http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?fid4ct=3071 Mon, 22 Jun 2009 18:16:30 EST Tue, 29 Jan 2008 04:48:00 EST http://backend.userland.com/rss RapidFeeds v0.1 -- http://www.rapidfeeds.com MSRC squiffy@msrc.co.uk en squiffy@msrc.co.uk http://www.msrc.co.uk/images/gallery/HIGHNOLINES146x150.jpg http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?fid4ct=3071 149 150 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) http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=4904702 stem cells http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=4904702 Wed, 10 Feb 2010 04:58:00 EST 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) http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=4872754 Multiple Sclerosis, Stem Cells http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=4872754 Fri, 29 Jan 2010 01:36:00 EST 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) http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=4692518 Multiple Sclerosis, Stem Cells http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=4692518 Tue, 15 Dec 2009 02:35:00 EST 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 Götz, director of the Institute of Stem Cell Research at Helmholtz Zentrum München 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 Götz 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 Götz, "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 Gascón, Ferenc Erdelyi, Gabor Szabo, Carlos Parras, Francois Guillemot, Michael Frotscher, Benedikt Berninger, Robert F Hevner, Olivier Raineteau & Magdalena Götz: Nature Neuroscience, Volume 12 No 11 pp1351-1474 (doi:10.1038/nn.2416) Source: Medical News Today © 2009 MediLexicon International Ltd (03/12/09) http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=4624088 Multiple Sclerosis, Stem Cells http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=4624088 Thu, 03 Dec 2009 04:45:00 EST 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) http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=4558707 Multiple Sclerosis, Stem Cells http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=4558707 Mon, 23 Nov 2009 04:42:00 EST 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) http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=4422080 Multiple Sclerosis, Stem Cells http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=4422080 Tue, 03 Nov 2009 02:54:00 EST 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) http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=4383203 Multiple Sclerosis, Stem Cells http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=4383203 Mon, 26 Oct 2009 03:22:00 EST 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) http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=4356096 Multiple Sclerosis, Stem Cells http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=4356096 Mon, 19 Oct 2009 04:47:00 EST 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. http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=4142837 Multiple Sclerosis, Stem Cells http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=4142837 Fri, 04 Sep 2009 02:16:00 EST 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) http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=4053067 Multiple Sclerosis, Stem Cells http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=4053067 Thu, 20 Aug 2009 06:32:00 EST 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 http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=3973570 Multiple Sclerosis, Stem Cells http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=3973570 Mon, 03 Aug 2009 10:53:00 EST 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) http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=3957312 stem cells http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=3957312 Fri, 31 Jul 2009 03:52:00 EST 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 http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=3880523 Multiple Sclerosis, Stem Cells http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=3880523 Thu, 16 Jul 2009 01:56:00 EST 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 http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=3733823 Multiple Sclerosis, Stem Cells http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=3733823 Wed, 10 Jun 2009 06:03:00 EST 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 http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=3727010 Multiple Sclerosis, Stem Cells http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=3727010 Mon, 08 Jun 2009 10:08:00 EST 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) http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=3640642 Multiple Sclerosis, Stem Cells http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=3640642 Mon, 18 May 2009 03:52:00 EST 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) http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=3605022 Multiple Sclerosis, Stem Cells http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=3605022 Fri, 08 May 2009 11:05:00 EST 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) http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=3569538 Multiple Sclerosis, Stem Cells http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=3569538 Fri, 24 Apr 2009 02:40:00 EST 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 http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=3535553 Multiple Sclerosis, Stem Cells http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=3535553 Fri, 10 Apr 2009 04:03:00 EST 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 http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=3472141 Embyonic Stem Cell Research http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=3472141 Mon, 09 Mar 2009 12:42:00 EST 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 http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=3457243 Adult Stem Cell Research http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=3457243 Mon, 02 Mar 2009 02:11:00 EST 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 http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=3420094 Multiple Sclerosis, Stem Cells http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=3420094 Mon, 23 Feb 2009 03:44:00 EST "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 http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=3413718 Multiple Sclerosis, Stem Cells http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=3413718 Thu, 19 Feb 2009 04:48:00 EST 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 http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=3299895 Multiple Sclerosis, Stem cells http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=3299895 