his right leg and some visual loss in one eye, but appeared to be recovering well. "At the moment, there's a good chance we may have arrested the disease," he told ABC News. The treatment, which carried a risk of death of eight per cent several years ago, was performed in Sydney after Dr Andrews was unable to get the green light from peers in Canberra. It has also given hope to other sufferers of the disease. Dr Andrews said the treatment offered between a 60 per cent and 80 per cent chance of halting the disease in some patients and a good chance of reversing it in others. Almost 20,000 Australians have MS, which affects the central nervous system, prevents nerve impulses from travelling to the brain, spinal cord and eyes. While the treatment appears to have reversed the progress of the degenerative disease in Mr Leahy, there is no cure. Source: smh.com.au � 2009. Fairfax Digital (15/12/09)

New source discovered for the generation of nerve cells in the brain

Thu, 03 Dec 2009 04:45:00 EDT

The research group of Professor Magdalena Gotz of Helmholtz Zentrum Munchen and Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitat (LMU) Munich has made a significant advance in understanding regeneration processes in the brain. The researchers discovered progenitor cells which can form new glutamatergic neurons following injury to the cerebral cortex. Particularly in Alzheimer's disease, nerve cell degeneration plays a crucial role. In the future, new therapeutic options may possibly be derived from steering the generation and/or migration mechanism. These findings have been published in the current issue of the renowned journal Nature Neuroscience. Until only a few years ago, neurogenesis - the process of nerve cell development - was considered to be impossible in the adult brain. The textbooks asserted that dead nerve cells could not be replaced. Then researchers discovered regions in the forebrain in humans in which new nerve cells can be generated throughout life. These so-called GABAergic cells use gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), a neurotransmitter of the central nervous system. A research team of scientists led by Magdalena G�tz, director of the Institute of Stem Cell Research at Helmholtz Zentrum M�nchen and chair of the Department of Physiological Genomics of LMU, has now taken a closer look at this brain region in the mouse model. Their findings: Even in the forebrain, there are other nerve cells that are regularly generated - the so-called glutamatergic nerve cells, which use glutamate as neurotransmitter. The stem cell researchers could prove this by means of a specific transcription factor: Tbr2 is only present in progenitor cells of glutamatergic nerve cells. The newly generated nerve cells in the adult organism are located in the olfactory bulb, the region of the brain involved in the sense of smell. Nerve cells that use glutamate as a neurotransmitter are also responsible for memory - storing and retrieving information. In Alzheimer dementia, alterations in the signal transduction pathways of these special cells play a significant role. Magdalena G�tz explained the reason why this finding is so important: "Neural progenitor cells can generate these newly discovered glutamatergic nerve cells for the neighboring cerebral cortex - for example after brain injury." The research group was able to demonstrate this on the mouse model: There the cells migrated into the damaged neighboring cerebrum tissue and generated mature neurons. Accordingly, progenitor cells could then replace degenerate nerve cells. "Now it will be interesting to find out whether this process also takes place in humans, particularly in Alzheimer's patients," said Magdalena G�tz, "and also whether the process can be kept under control to avoid massive cell death." One therapeutic approach would then be to attempt to stimulate the body's own replacement mechanism. Further Information Original Publication: Monika S Brill, Jovica Ninkovic, Eleanor Winpenny, Rebecca D Hodge, Ilknur Ozen, Roderick Yang, Alexandra Lepier, Sergio Gasc�n, Ferenc Erdelyi, Gabor Szabo, Carlos Parras, Francois Guillemot, Michael Frotscher, Benedikt Berninger, Robert F Hevner, Olivier Raineteau & Magdalena G�tz: Nature Neuroscience, Volume 12 No 11 pp1351-1474 (doi:10.1038/nn.2416) Source: Medical News Today � 2009 MediLexicon International Ltd (03/12/09)

Warning on cancer risk from stem cell therapy

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 04:42:00 EDT

Experts fear that a Victorian man with leukaemia may be the first Australian ''infected'' with cancer after treatment at a private overseas stem cell therapy centre. Stem cell specialists and patient support groups are calling for more public education about the dangers of such services, saying they get hundreds of calls a year from people considering using them - and the numbers are rising. The companies advertise on the internet and via local information sessions, offering injections of foetal stem cells and stem cells extracted from the patient's spinal cord. They claim to treat conditions such as Alzheimer's, multiple sclerosis, diabetes, autism and spinal injury. Private, largely unregulated clinics in Asia and Europe charge tens of thousands of dollars plus travel costs. However few have published, clinical proof of their efficacy, relying instead on slick websites and individual testimonies. Advocacy groups for people targeted as possible clients will meet in Canberra today to discuss how to protect people from being emotionally and financially exploited. The stem cell treatments ranged in quality and safety but very few, if any, offered genuine hope, said Dr Kirsten Herbert, a hematologist at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre and clinical adviser to the Australian Stem Cell Centre (ASCC). ''One man in Queensland paid $40,000 for a treatment [at a private German clinic] and was told he needed two or three more [visits] for a treatment that I cannot imagine, even with the most blue-sky open mind, could have helped him,'' she said. ''But they will take his money and not do anything to look after him when he leaves. If we practised a treatment like that we would be disbarred.'' Dr Herbert plans next month to investigate the case of a Victorian man being treated for leukaemia, which was diagnosed after his recent return from overseas stem cell therapy. She said it was difficult to prove a link, but there was an international precedent: in February the journal PLoS Medicine reported the case of a teenage Israeli boy who developed brain tumours from experimental stem cell injections at a Russian clinic. Dr Herbert said cancer was a rare but possible side-effect of experimental stem cell therapy. ''Most stem cells grow in a culture that is exposed to proteins and hormones that encourage growth, and cancer is out-of-control growth, so these cells have a greater potential to cause cancer,'' she said. Other risks included contamination from animal products used in laboratory processing of the stem cells, which could introduce Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. Some clinics also instructed patients to go on medication to suppress their immune systems, with potentially dangerous side-effects. ''They don't follow these patients up,'' Dr Herbert said. ''They prescribe and wave goodbye without any duty of care.'' The financial and emotional risks to patients were just as great, Dr Herbert said. ''Most likely, the treatment you are going to receive is not going to work.'' It was important not to demonise people who sought these cures, but instead to help them find the right advice. Patient advocacy groups are meeting stem cell experts in Canberra today to discuss a co-ordinated approach to public education on overseas experimental treatments. The ASCC is about to release a patient handbook to help people critically analyse stem cell treatments. It has a list of questions to ask before signing up. Source: The Age.com.au � 2009 Fairfax Digital (23/11/09)

Modifying neural stem cells improves their therapeutic efficacy in MS model

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 02:54:00 EDT

Stem cells isolated from the brain of adult mice (adult neural stem cells [aNSCs]) have shown very modest therapeutic effects in a mouse model of the chronic inflammatory neurodegenerative disease multiple sclerosis. But now, Guang-Xian Zhang and colleagues, at Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, have developed an approach to enhance the therapeutic effects of aNSCs in this model of multiple sclerosis. The research is reported in the Journal of Clinical Investigation. Specifically, the researchers genetically engineered aNSCs to express the anti-inflammatory molecule IL-10 and found that these cells induced more extensive functional and pathological recovery from ongoing disease than did nonengineered aNSCs. Importantly, the IL-10-aNSCs mediated their effects in multiple ways, suppressing immune system attack of nerve cells, promoting nerve cell repair, and promoting production of the nerve cell protective sheath. The authors hope these results might increase the chance that aNSC-based therapies might one day be developed for clinical use. Journal reference: 1.Yang et al. Adult neural stem cells expressing IL-10 confer potent immunomodulation and remyelination in experimental autoimmune encephalitis. Journal of Clinical Investigation, 2009; DOI: 10.1172/JCI37914 Source: ScienceDaily � 1995-2009 ScienceDaily LLC (03/11/09)

Adult eyes cells can be transformed into pluripotent stem cells without introducing foreign genetic material

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 03:22:00 EDT

Scientists have overcome a key barrier to the clinical use of stem cells with a technique which transforms regular body cells into artificial stem cells without the need for introducing foreign genetic materials, which could be potentially harmful. The research, published in Stem Cells, suggests that cells taken from a patient's eye can be "reprogrammed" to replace or restore cells lost to degenerative diseases. The research, led by Professor Iqbal Ahmad and co-authors from the University of Nebraska Medical Center, is the first proof in principle that somatic, or body cells, can be reprogrammed into induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) simply through the influence of the microenvironment in which the sampled cells are cultured. Until now genetic materials were introduced into somatic cells to re-programme them to become pluripotent, enabling them to generate cells of all three embryonic lineages. "Our findings provide evidence for an emerging view that somatic cells may be reprogrammed safely and simply by defined chemicals and other factors, which may facilitate their clinical use," said Ahmad. "The next step is to know how robust the reprogramming is and what existed within the microenvironment to cause it." The team sampled progenitor eye cells, which regenerate the eye's cornea, from laboratory rats. By reprogramming them to resemble stem cells they acquired the properties necessary to replace or restore neurons, cardiomyocytes, and hepatocytes, cell types which are degenerated in Parkinson's disease, heart disease, and liver disease. This reprogramming technique may allow 'autologous cell transplantation', where the donor of the cells is also the recipient. This is preferable to using cells from another person which may cause the patient's immune system to reject the transplanted cells. Also, because this technique involves the use of iPSCs derived from adult eye cells and not embryonic stem cells (ES) it side steps many of the ethical dilemmas which have embroiled stem cell research. "This research shows that it is possible to take cells from a patient's eye without affecting vision and reprogram them for use in autologous cell therapy to replace or rescue degenerating cells," concluded Ahmad, "this would allow us to circumvent ethical issues and the problems caused by the immune system rejecting foreign cells." Source: 7th Space Interactive � 2009 7thSpace Interactive (26/10/09)

'Ethical' stem cell crop boosted

Mon, 19 Oct 2009 04:47:00 EDT

US researchers have found a way to dramatically increase the harvest of stem cells from adult tissue. It is a practical step forward in techniques to produce large numbers of stem cells without using embryos. Using three drug-like chemicals, the team made the procedure 200 times more efficient and twice as fast, the Nature Methods journal reported. It is hoped stem cells could one day be widely used to repair damaged tissue in diseases and after injuries. Much of the work on stem cells has focused on those taken from embryos as they have an unlimited capacity to become any of the 220 types of cell in the human body - a so-called pluripotent state. But this has proven controversial and some campaigners have objected to their use on the grounds that it is unethical to destroy embryos in the name of science. The creation of stem cells from human adult skin cells was first reported in 2007 by Japanese and US researchers, opening the way for new sources of stem cells. It was done by using viruses to insert four genes into the cells which prompt the switching on and off of other genes and cause the cells to revert to stem cells. But the process took weeks and the success rate was only about one in 10,000 cells. Better and faster The latest research builds on that process by adding specific chemicals to improve the process. The Scripps Research Institute team had already boosted the number of cells created with two compounds initiating a naturally occurring process that moves the cell nearer to a stem-cell like state. But they have now discovered that by adding thiazovivin, a small molecule involved in cell survival, they doubled that to get 200 times the number of transformed cells. The final process also took two weeks compared with a month needed for the original. Study leader Professor Sheng Ding said they had manipulated a "fundamental" process in the cell. "Both in terms of speed and efficiency, we achieved major improvements over conventional conditions," he said. "This is the first example in human cells of how reprogramming speed can be accelerated. "I believe that the field will quickly adopt this method, accelerating research significantly." Dr Keisuke Kaji, a stem cell researcher at the Medical Research Council Centre for Regenerative Medicine in Edinburgh said the technique was a "great advance" in cell reprogramming technology. He added it had already been shown in mouse cells but this was the first time in human cells. "I am interested in how widely this drug can have positive effect, for example, if it helps to generate induced pluripotent stem cells from old people's cells which are usually more difficult to reprogram and if it can improve the efficiency in non-viral reprogramming strategies." Source: BBC News � British Broadcasting Corporation 2009 (19/10/09)

Safety call over stem cell trips

Fri, 04 Sep 2009 02:16:00 EDT

Safety call over stem cell trips A clampdown on unproven and potentially unsafe stem cell research is being called for by an expert group. Bionet, a group of expert Chinese and European doctors, lawyers and bioethicists, says countries throughout the world must develop more effective regulation for this emerging science. They say desperate patients are being subjected to a huge amount of hype when they travel abroad for treatments. The only way to counter that is through proper clinical trials, they say. Professor Nicholas Rose, from the London School of Economics, who led the group, said Bionet's team had talked to physicians in China and Europe because China had now overtaken India as the place where pharmaceutical companies were carrying out most of their trials. They had provided a wealth of anecdotal evidence about their concerns that stem cell research was being moved too rapidly into clinical practice without proper study. He said: "The key is informed consent. Doctors should be able to tell the patient about the short-term and long-term prognosis and the things we don't know about the risks." Recommendations Bionet is recommending that the safety and efficiency of stem cell treatments is investigated through state-of-the-art clinical trials before they are offered to patients. It also says doctors should be honest about the conditions under which germ cells, embryos or embryonic tissue has been collected. It also recommends that they should only be imported and used for research if they were collected under conditions which are either similar or equivalent to those in the receiving country. Nobody should be coerced by unfavourable circumstances or by being dependent on someone to donate cells or tissue for research, banking or treatment purposes, Bionet says. And there should be quality standards for stem cells used in clinical practice. These should include the bacterial and viral contamination applied during the production of the stem cells.

Watching stem cells repair the human brain

Thu, 20 Aug 2009 06:32:00 EDT

There is no known cure for neurodegenerative diseases such as Huntington's, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and Multiple Sclerosis. But new hope, in the form of stem cells created from the patient's own bone marrow, can be found - and literally seen - in laboratories at Tel Aviv University. Dr. Yoram Cohen of TAU's School of Chemistry has recently proven the viability of these innovative stem cells, called mesenchymal stem cells, using in-vivo MRI. Dr. Cohen has been able to track their progress within the brain, and initial studies indicate they can identify unhealthy or damaged tissues, migrate to them, and potentially repair or halt cell degeneration. His findings have been reported in the journal Stem Cells. "By monitoring the motion of these cells, you get information about how viable they are, and how they can benefit the tissue," he explains. "We have been able to prove that these stem cells travel within the brain, and only travel where they are needed. They read the chemical signalling of the tissue, which indicate areas of stress. And then they go and try to repair the situation." Tracking live cells in the brain To test the capabilities of this innovative new stem cells, Dr. Cohen created a study to track the activity of the live cells within the brain using the in-vivo MRI at the Strauss Centre for Computational Neuro-Imaging. Watching the live, active cells has been central to establishing their viability as a therapy for neurodegenerative disease. Dr. Cohen and his team of researchers took magnetic iron oxide nanoparticles and used them to label the stem cells they tested. When injected into the brain, they could then be identified as clear black dots on an MRI picture. The stem cells were then injected into the brain of an animal that had an experimental model of Huntington's disease. These animals suffer from a similar neuropathology as the one seen in human Huntington's patients, and therefore serve as research tool for the disease. On MRI, it was possible to watch the stem cells migrating towards the diseased area of the brain. "Cells that go toward a certain position that needs to be rescued are the best indirect proof that they are live and viable," explains Dr. Cohen. "If they can migrate towards the target, they are alive and can read chemical signalling." An ethically viable stem cell This study is based on differentiated mesenchymal cells (MSC), which were discovered at Tel Aviv University. Bone marrow cells are transformed into NTFs-secreting stem cells, which can then be used to treat neurodegenerative diseases. This advance circumvents the ethical debate caused by the use of stem cells obtained from embryos. Although there is a drawback to using this particular type of stem cell - the higher degree of difficulty involved in rendering them "neuron-like" - the benefits are numerous. "Bone marrow-derived MSCs bypass ethical and production complications," says Dr. Cohen, "and in the long run, the cells are less likely to be rejected because they come from the patients themselves. This means you don't need immunosuppressant therapy." Working towards a real-life therapy Dr. Cohen says the next step is to develop a real-life therapy for those suffering from neurodegenerative diseases. The ultimate goal is to repair neuronal cells and tissues. Stem cell therapy is thought to be the most promising future therapy to combat diseases such as Multiple Sclerosis, Huntington's, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases, and researchers may also be able to develop a therapy for stroke victims. If post-stroke cell degeneration can be stopped at an early stage, says Dr. Cohen, patients can live for many years with a good quality of life. In collaboration with Dr. Cohen, this work on tracking live stem cells in the brain was done by Noam Shemesh, a Ph.D. candidate in the School of Chemistry at Tel Aviv University, and Dr. Ofer Sadan from the group of Drs. Daniel Offen and Eldad Melamed from the Felsenstein Medical Research Center at the Rabin Medical Center. Source: Science Daily � 1995-2009 ScienceDaily LLC (20/08/09)