Fri, 30 Jan 2009 05:05:00 EST 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 http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=3274195 Stem cells http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=3274195 Fri, 23 Jan 2009 01:56:00 EST 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 http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=3228512 Stem cells http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=3228512 Tue, 13 Jan 2009 04:45:00 EST 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 http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=3191930 Stem cells http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=3191930 Wed, 07 Jan 2009 02:48:00 EST 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 http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=3003814 Multiple Sclerosis, Stem cells http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=3003814 Mon, 08 Dec 2008 05:01:00 EST 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 http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=2968490 Multiple Sclerosis, Stem cells http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=2968490 Thu, 04 Dec 2008 04:30:00 EST 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. http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=2678237 stem cells http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=2678237 Thu, 06 Nov 2008 06:02:00 EST 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 http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=2385889 multiple sclerosis, stem cells http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=2385889 Sun, 05 Oct 2008 14:48:00 EST 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 http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=2373260 multiple sclerosis, stem cells http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=2373260 Thu, 02 Oct 2008 05:29:00 EST 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 http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=2328099 multiple sclerosis http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=2328099 Fri, 26 Sep 2008 02:31:00 EST 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 http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=2312940 Stem cells http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=2312940 Wed, 24 Sep 2008 03:03:00 EST 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 Péault, 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. http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=2292321 Stem cells http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=2292321 Tue, 23 Sep 2008 02:29:00 EST 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 http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=2151956 Multiple Sclerosis, Stem cells http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=2151956 Mon, 08 Sep 2008 02:47:00 EST 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......... http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=1945210 http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=1945210 Fri, 01 Aug 2008 04:59:00 EST 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 http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=1927637 Multiple Sclerosis http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=1927637 Mon, 28 Jul 2008 10:29:00 EST 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 http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=1891842 Stem cells http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=1891842 Fri, 25 Jul 2008 05:24:00 EST 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 http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=1891840 Stem cells http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=1891840 Fri, 25 Jul 2008 05:17:00 EST 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 http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=1722236 stem cells http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=1722236 Wed, 09 Jul 2008 05:19:00 EST 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 http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=1620412 Multiple Sclerosis, Stem cells http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=1620412 Tue, 01 Jul 2008 02:16:00 EST 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. http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=1546246 Stem cells http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=1546246 Wed, 25 Jun 2008 06:05:00 EST 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........... http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=1426141 Multiple Sclerosis, Stem cells http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=1426141 Mon, 16 Jun 2008 06:32:00 EST 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.............. http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=1309810 Stem cells http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=1309810 Mon, 09 Jun 2008 06:01:00 EST 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................." http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=1300389 Multiple Sclerosis, Stem cells http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=1300389 Sun, 08 Jun 2008 14:28:00 EST 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. http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=1074627 Stem cells http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=1074627 Wed, 21 May 2008 04:55:00 EST 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................ http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=1061162 Stem cells http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=1061162 Tue, 20 May 2008 02:40:00 EST 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............................... http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=1051499 Stem cells http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=1051499 Mon, 19 May 2008 08:02:00 EST 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. http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=1048140 Stem cells http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=1048140 Mon, 19 May 2008 04:16:00 EST 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.................. http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=994341 Stem cells http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=994341 Thu, 15 May 2008 08:06:00 EST 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.................. http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=917134 Multiple Sclerosis, Stem cells http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=917134 Wed, 07 May 2008 03:57:00 EST 