Progress is reported on repairing damaged nerves with stem cells

Mon, 03 Aug 2009 10:53:00 EDT

Moving one step closer to developing a possible therapy for repairing spinal cord injuries and neurological diseases, scientists at the University of California San Diego say they have successfully guided regenerating nerve axons to cell targets, where they re-establish connections essential to any recovery. "It was a breakthrough a few years ago to finally get axons to regenerate," said Dr. Mark Tuszynski, a professor of neurosciences and part of a team of scientists from UCSD, the San Diego Veterans Affairs Medical Center and UCLA that reported the achievement in yesterday's online edition of the journal Nature Neuroscience. "With this advance, we've shown it's possible to direct an axon to find the correct target from among potentially millions of incorrect ones in the spine and brain and make the right connection." Axons are long, fragile fibers connecting nerve cells. They are the conduits through which electrical signals pass between neurons, from stimulus to brain and back. In spinal cord injuries, axons are damaged and severed, cutting off neural communications. The result is sensory loss and possible paralysis. A survey this year by the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation found 1.275 million Americans have suffered a spinal cord injury and more than 5.6 million Americans live with some form of paralysis. Stroke was the leading cause of paralysis (29 percent), followed by spinal cord injuries (23 percent) and multiple sclerosis (17 percent). Tuszynski and colleagues were able to restore severed neural connections in laboratory rats through a painstaking combination of therapies. They injected a benign virus carrying a natural growth factor called neurotrophin-3, a type of chemical hormone, into the targeted tissue site. The growth factor behaves like a magnet, attracting growing axons to it............. For the full report please go to MSRC: MS Research News : Stem Cell Research & Treatment : General Stem Cell Research : Neural Stem Cells

Discovery of a mechanism controlling the fate of hematopoietic stem cells

Fri, 31 Jul 2009 03:52:00 EDT

Hematopoietic stem cells are capable of manufacturing all types of blood cells. But which factors influence the production of a specific type of cell? Until now, it was thought that this was a random process. At the Centre d'Immunologie de Marseille-Luminy (1), a team of CNRS and Inserm researchers led by Michael Sieweke has discovered the factors that determine the type of cells produced. The mechanism they have demonstrated in the mouse involves one factor intrinsic to the cell and one extrinsic factor. These results were published in the journal Cell on July 24, 2009. Stem cells are a source of much hope, thanks to their extraordinary ability to produce all types of cell in the body or an organ, depending on their origin. Scientists are now trying to understand the mechanisms that commit stem cells to a particular specialization. At the Centre d'Immunologie de Marseille-Luminy, CNRS and INSERM researchers have been working on mouse hematopoietic stem cells. They studied the development of myeloid cells, a lineage of white blood cells that combats microorganisms by "eating" them, by releasing toxins or by alerting other specialized immune cells. Until now, it was thought that the production of different specialised cells from a hematopoietic stem cell was a random process. Sieweke's team has discovered that in the case of myeloid cells, it is the combined action of two proteins which is relevant; one protein that is situated inside the cell (transcription factor) and the other outside (a cytokine). Transcription factors are capable of switching genes on or off. The identity of a cell is the combination of active genes it possesses. Because of this, scientists already suspected that transcription factors played an important role in the orientation of differentiation. They also knew that blood cells can only prosper in an environment containing a particular cytokine, a type of hormone specific to each cell type. But until now, they thought that cytokines assisted the survival and renewal of cells without affecting their "fate". The team in Marseille has now shown that a specific cytokine (M-CSF) places stem cells on a "myeloid pathway", but that these stem cells can only follow this path if levels of a certain transcription factor (MafB) within the cells is low. These findings help to solve a mystery that has fascinated specialists during the past fifty years. In the longer term, these results may throw new light on the mechanisms of leukemia, where abnormal stem cells remain "undecided" and are still able to escape therapy. Until now, studies on hematopoietic stem cells had opened the way to research on stem cells in other tissues. In this context, the results achieved and published by Michael Sieweke and his colleagues may provide more general information on how stem cells function (in the brain, muscle or intestine). Journal reference: 1.Sandrine Sarrazin, Noushine Mossadegh-Keller, Taro Fukao, Athar Aziz, Frederic Mourcin, Laurent Vanhille, Louise M. Kelly-Modis, Philippe Kastner, Susan Chan, Estelle Duprez, Claas Otto and Michael H. Sieweke. MAFB Restricts M-CSF Dependent Myeloid Commitment Divisions of Hematopoietic Stem Cells. Cell, 24 July 2009 Source: Science Daily � 1995-2009 ScienceDaily LLC (31/07/09)

Healing our brains, changing our selves?

Thu, 16 Jul 2009 01:56:00 EDT

In using stem cells to treat brain disorders, scientists might be tampering unwittingly with the deepest reaches of human experience: our personality, our mood and behaviour, perhaps even our sense of self. While nobody knows how likely such side effects are, a group of scientists and philosophers at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Md., says they are a cause for concern and need to be addressed. Until now, the public debate about stem cells has centered on the moral problems of harvesting the most potent cell type-embryonic stem cells-from human embryos. But the science has already moved ahead. Earlier this year, California biotech company Geron received approval to use embryonic stem cells in an attempt to treat spinal cord injuries; and on June 8, StemCells Inc., another California biotech, completed the first clinical trial using neural stem cells to treat Batten disease, a rare and fatal disorder that gradually breaks down brain tissue. Stem cell trials are also lined up or ongoing for stroke, Parkinson's disease and Huntington's disease. In any clinical trial, safety is the first issue scientists study. But as they race to develop treatments for neurological disorders, they might miss the philosophical fine print. "Scientists certainly don't always think through all of the implications of their work," says Debra Mathews, the geneticist-turned-bioethicist who convened the working group at Hopkins. In their latest paper, published in the May issue of The American Journal of Bioethics, Mathews and her colleagues suggested that grafting stem cells into a person's brain might lead to forgetting important memories and facts, to a more subdued or aggressive personality, or to altered sexual desire. Although the risk of such changes may appear low, Mathews says, "there aren't any data. We can extrapolate from preclinical trials, but I don't think that's particularly useful, because, you know, we can't ask a mouse how he's feeling today......................................" For the full article please go to MSRC: MS Research News : Stem Cell Research & Treatment : General Stem Cell Research : Neural Stem Cells - http://www.msrc.co.uk/index.cfm?fuseaction=show&pageid=1826

Stem cell transplant study shows promise for Multiple Sclerosis

Wed, 10 Jun 2009 06:03:00 EDT

U.S. researchers have reversed multiple sclerosis symptoms in early stage patients by using bone marrow stem cell transplants to reset the immune system. Some 81 percent of patients in the early phase study showed signs of improvement with the treatment, which used chemotherapy to destroy the immune system, and injections of the patient's bone marrow cells taken beforehand to rebuild it. "We just start over with new cells from the stem cells," said Dr. Richard Burt of Northwestern University in Chicago, whose study appears in the journal Lancet Neurology. Multiple sclerosis occurs when the immune system mistakenly attacks the myelin sheath protecting nerve cells. It affects 2.5 million people globally and can cause mild illness in some people and permanent disability in others. Symptoms may include numbness or weakness in the limbs, loss of vision and an unsteady gait. "MS usually occurs in adults," Burt said in a telephone interview. Before they get the disease, their immune systems work well, he said, but something happens to make the immune system attack itself. His approach is aimed at turning back the clock to a time before the immune system began attacking itself. Burt said the approach -- called autologous non-myeloablative hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation -- is a bit gentler than the therapy used in cancer patients because rather than destroying the entire bone marrow, it attacks just the immune system component of the marrow, making it less toxic. Commenting on the study, Helen Yates, MSRC Chief Executive said, "This further piece of research into the use of stem cells with Multiple Sclerosis patients provides another piece of evidence that stem cells could one day provide clear therapies and treatments for MS. MSRC hopes that further work in this area proves as positive as this piece of research..........................." For the full report please go to MSRC: MS Research News : Stem Cell Research & Treatment : Multiple Sclerosis Specific Stem Cell Research - http://www.msrc.co.uk/index.cfm?fuseaction=show&pageid=1405

Battling MS in Baghdad: Iraqi doctor uses stem cell therapies to help treat patients� diseases

Mon, 08 Jun 2009 10:08:00 EDT

Amid the blast walls and cacophony of Baghdad, patients at a local clinic are receiving potentially groundbreaking stem cell therapy, treatments that remain illegal and unproven in many countries. Dr. Abdul Majeed Alwan Hammadi is conducting the treatments for free, mostly on young Iraqis. He is a clinical hematologist who works in the Bone Marrow Transplant Center, part of Baghdad's Medical City complex of hospitals on the eastern banks of the Tigris River. Hammadi says he started therapies in 2008 and has so far treated 34 patients, the majority for multiple sclerosis. Unlike the more controversial embryonic stem cells, Hammadi's therapy uses a person's own adult stem cells, which researchers believe may contain various regenerative and adaptive properties that potentially hold the key to curing a number of diseases. Hammadi, who graduated from a medical college in Baghdad, claims no side effects have been reported in his patients. He said he is in the process of collecting his data for publication, while also seeking official license for the therapies from Iraq's Ministry of Health, which funds the center. One of Hammadi's patients and proponents of the therapy is the Rev. Andrew White, a British priest who runs St. George Church on Baghdad's Haifa Street. White was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1998 and said his vision, speech and motor skills were steadily degenerating until he began Hammadi's therapy in January. White helped Hammadi establish the bone marrow center in Baghdad in 2001, bringing the doctor and his staff to England for training in marrow transplant techniques. White said his slurred speech and other MS symptoms improved since starting the three-hour therapy sessions, which involves Hammadi extracting adult stem cells from White's blood and then injecting them into his spinal cord......................................... For the full story please go to MSRC: MS Research News : Stem Cell Research & Treatment : Stem Cell Treatment - http://www.msrc.co.uk/index.cfm?fuseaction=show&pageid=1375

Gordon Brown urged to commit millions for multiple sclerosis stem-cell research

Mon, 18 May 2009 03:52:00 EDT

Prime Minister Gordon Brown has been urged to guarantee millions of pounds for research into stem-cell therapies for multiple sclerosis. The MS society said that without large-scale government support for clinical trials the new hope offered by stem-cell science may be lost. It wants to see a specific injection of �3 million to move stem-cell technology from laboratories to hospitals. Four years ago the government announced �50 million for stem-cell science. But since then, the MS Society said, little has been done to promote research into practical stem-cell treatments for conditions such as multiple sclerosis. Stem cells are immature cells that can develop along a number of different pathways. Scientists hope some of them may be used to create replacement neurons for brain and nervous system diseases. Source: news.scotsman.com All rights reserved �2009 Johnston Press Digital Publishing (18/05/09)

Positive results of stem cell transplantation to treat Multiple Sclerosis reported

Fri, 08 May 2009 11:05:00 EDT

An article published in the Summer 2009 edition of Multiple Sclerosis Quarterly Report, a joint publication of United Spinal Association and the North American Research Committee on Multiple Sclerosis (NARCOMS), highlights the positive initial results of patients who have improving neurologic function after receiving a stem cell transplant, despite no longer taking any MS medications. The results are reported in a National Institutes of Health (NIH)-sponsored study called HALT-MS to confirm whether high-dose immunosuppression followed by autologous stem cell transplantation will prevent MS attacks in patients who are not responding to available treatment options and ultimately protect against the degeneration of nerve fibers. The article, written by George H. Kraft, MD, MS, director of the Western MS Center in Seattle, Washington, and colleagues, reveals the promising outcomes of the first three patients entered into the HALT-MS Study, including a 27-year-old woman with an 8-year history of relapsing MS who was treated with five different MS drugs, but continued to have relapses. The study involves wiping out the patient's immune system through high-dose chemotherapy or other means, such as radiation, to destroy most blood cells and bone marrow. Blood "stem cells" with the capacity to generate new blood and immune cells are then transplanted into the patient. These stem cells can either be the patient's own or those from a matched donor. Once the cells are transplanted, they repopulate the bone marrow and restart building all the cell types found in the blood, a process called "engraftment". After transplantation, the patient would effectively have a "new" immune system that would not attack nerves in the brain and spinal cord as seen in MS. Currently, there are approximately 400 patients with MS worldwide who have been treated with stem cell transplantation. Research demonstrates that patients with highly active forms of relapsing-remitting MS have responded best to treatment. The Halt-MS Study is taking place at four centers in the US: The Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center/University of Washington Western MS Center; Ohio State University; Baylor College of Medicine; and M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, and is currently open to participants with severe relapsing forms of MS. Source: United Spinal Association (08/05/09)

Stem cells from fat tissue offer hope for Multiple Sclerosis treatment

Fri, 24 Apr 2009 02:40:00 EDT

A preliminary study on the use of stem cells obtained from a patient's own adipose tissue in the treatment of multiple sclerosis (MS) has shown promising results. The three case studies, described in BioMed Central's open access Journal of Translational Medicine, support further clinical evaluation of stromal vascular fraction (SVF) cells in MS and other autoimmune conditions. Thomas Ichim, from Medistem Inc., and Dr. Boris Minev, from the Division of Neurosurgery, University of California San Diego, worked with a team of researchers to demonstrate the possible effectiveness of SVF cells in MS treatment. Minev said, "All three patients in our study showed dramatic improvement in their condition after the course of SVF therapy. While obviously no conclusions in terms of therapeutic efficacy can be drawn from these reports, this first clinical use of fat stem cells for treatment of MS supports further investigations into this very simple and easily-implementable treatment methodology". MS is an autoimmune condition, in which the body's own defences attack nerve cells, resulting in loss of their fatty myelin sheath. The first symptoms usually occur in young adults, most commonly in women. It is believed that SVF cells, and other stem cells, may be able to treat the condition by limiting the immune reaction and promoting the growth of new myelin. According to Minev, "None of the presently available MS treatments selectively inhibit the immune attack against the nervous system, nor do they stimulate regeneration of previously damaged tissue. We've shown that SVF cells may fill this therapeutic gap". Minev and his colleagues provided the SVF treatment to three patients with MS. The first had suffered frequent painful seizures for the previous three years; after treatment he reported that the seizures had stopped completely and that he had seen significant improvements in his cognition and a reduction of spasticity in his arms and legs. The second patient reported improvements in his sense of balance and coordination, as well as an improved energy level and mood. The final patient had been diagnosed with MS in 1993. After SVF treatment in 2008, his gait, balance and coordination improved dramatically over a period of several weeks. According to Minev, "His condition continued to improve over the next few months and he is currently reporting a continuing improvement and ability to jog, run and even bicycle". Journal reference: Neil H Riordan, Thomas E Ichim, Wei-Ping Min, Hao Wang, Fabio Solano, Fabian Lara, Miguel Alfaro, Jeorge P Rodriguez, Robert J Harman, Amit N Patel, Michael P Murphy and Boris Minev. Non-Expanded Adipose Stromal Vascular Fraction Cell Therapy for Multiple Sclerosis. Journal of Translational Medicine, 2009 Source: ScienceDaily � 1995-2009 ScienceDaily LLC (24/04/09)

Genetically modified stem cells treat MS like disease in mice

Fri, 10 Apr 2009 04:03:00 EDT

Mice with a human equivalent of multiple sclerosis have been successfully treated using genetically modified stem cells, say a group of Australian researchers. The work, led by Dr James Chan of Monash University's Centre of Inflammatory Diseases, may lead to the development of a similar technique to treat autoimmune diseases in humans. Autoimmune diseases, such as type 1 diabetes and multiple sclerosis, are caused when immune cells, called T cells, incorrectly identify proteins created by the body as foreign objects, such as bacteria, and attack them. To prevent theese rogue T cells from entering the bloodstream, the immune system lures them with 'self-proteins' while they are developing in the thymus. T cells that bind tightly to these self-proteins are destroyed by the body's immune system. Some slip through this 'net' and for some people result in auto-immune disease. Fully recovered Chan and colleagues genetically modified a specific type of stem cell, which produce more self-protein to ensure that dangerous T cells are more effectively removed from the system. In the study, which appeared in the Journal of Immunology, mice were inoculated to develop experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), the human equivalent of multiple sclerosis. The genetically modified stem cells were then transplanted into the mice. "After the transplantation, the mice are completely resistant to disease," says Chan. While initial results are promising, Chan says human clinical trials would not be possible for some time. "Before we transplant the stem cells we wipe out the immune system of the mice using high doses irradiation," says Chan. He says this level of irradiation would not suitable for humans. The team is now looking at ways of overcoming the need for radiation, in order to make the procedure clinically viable..................... For the full report please go to MSRC: MS Research News : Stem Cell Research & Treatment : Multiple Sclerosis Specific Stem Cell Research

Obama ends stem cell funding ban

Mon, 09 Mar 2009 12:42:00 EDT

US President Barack Obama has lifted restrictions on federal funding for research on new stem cell lines. Mr Obama signed an executive order in a major reversal of US policy, pledging to "vigorously support" new research. Ex-President George W Bush blocked the use of any government money to fund research on human embryonic stem cell lines created after 9 August 2001. Scientists say stem cell research will lead to medical breakthroughs, but many religious groups oppose the research. Analysts say Mr Obama's decision could also lead Congress to overturn a ban on spending tax dollars to create embryos. That ban, known as the Dickey-Wicker amendment, has been in place since 1996 and renewed every year by Congress. But Democrat Congresswoman Diana DeGette told the New York Times newspaper that several anti-abortion colleagues were open to the possibility of reversing the ban if this was necessary to help research. Before signing the executive order, Mr Obama said he hoped Congress would act on a bipartisan basis "to further support this research"............... For the full report please go to MSRC: MS Research News : Stem Cell Research & Treatment : General Stem Cell Research : Embryonic Stem Cells

Boost for safe stem cell treatment

Mon, 02 Mar 2009 02:11:00 EDT

Scientists in Britain and Canada have overcome the biggest obstacle to safe treatments with all-purpose stem cells, created directly from a patient's own skin. The discovery, announced on Sunday night by the journal Nature, is an important step to being able to replace failing tissues anywhere in the human body - while avoiding the ethical problem of creating and destroying human embryos. "Combining this work with that of other scientists working on stem cell differentiation, there is hope that the promise of regenerative medicine could soon be met," said Sir Ian Wilmut, director of the Medical Research Council Centre for Regenerative Medicine at Edinburgh University. The new technique eliminates the use of viruses, which would be too risky for patients but had previously been essential for converting adult cells directly into embryonic stem cells. Sir Ian's team worked with Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto, to find a virus-free way to create "induced pluripotent stem cells" - known as iPS cells - from human skin cells. Human iPS cells, first produced in 2007 by Japanese and US scientists, promise to revolutionise stem cell research. They behave like embryonic stem cells, with the potential to turn into any human tissue, but are created directly from adult cells............ For the complete report please go to MSRC: MS Research News : Stem Cell Research & Treatment : General Stem Cell Research : Adult Stem Cells

Stem cell inhibition of Multiple Sclerosis by IDO induction

Mon, 23 Feb 2009 03:44:00 EDT

One of the very interesting things is trying to figure out how stem cells mediate their therapeutic effects in conditions such as multiple sclerosis. In general there are three main ways: 1) Differentiation into neurons/oligodendrocytes; 2) Secrete growth factors; and 3) Immune modulation. We are going to discuss a publication (Matysiak et al. Stem cells ameliorate EAE via an indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase (IDO) mechanism. J Neuro Immunol 2008 Jan;193(1-2):12-23) dealing with immune modulation by stem cells in the mouse model of multiple sclerosis. The mouse model is called experimental allergic encephalomyelitis (EAE). In this paper they induced EAE by immunization with proteolipid protein peptide. Mice were injected on day 0. Disease severity increases. Mice recieved 2 million intravenous lineage negative stem cell antigen positive. Subsequent to injection disease severity decreased in the treated group. So the question was whether the stem cells were inducing immune modulation. To assess immune modulation the authors evaluated recall response and reported that there was suppressed PLP peptide specific recall response in the mice recieving stem cells. HOWEVER, restimulation of the T cells from mice treated with stem cells resulted in increased interferon gamma production. Interferon gamma is actually associated with inflammation, so this data was very interesting........................ For the full report please go to MSRC: MS Research News : Stem Cell Research & Treatment : Multiple Sclerosis Specific Stem Cell Research

Warning over 'stem-cell tourists'

Thu, 19 Feb 2009 04:48:00 EDT

"I felt I had nothing to lose. I am just going to get worse and worse anyway. I thought I'd just take the bull by the horns and go for it." Moira Ogilvie was desperate. So the multiple sclerosis sufferer joined an increasing number of Scots going overseas for experimental stem-cell treatment not available in the UK. But experts are increasingly concerned about the safety of such therapies, which have not been properly approved, and they say patients could be putting themselves at risk. Hundreds of "stem-cell tourists" from the UK are believed to head abroad for these treatments each year and the number of people asking medical experts for advice is growing. Scientists raised fresh concerns over such cases yesterday as it was reported that an Israeli boy treated with foetal stem cells at a clinic in Moscow went on to develop benign brain and spinal tumours linked to the therapy. But Ms Ogilvie, 53, has no regrets, despite the warnings from doctors. "I had tried everything else and nothing was working," she said. "There was no treatment in this country and my MS was just deteriorating." Ms Ogilvie went to China in November 2007 and stayed for four weeks. Her treatment cost �10,000 and included four injections of stem cells from donated umbilical cord, acupuncture, electric stimulation and physiotherapy. She hoped for a small improvement in her condition after the injections. However, Ms Ogilvie, of Broughty Ferry, Dundee, who has used a wheelchair for five years, said: "I didn't see it get better. Whether it would have got worse quicker, I don't know. "It is still very, very slowly getting worse, but I wouldn't say a great deal worse than what it was just over a year ago. Whether what's happening with me would have happened without the stem cells, nobody knows." A frustration for her and other patients is the slow progress towards making stem-cell therapies widely available in the UK. "They are all very busy in their labs, but they need to do what they call the transitional stage and get it to the patients," Ms Ogilvie said. "It needs a lot of fine-tuning, but I do think stem cells hold the key to unlocking cures, or at least helping to modify diseases such as MS." Interest in therapies developed using stem cells - the building blocks of the body - is growing rapidly and many people are travelling to countries such as China, India, Mexico and Germany to have treatments not available in Britain. Charities say that, as treatment options run out for people with conditions such as MS, Parkinson's and motor neurone disease, many feel they will try anything - however risky - in the search for a cure. Dr Marilyn Robertson, director of the Scottish Stem Cell Network, said more people were attending its public meetings to ask for advice about treatments. But she said scientists had serious concerns about the safety of these treatments. "We hold a lot of public outreach events to keep people informed and allow them access to people who they can ask these kind of questions of," she said. "Often having some control over their situation can be beneficial to patients who have these treatments. But as stem-cell biologists, we just want to make it clear that there are no approved treatments." Dr Insoo Hyun, from the International Society for Stem Cell Research, based in the United States, echoed the concerns of experts in Scotland. "My sense is this is a growing problem," he said. "There are a number of studies showing a proliferation of these stem-cell clinics popping up across the world. Patients need to know there are no proven therapies using embryonic stem cells." James Lawford Davies, a solicitor specialising in reproductive and genetic technologies, said there was plenty of anecdotal evidence to suggest hundreds of people were travelling overseas for stem-cell treatments. He said: "The problem is where they are not properly informed about what they are doing and the companies providing these treatments are not above board or open about the data that they have, if they have any data about these treatments at all." The Parkinson's Disease Society, Alzheimer Scotland, the Motor Neurone Disease Association and the Multiple Sclerosis Trust all reported a growing number of patients asking their advice about stem-cell therapies overseas. While they did not back going abroad, they accepted that many patients would do so but advised them to get advice from their GP........................ For the full article please go to MSRC: MS Research News : Stem Cell Research & Treatment : Stem Cell Treatment

Stem Cell transplant 'resets' immune system and reverses early stage Multiple Sclerosis

Fri, 30 Jan 2009 05:05:00 EDT

Researchers from Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine appear to have reversed the neurological dysfunction of early-stage multiple sclerosis patients by transplanting their own immune stem cells into their bodies and thereby "resetting" their immune systems. The patients in the small phase I/II trial continued to improve for up to 24 months after the transplantation procedure and then stabilized. They experienced improvements in areas in which they had been affected by multiple sclerosis including walking, ataxia, limb strength, vision and incontinence. The study will be published online January 30 and in the March issue of The Lancet Neurology. Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune disease in which the immune system attacks the central nervous system. In its early stages, the disease is characterized by intermittent neurological symptoms, called relapsing-remitting MS. During this time, the person will either fully or partially recover from the symptoms experienced during the attacks. Common symptoms are visual problems, fatigue, sensory changes, weakness or paralysis of limbs, tremors, lack of coordination, poor balance, bladder or bowel changes and psychological changes. Within 10 to 15 years after onset of the disease, most patients with this relapsing-remitting MS progress to a later stage called secondary progressive multiple sclerosis. In this stage, they experience a steady worsening of irreversible neurological damage. "This is the first time we have turned the tide on this disease," said principal investigator Richard Burt, M.D. chief of immunotherapy for autoimmune diseases at the Feinberg School. The clinical trial was performed at Northwestern Memorial Hospital where Burt holds the same title..................... Helen Yates, Chief Executive of the Multiple Sclerosis Resource Centre (MSRC) said: "The results of this study are extremely encouraging. Stem Cell treatment is an area that holds great hope for people with MS and this study provides another piece of the puzzle. That this study seems to show reversal of damage is particularly positive. MSRC has been reporting the development of stem cell treatment for a number of years now and we are delighted to see some of the predicted benefits coming to fruition." For the full report please go to MSRC: MS Research News : Stem Cell Research & Treatment : Multiple Sclerosis Specific Stem Cell Research

Embryonic stem-cell trial expected to get approval from the FDA

Fri, 23 Jan 2009 01:56:00 EDT

In a watershed moment for one of the most contentious areas of science and American politics, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration cleared the way for the first-ever human trial of a medical treatment derived from embryonic stem cells. Geron Corp., a Menlo Park, Calif., biotechnology company, is expected to announce Friday that it received a green light from the agency to mount a study of its stem-cell treatment for spinal cord injuries in up to 10 patients. The announcement caps more than a decade of advances in the company's labs and comes on the cusp of a widely expected shift in U.S. policy toward support of embryonic stem-cell research after years of official opposition. "This is the dawn of a new era in medical therapeutics," said Thomas B. Okarma, Geron's president and chief executive officer. The hope that stem-cell therapy will repair and regenerate diseased organs and tissue "goes beyond what pills and scalpels can ever do................." For the full report please go to MSRC: MS Research News : Stem Cell Research & Treatment : General Stem Cell Research : Embryonic Stem Cells

Funding halted for 'hybrid' stem cell research

Tue, 13 Jan 2009 04:45:00 EDT

Scientists say cash for research and existing projects has been cut off for 'moral reasons' Britain's effort to lead the world in stem cell research with the creation of human-animal "hybrid" clones has ground to a halt through lack of funding less than a year after the controversial technique was legalised. Funding bodies are refusing to finance the research and existing projects have been run down to the point at which they may end completely within weeks. One of the researchers involved in the work said last night that the grant applications may have been blocked by scientists on the funding committees who are morally opposed to the creation of cloned hybrid embryos derived from mixing human cells with the eggs of cows, pigs or rabbits. The decision threatens Britain's leading position in the world in terms of creating of stem cells from animal-human hybrid embryos, research which in the US is banned from receiving federal government funding................ For the full report please go to MSRC: MS Research News : Stem Cell Research & Treatment : General Stem Cell Research : Embryonic Stem Cells

Gene that keeps stem cells healthy

Wed, 07 Jan 2009 02:48:00 EDT

Carnegie Institution scientists in the United States say that a gene, named scrawny, seems to play a significant role in keeping a variety of stem cells in their undifferentiated state. Writing about their observations in the journal Science, the researchers said that understanding how stem cells maintain their potency has implications both the knowledge of basic biology and for medical applications. "Our tissues and indeed our very lives depend on the continuous functioning of stem cells. Yet we know little about the genes and molecular pathways that keep stem cells from turning into regular tissue cells-a process known as differentiation," says Allan C. Spradling, director of the Carnegie Institution''s Department of Embryology. Along with his colleagues Michael Buszczak and Shelley Paterno, Spradling has found that the fruit fly gene scrawny-so named due to the appearance of mutant adult flies-modifies a specific chromosomal protein, known as histone H2B, which is used by cells to package DNA into chromosomes.................. For the full report please go to MSRC: MS Research News : Stem Cell Research & Treatment : General Stem Cell Research

Long term outcomes of autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation in progressive Multiple Sclerosis

Mon, 08 Dec 2008 05:01:00 EDT

Abstract Background Progressive multiple sclerosis (MS) is going with continuously disability and unresponsive to high dose steroid and immunomodulation. The autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (ASCT) has been introduced in treatment of the forms of multiple sclerosis. Due to hematopoitic stem cell transplantation involved two processes that are conditioning with high dose immunosuppressive agents and stem cell transfusion. The short term outcomes (within 2 years after transplantation) do not preclude the immunosuppressant roles of conditionings, therefore the long term clinical outcomes after ASCT were evaluated for patients with progressive MS. Methods From Nov. 2001 to Jun. 2008, 34 patients with secondary progressive MS were treated with ASCT in our hospital. Of which, 26 patients were followed up more than 2 years till now. The median follow-up time was 40 months (3-83). There were 25 females (73.5%) and 9 males (26.5%). The median age of the patients was 36(20-51) years. Medium duration of disease was 36 months (15-156), and medium attacking interval time was 6.5 months (4-12). Peripheral blood stem cells were obtained by leukapheresis after mobilization with granulocyte colony-stimulating factor. BEAM, Tiniposide(600 mg/m2), melphalan(140mg/ m2), carmustin (300 mg/m2)and cytosine arabinoside (800 mg/m2), were administered as conditioning regimen. Outcomes were evaluated by the expanded disability status scale (EDSS). No maintenance treatment was administered if no disease progression.................. For the full report please go to MSRC: MS Research News : Stem Cell Research & Treatment : Multiple Sclerosis Specific Stem Cell Research

Bogus stem cell therapies sold on internet

Thu, 04 Dec 2008 04:30:00 EDT

Expensive, sham stem cell therapies are being hawked directly to desperate patients over the Internet, experts say. In response, the leading organization of stem cell scientists issued guidelines to steer research in the field toward responsible, practical uses. "Stem cell research is progressing so rapidly and has sparked a lot of interest in translational research [including] among patients in hopes for therapies," said Insoo Hyun, lead author of the paper outlining the guidelines and an associate professor of bioethics at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine in Cleveland. "At the same time," he said, "legitimate science is speeding ahead and getting to the point where there needed to be more of a road map to take the basic knowledge to clinical applications." Although Hyun had not heard of patients actually been harmed by so-called stem cell therapies, he said he feared that "it's only a matter of time." The new guidelines were published in the December issue of Cell Stem Cell.............. For the full report please go to MSRC: MS Research News : Stem Cell Research & Treatment : General Stem Cell

Japanese researchers make brain tissues from stem cells

Thu, 06 Nov 2008 06:02:00 EDT

Japanese researchers said Thursday they had created functioning human brain tissues from stem cells, a world first that has raised new hopes for the treatment of disease. Stem cells taken from human embryos have been used to form tissues of the cerebral cortex, the supreme control tower of the brain, according to researchers at the government-backed research institute Riken. The tissues self-organised into four distinct zones very similar to the structure seen in human foetuses, and conducted neuro-activity such as transmitting electrical signals, the institute said.

Autologous stem-cell transplantation showing promise in neurodegenerative disease

Sun, 05 Oct 2008 14:48:00 EDT

Autologous transplantation of bone-marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) has been performed safely in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) in a phase 1/2 trial. This procedure is feasible, presenter Dimitrios Karussis, MD, neurologist-neuroimmunologist said. It's not science fiction. We have passed from theory and discussion about stem cells to action. The results were presented here at the World Congress on Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis: 2008 Joint Meeting of the American, European, and Latin America Committees on Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis (ACTRIMS, ECTRIMS, LACTRIMS). Enhancing Regeneration We do have good medications to stop inflammation [in neurodegenerative disease], but still we see that disability accumulates over time and irreversible damage occurs to the neurons and axons, Dr. Karussis said. In addition to immunomodulation, we need something that can help or enhance the regeneration mechanisms of the brain. Bone-marrow-derived MSCs have strong neurotrophic and immunomodulatory properties, the authors write, and have been shown to be beneficial in several experimental models of neurological diseases, including experimental allergic encephalomyelitis, a model of MS. The ability to easily obtain MSCs from the patient, expand them in culture, and reintroduce them as an autologous graft, as well as the lack of risk for malignant transformation, make these cells excellent candidates for cell therapy, they write. Dr. Karussis and colleagues conducted a phase 1/2 trial in 19 patients with ALS and 15 with MS. The MS patients had progressive disease with accumulation of disability and had failed prior immunomodulatory therapy. Bone-marrow-derived MSCs were collected from the patients, cultured for 2 months, and then reinjected both intravenously and intrathecally. Patients received a mean of 64.4 million cells. After injection, the patients were followed up monthly for up to 25 months. Treatment was safe. By far the most common adverse effects were mild fever and headache, which generally started soon after the injection and resolved within 2 to 3 days. Injection-site reactions were mild, and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) revealed no unexpected pathologies............................... For the full report please go to MSRC: MS Research News : Stem Cell Research & Treatment : Multiple Sclerosis Specific Stem Cell Research

Stem cell patent granted for activating myelin in Multiple Sclerosis

Thu, 02 Oct 2008 05:29:00 EDT

Stem Cell Therapeutics Corp. has been issued Australian Patent No. 2003250697, entitled "Oligodendrocyte Production from Multipotent Neural Stem Cells". This patent covers methods of producing oligodendrocytes from neural stem cells using granulocyte-macrophage colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF), interleukin 3 (IL-3), or interleukin 5 (IL-5), either in vivo or in cell culture, as well as oligodendrocyte compositions produced by such methods. This is the first patent to issue in this patent family. Dr. Alan Moore, President and CEO, commented as follows: "This technology adds to the depth of our patent portfolio by expanding the repertoire of pharmaceutical agents we can use to activate neural stem cells, in this case to produce oligodendrocytes. Neurodegenerative demyelinating diseases such as multiple sclerosis are associated with loss of myelin-producing oligodendrocytes. Further, GM-CSF fits into our "repurposing" approach of using old drugs in new indications for expediting entry into the marketplace. Whether we develop this technology in-house or utilize it as an out-licensing opportunity, this patent adds to our arsenal of commercialization opportunities.........." For the full report please go to MSRC: MS Research News : Stem Cell Research & Treatment : Multiple Sclerosis Specific Stem Cell Research

Induced pluripotent stem cell advance

Fri, 26 Sep 2008 02:31:00 EDT

The Harvard Stem Cell Institute said yesterday that it is one step closer to creating induced pluripotent stem cells that would be safe for human use. Konrad Hochedlinger and other scientists from HSCI, Mass. General Hospital and the Joslin Diabetes Center announced that they have created mouse iPS cells using adenoviruses, according to a press release. Researchers have previously attempted to create iPS cells using retroviruses, though it was feared these could activate cancer genes. Adenoviruses do not implant in the DNA of their human host and, thus, pose a reduced threat of cancer. Thus far, none of the mice in the study have shown any sign of tumor growth................ For the full report please go to MSRC: MS Research News : Stem Cell Research & Treatment : General Stem Cell Research

Stem cell scientists urge clinical trials in U.S.

Wed, 24 Sep 2008 03:03:00 EDT

At a talk on stem cells and spinal cord injuries, professor Wise Young of Rutgers University described what happened once he began a series of five clinical trials in China. Americans told him they wanted to go to China to join the clinical trials. "It got me deep down," said Young, chairman of the Rutgers department of cell biology and neuroscience. "We should not be sending Americans to clinical trials in China. We should be doing clinical trials here in the U.S. It's shameful." On the closing day of the World Stem Cell Summit, speakers confronted a complex but inevitable question. After all of the talk about promising results when stem cells have been placed in animals and in laboratory dishes, has the science reached the point when stem cells can be tested in human patients? "I really believe that stem cell technology is at or approaching the tipping point, where this technology is really going to start to bring new therapies to patients," said John McNeish, the executive director of regenerative medicine at the pharmaceutical giant Pfizer. "We believe that in the future, and perhaps not so far in the distant future, cells will actually be therapies............." For the full report please go to MSRC: MS Research News : Stem Cell Research & Treatment : General Stem Cell Research

Source of multipotent stem cells with broad regenerative potential identified

Tue, 23 Sep 2008 02:29:00 EDT

In a promising finding for the field of regenerative medicine, stem cell researchers at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC have identified a source of adult stem cells found on the walls of blood vessels with the unlimited potential to differentiate into human tissues such as bone, cartilage and muscle. The scientists, led by Bruno P�ault, PhD, deputy director of the Stem Cell Research Center at Children's Hospital, identified cells known as pericytes that are multipotent, meaning they have broad developmental potential. Pericytes are found on the walls of small blood vessels such as capillaries and microvessels throughout the body and have the potential to be extracted and grown into many types of tissues, according to the study.

Human stem cells help mice in Multiple Sclerosis research

Mon, 08 Sep 2008 02:47:00 EDT

Human embryonic stem cells injected by Hadassah University Medical Center scientists in the brains of mice with an animal model of multiple sclerosis have for the first time halted the progress of the disease. The clinical and pathological symptoms of the potentially devastating autoimmune neurological disorder, which include muscle weakness and paralysis, were significantly reduced, the researchers said................ For the full report please go to MSRC: MS Research News : Stem Cell Research & Treatment : Multiple Sclerosis Specific Stem Cell Research

Scientists report a breakthrough in stem cell production

Fri, 01 Aug 2008 04:59:00 EDT

Reaching a milestone in stem cell research, scientists at Harvard and Columbia universities reported yesterday that they created the first stem cell lines from a sick person, then coaxed these cells to become nerve cells genetically matched to those that had gone bad in a patient's spinal cord. In a paper published online in the journal Science, the team claimed success at what researchers have long been racing to do: create in the laboratory a plentiful supply of cells that have the same genetic makeup as a patient with a particular disease. The work was done with patients suffering from ALS, or Lou Gehrig's disease, but the researchers said the same technique can be used to study many other genetic diseases. By comparing diseased cells to normal cells in a Petri dish, scientists hope to better understand what causes disease and test new drugs.........

Hope for Multiple Sclerosis sufferers as city scientist nears breakthrough

Mon, 28 Jul 2008 10:29:00 EDT

An Edinburgh scientist is nearing a breakthrough that will revolutionise the treatment of Multiple Sclerosis and change the lives of generations of future sufferers. Edinburgh University's Professor Charles ffrench-Constant, whose work has largely been funded with �2 million from the author JK Rowling, below, is working on a way of using stem cells to halt the deterioration of sufferers. He is carrying out tests on mice and rats to try to find a way of using the cells to repair damage to the brain. Combined with the earliest possible detection of MS in patients, Prof ffrench-Constant's work offers the best hope of eradicating its devastating effect on patients. He recently appeared in a documentary made by journalist and MS sufferer Elizabeth Quigley, who sees his tests as a possible "cure", although sadly for future generations rather than herself. Prof ffrench-Constant, head of the Edinburgh University Centre for Translational Research, is reluctant to talk so boldly, but is confident that progress can be made in combating the disease which affects about 10,000 Scots..................... For the full report please go to MSRC: MS Research News : Stem Cell Research & Treatment : Multiple Sclerosis Specific Stem Cell Research

Adult Stem Cells Activated In Mammalian Brain

Fri, 25 Jul 2008 05:24:00 EDT

Adult stem cells originate in a different part of the brain than is commonly believed, and with proper stimulation they can produce new brain cells to replace those lost to disease or injury, a study by UC Irvine scientists has shown. Evidence strongly shows that the true stem cells in the mammalian brain are the ependymal cells that line the ventricles in the brain and spinal cord, rather than cells in the subventricular zone as biologists previously believed. Brain ventricles are hollow chambers filled with fluid that supports brain tissue, and a layer of ependymal cells lines these ventricles. Knowing the cell source is crucial when developing stem cell-based therapies. Additionally, knowing that these normally dormant cells can be coaxed into dividing lays the groundwork for future therapies in which a patient's own stem cells produce new brain cells to treat neurological disorders and injuries such as Parkinson's disease, stroke or traumatic brain injury..................... For the full report please go to MSRC: MS Research News : Stem Cell Research & Treatment : General Stem Cell Research : Neural Stem Cells

GlaxoSmithKline promises $25m to Harvard stem cell research

Fri, 25 Jul 2008 05:17:00 EDT

GlaxoSmithKline has agreed to sponsor at least $25 million in work at the Harvard Stem Cell Institute in Cambridge, one of the largest investments in stem cell research ever by a major pharmaceuticals company. As part of the five-year agreement, GlaxoSmithKline has agreed to support research at Harvard University and four Harvard-affiliated hospitals to try to find cures for cancer, obesity, diabetes, and neurological, cardiac, and musculoskeletal diseases. The company also agreed to help fund Harvard's "seed grant" program, which supports early stage research. "We think stem cell research has huge potential to aid in the discovery of new medicines," said GlaxoSmithKline spokeswoman Melinda Stubbee.................... For the full report please go to MSRC: MS Research News : Stem Cell Research & Treatment : General Stem Cell Research

New technique to harvest stem cells

Wed, 09 Jul 2008 05:19:00 EDT

Embryos near the very beginning of development can yield stem cells for therapeutic applications without being destroyed in the process, research has shown. The discovery raises the prospect of overcoming many of the ethical objections to working with human embryonic stem cells (hESCs). Stem cells from human embryos have the ability to develop into virtually any part of the body. Potentially they could be used to treat a host of disorders, including currently incurable diseases such as type 1 diabetes and Parkinson's. But many people cannot accept the fact that to harvest the cells embryos have to be destroyed. To date stem cells have been obtained from five-day-old embryos called blastocysts consisting of around 100 cells. The cells are strongly bonded together so the embryo has to be broken apart........... For the full report please go to MSRC: MS Research News : Stem Cell Research & Treatment : General Stem Cell Research : Embryonic Stem Cells

Adult stem cells reprogrammed in the brain, hopes for diseases such as Multiple Sclerosis

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 02:16:00 EDT

In recent years, stem cell researchers have become very adept at manipulating the fate of adult stem cells cultured in the lab. Now, researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies achieved the same feat with adult neural stem cells still in place in the brain. They successfully coaxed mouse brain stem cells bound to join the neuronal network to differentiate into support cells instead. The discovery, which is published ahead of print on Nature Neuroscience's website, not only attests to the versatility of neural stem cells but also opens up new directions for the treatment of neurological diseases, such as multiple sclerosis, stroke and epilepsy that not only affect neuronal cells but also disrupt the functioning of glial support cells. "We have known that the birth and death of adult stem cells in the brain could be influenced be experience, but we were surprised that a single gene could change the fate of stem cells in the brain," says the study's lead author, Fred H. Gage, Ph.D., a professor in the Laboratory for Genetics and the Vi and John Adler Chair for Research on Age-Related Neurodegenerative Diseases........................ For the full report please go to MSRC: MS Research News : Stem Cell Research & Treatment : General Stem Cell Research : Adult Stem Cells

Nerve Cells Derived From Stem Cells And Transplanted Into Mice May Lead To Improved Brain Treatments

Wed, 25 Jun 2008 06:05:00 EDT

Scientists at the Burnham Institute for Medical Research have, for the first time, genetically programmed embryonic stem (ES) cells to become nerve cells when transplanted into the brain, according to a new study published in The Journal of Neuroscience. The research, an important step toward developing new treatments for stroke, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and other neurological conditions showed that mice afflicted by stroke showed tangible therapeutic improvement following transplantation of these cells. None of the mice formed tumors, which had been a major setback in prior attempts at stem cell transplantation. The team was led by Stuart A. Lipton, M.D., Ph.D., professor and director of the Del E. Webb Neuroscience, Aging, and Stem Cell Research Center at Burnham. Dr. Lipton is also a clinical neurologist who treats patients with these disorders. Collaborators included investigators from The Scripps Research Institute.

Scientists create molecule that causes nerve stem cells to mature

Mon, 16 Jun 2008 06:32:00 EDT

Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center claim to have made a small molecule that stimulates nerve stem cells to begin maturing into nerve cells in culture. The researchers hope that someday their work might open the door for a potential new technology to grow a person's own nerve stem cells outside the body, stimulate them into maturity, and then re-implant them as working nerve cells to treat various diseases. "This provides a critical starting point for neuro-regenerative medicine and brain cancer chemotherapy," Nature magazine quoted Dr. Jenny Hsieh, assistant professor of molecular biology, as saying. She said that creation of the molecule helped her team uncover some of the biochemical steps that happen as nerve cells mature, and showed that large-scale screening of compounds could provide starting points for developing drugs to treat disorders like Huntington's disease, Multiple Sclerosis, traumatic brain injury or cancer...........

Harnessing the healing power of stem cells in medicine will be tougher then first thought

Mon, 09 Jun 2008 06:01:00 EDT

A Nobel Prize-winning scientist says it could be tougher than first thought to harness the healing power of stem cells in medicine. It had been hoped a single "master" cell could potentially be used to repair all damage in a single organ. Professor Mario Capecchi, from the University of Utah, found surprising clues that different stem cells might be working together in the same organ. This means experimental treatments relying on the wrong type might fail. Professor Capecchi, writing in the Nature Genetics, said the finding suggested stem cell biology could be "more complicated" than previously thought, which could be bad news for patients hoping for the swift arrival of new therapies..............

FBI hunt pair who sold mum �15,000 multiple sclerosis 'cure'

Sun, 08 Jun 2008 14:28:00 EDT

Multiple sclerosis victim Janice Reed thought her prayers had been answered when she read about a pioneering cure that injected sufferers with stem cells. Advanced Cell Therapy promised a 90 per cent success rate and claimed one wheelchair- bound victim walked again. But mum-of-two Janice, 47, is �15,000 out of pocket and still needs a walking stick. And the people behind her treatment in Holland are on the run after being indicted on fraud charges by the FBI. Janice is one of hundreds who claim ACT bosses Laura Brown and Steve Van Rooyen exploited their desperation. She said: "I saw no improvement at all. Now I'm sure it was all just a lot of baloney................."

Companies Racing to Use Stem Cells to Find and Test New Drugs

Wed, 21 May 2008 04:55:00 EDT

Two companies that produce different types of stem cells have signed contacts to sell their products to drugmakers, showing the new technology will be used to help discover medicines not just to repair or replace damaged cells. California Stem Cells Inc., an Irvine, California, biotechnology company that turns embryonic stem cells into neurons, said today it's selling the brain cells to researchers trying to find drugs to treat Lou Gehrig's disease. CellDesign Inc., of New Haven, Connecticut, said it has contracts with four drugmakers seeking to use its product to find new medicines for conditions such as Parkinson's disease and schizophrenia. The efforts of these two closely held companies indicate stem cells will aid in the search for old-fashioned drugs long before they're infused into patients. It also suggests that the first businesses to benefit from stem cell technology will be traditional pharmaceutical companies and their suppliers not developers of new kinds of therapies.

MPs vote to allow scientists use hybrid embryos for Stem Cell research

Tue, 20 May 2008 02:40:00 EDT

Scientists have been given the green light to use animal-human hybrid embryos for medical research after MPs yesterday resisted calls for an outright ban. After hours of anguished debate over the ethics and science behind embryonic research, they decided to back the use of hybrid embryos in the search for medical cures and greater understanding of serious illnesses and allow parents of children suffering serious diseases to use in-vitro fertilisation to select "saviour siblings" who can act as donors for transplants to save their sick brothers and sisters. A proposed ban on hybrid embryos was voted down by 336 to 176, as the substantive part of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill sailed through the Commons. It will make Britain one of the few countries that regulates and sanctions the use of hybrid, or "admix", embryos and could also provide a boost to the bioscience industry in research centres such as at Edinburgh University................

Stem cell find linked to memory

Mon, 19 May 2008 08:02:00 EDT

Australian researchers have discovered stem cells in the brain that are vital for learning and memory. They have also worked out how to activate the cells so they produce new neurons, a discovery that could eventually lead to better treatments for degenerative brain conditions of ageing, such as dementia. The director of the Queensland Brain Institute, Perry Bartlett, said neuroscientists knew there had to be stem cells somewhere in the hippocampus - the part of the brain involved in important functions such as learning and memory - because people and other animals produced large numbers of new neurons in this region throughout life. But the stem cells had proved extremely difficult to find...............................

Gordon Brown in plea for embryo stem cell research

Mon, 19 May 2008 04:16:00 EDT

Prime Minister Gordon Brown called on Sunday for members of parliament to support research using embryonic stem cells, including human-animal hybrid embryos, ahead of an important vote in parliament. The issue of embryonic cell research has divided Brown's government -- some members of his cabinet oppose it on religious grounds -- at a time when he is faring poorly in opinion polls. Brown has allowed a "free vote" in parliament on Monday on some of the most controversial parts of a human reproduction bill, allowing members of his Labour Party to oppose them if they choose without being required to resign from the cabinet.

F.D.A. Delays Clinical Trial of Embryonic Stem Cells

Thu, 15 May 2008 08:06:00 EDT

The Geron Corporation announced Wednesday that its plans to begin the first clinical trial using embryonic stem cells had been delayed by federal regulators. The company, based in Menlo Park, Calif., had planned to begin a human trial soon to test its stem cell compound in patients with spinal cord injuries. The company received oral notice about the delay from the Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday and is awaiting a letter from the agency explaining its decision, said Geron�s chief executive, Thomas B. Okarma. Ren Benjamin, an analyst with Rodman & Renshaw, said the F.D.A. action was not surprising and was likely to delay rather than stop the trial..................

Bone marrow treatments restore nerves in multiple sclerosis patients

Wed, 07 May 2008 03:57:00 EDT

An experiment that went wrong may provide a new way to treat multiple sclerosis, a Canadian researcher said on Tuesday. Patients who got bone marrow stem-cell transplants -- similar to those given to leukemia patients -- have enjoyed a mysterious remission of their disease. And Dr. Mark Freedman of the University of Ottawa is not sure why. "Not a single patient, and it's almost seven years, has ever had a relapse," Freedman said..................

Neuralstem Announces Issuance of Core Technology Patent in Europe

Tue, 29 Apr 2008 01:57:00 EDT

Stem cell company, Neuralstem, Inc., announced today that the European Patent Office has granted Neuralstem a European patent EP0915968, covering the "Isolation, Propagation and Directed Differentiation of Stem Cells from Embryonic and Adult Central Nervous System of Mammals." The European patent has been validated in several European countries including France, Germany, Ireland, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom..........