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.......... http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=826523 Stem cells http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=826523 Tue, 29 Apr 2008 01:57:00 EST Stem-cell treatment could be used to help reverse the effects of multiple sclerosis within 15 years, a leading expert on the disease has said. Professor Charles ffrench-Constant, the director of a groundbreaking MS research centre in Edinburgh, said the treatment could be used to halt the decline of patients suffering from the debilitating nerve condition. In an interview with The Herald newspaper, Prof ffrench-Constant said stem cells could be used to help repair nerve damage caused by MS. He said he wanted to find a way to make the body rebuild myelin - the sheath which protects nerve fibres - using stem cells, which have the ability to turn into different types of tissue................... http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=743496 Multiple Sclerosis, Stem cells http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=743496 Wed, 23 Apr 2008 01:53:00 EST Chronic inflammation triggers bone marrow-derived blood cells to travel to the brain and fuse with a certain type of neuron up to 100 times more frequently than previously believed, according to a new study from the Stanford University School of Medicine. After the fusion, the blood-cell nuclei begin to express previously silent, neuron-specific genes. The surprise finding in mice suggests that the creation of the fused cells, called heterokaryons, may possibly play a role in protecting neurons against damage and may open new doors to cell-mediated gene therapy. "This finding was totally unprecedented and unexpected," said senior author Helen Blau, PhD, the Donald E. and Delia B. Baxter Professor and director of the Baxter Laboratory in Genetic Pharmacology. "We're getting hints that this might be biologically important, but we still have a lot to learn." The research, led by Clas Johansson, PhD, a postdoctoral scholar in Blau's laboratory, was published online in Nature Cell Biology on April 20............. http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=711346 Multiple Sclerosis http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=711346 Mon, 21 Apr 2008 04:37:00 EST Pluristem Therapeutics Inc. announced today that a preclinical study utilizing the Company's PLacental eXpanded (PLX) cells showed a statistically significant advantage in ameliorating functional deficiencies in a standard Multiple Sclerosis (MS) animal model. PLX cells are mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) obtained from the placenta and expanded using Pluristem's proprietary 3D PluriX™ technology............. http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=648291 Multiple Sclerosis, Stem cells http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=648291 Wed, 16 Apr 2008 09:13:00 EST Paralysed people could gain the use of their limbs again after scientists found a 'messaging system' that could be used to control adult stem cells. Researchers found the cells respond to chemical signals which instruct them to help repair tissue. The work, funded by the Medical Research Council, could eventually lead to the development of techniques to tell adult stem cells to mend the body. Scientists at the University of Manchester made the discovery while studying mesenchymal stem cells found in human bone marrow. These have the ability to relocate and develop into several types of cells and tissue. http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=593787 Stem cells http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=593787 Fri, 11 Apr 2008 07:54:00 EST Scientists have taken skin cells from patients with eight different diseases and turned them into stem cells. The advance means scientists are moving closer to using stem cells from the patient themselves to treat disease. This would mean they could circumvent the ethical and practical problems of using embryonic stem cells, which has sparked much opposition. Researcher Dr Willy Lensch, of Harvard Medical School, said the technique had "incredible potential". He said it could help scientists understand the earliest stages of human genetic disease............. http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=590581 Stem cells http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=590581 Mon, 07 Apr 2008 11:05:00 EST The creation of the U.K.'s first part-human, part-animal embryos may increase pressure on Parliament for tougher regulations on stem cell research. Lyle Armstrong and colleagues at Newcastle University made embryos using human cells and a cow egg, the college said yesterday in a statement on its Web site. Debate in the U.K. over the so-called hybrid embryos increased after Catholic leaders, in Easter sermons, attacked the technique used for making stem cells. Cardinal Keith O'Brien of Edinburgh said creating such embryos were ``experiments of Frankenstein proportion.'' Parliament is discussing changes to a 1990 law that governs stem cell research, including the hybrid work. U.K. scientists, who can conduct research U.S. President George W. Bush restricted in 2001, are concerned that they'll fall behind other countries if legislation before Parliament is defeated. Chinese and U.S. academics already have produced stem cells extracted from part- human, part-animal embryos................ http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=586513 Stem Cells http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=586513 Thu, 03 Apr 2008 02:38:00 EST Embryo research has pitted scientists against bishops, caused a cabinet split and divided the country. Religion, politics, medicine and ethics all collide in a debate that boils down to the question above. Is a bunch of cells just that: a bunch of cells, as scientists would have it, or is it, as the Catholic Church insists, a human being with a soul? It is the dispute that lies at the heart of the controversy over the Embryo Bill and it is as fundamental a difference of opinion as it is possible to imagine. Gordon Brown performed a political climbdown yesterday and promised Labour MPs a free vote on the most emotive measures in the Bill, in effect throwing open the debate to the entire country. It is a piece of legislation that challenges our deepest notion of what it is to be human and what it is right to sanction in the interests of scientific progress................ http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=577419 Stem Cells http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=577419 Wed, 26 Mar 2008 05:00:00 EST A midnight flight from Ottawa to Vancouver delivered something of a miracle to Jacky and Tom Telder of Surrey, B.C. There she was, the Telders' youngest child, Leah, walking towards them in the airport lobby late Monday amidst the disembarking passengers, grinning and waving a greeting. "That was amazing. She walked off. . . . I mean, there she was, actually walking," said Jacky of the moment. Months earlier Leah, 24, had taken a similar flight, in the opposite direction. That time, she was among the last to board the plane, hobbling unsteadily on a walker like an old woman. The multiple sclerosis that has afflicted her since her teens had, by that point, robbed her of most of her independence, blurred her vision, muddled her thinking and sapped her strength................... http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=568651 Multiple Sclerosis, Stem cells http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=568651 Mon, 17 Mar 2008 11:01:00 EST Most cells in the human brain are not nerve cells, but supporting cells (glial cells). They serve as a framework for nerve cells and play an important role in the wound reaction that occurs with injuries to the brain. However, what these 'reactive glial cells' in the brains of mice and men originate from, and which cells they evolve into was hitherto unknown. Now, the study group of Prof. Dr. Magdalena Götz is able to show that after injury, these reactive glial cells in the brains of mice restart their cell division. They then become stem cells from which nerve cells can form yet again under favourable cell culture conditions.......... http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=562974 Stem Cells http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=562974 Wed, 12 Mar 2008 03:33:00 EST When human umbilical cord blood cells (UCBC) were injected into aged laboratory animals, researchers at the University of South Florida (USF) found improvements in the microenvironment of the hippocampus region of the animals' brains and a subsequent rejuvenation of neural stem/progenitor cells. The research presented the possibility of a cell therapy aimed at rejuvenating the aged brain. "Brain cell neurogenesis decreases dramatically with increasing age, mostly because of a growing impoverishment in the brain's microenvironment," said co-author Alison Willing, PhD, of the USF Center of Excellence for Aging and Brain Repair. "The increase in neurogenesis we saw after injecting UCBCs seemed to be due to a decrease in inflammation." According to lead author Carmelina Gemma, Ph.D., of the James A. Haley Veterans Administration Medical Center (VA) and USF, the decrease in neurogenesis that accompanies aging is a result of the decrease in proliferation of stem cells, not the loss of cells. "In the brain, there are two stem cell pools, one of which resides in the hippocampus," explained graduate student and first author Adam Bachstetter. "As in other stem cell pools, the stem cells in the brain lose their capacity to generate new cells. A potent stressor of stem cell proliferation is inflammation................." http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=562101 Stem Cells http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=562101 Tue, 11 Mar 2008 04:54:00 EST A Californian biotech company claims that it has used carbon nanotubes to ‘reprogramme’ adult human cells to an embryonic-like state — a breakthrough that removes the elevated risk of cancer that blights other techniques. But uncertainties about the cells, which have yet to be reported in a peer-reviewed journal, have left many sceptical. Last year, researchers led by Shinya Yamanaka of Kyoto University demonstrated that by using just four genes it was possible to reprogramme adult human skin cells to a stem-cell-like pluripotent state — meaning that they could develop into any of the body’s cell types. These ‘induced pluripotent stem’ (iPS) cells hold tremendous therapeutic potential. But to insert the genes into the cells, researchers have had to use viral vectors, which can turn the cells cancerous. PrimeGen, based in Irvine, claims to have got around this problem by using single-walled carbon nanotubes — cylinders of carbon molecules only a few nanometers in diameter — to introduce a complex of around a dozen proteins, including the ones coded for by the four genes used by Yamanaka, plus a fifth called Nanog. The researchers used the nanotube delivery system to introduce genes into human testicular and retinal cells, and PrimeGen reports that they were quickly taken up by an impressive 80% of the cells. http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=561233 Stem Cells http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=561233 Mon, 10 Mar 2008 05:01:00 EST American researchers have developed a novel stem cell technique that may make it easier to study and treat thousands of disorders, including Huntingtons disease, muscular dystrophy, and diabetes. The developers of the new technique at the University of California, Irvine (UCI) describe it as a dramatically improved method for genetically manipulating human embryonic stem cells. As regards how the technique works, the researchers have revealed that it blends two existing cell-handling methods to improve cell survival rates, and to increase the efficiency of inserting DNA into cells. They claim that this procedure is 100 times more efficient than current methods at producing human embryonic stem cells with desired genetic alterations.................. http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=561225 Stem Cells http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=561225 Mon, 10 Mar 2008 04:42:00 EST After Barry Goudy was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1995, he began losing feeling in his left leg, then his vision started to go. "You sit and you cry and you wonder why you and then I went back to my neurologist and said tell me how I can fight this," he said. Barry enrolled in a clinical trial in 2003. After five days of chemotherapy to destroy his immune system doctors used his own stem cells to rebuild it. "I have no symptoms of MS. I do no treatment for MS, I do no shots," he said........................... http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=547587 Multiple Sclerosis, Stem cells http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=547587 Wed, 27 Feb 2008 04:40:00 EST Neural cells derived from human embryonic stem cells helped repair stroke-related damage in the brains of rats and led to improvements in their physical abilities after a stroke, in a new study by researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine. This study marks the first time researchers have used human embryonic stem cells to generate neural cells that grow well in the lab, improve a rat’s physical abilities and consistently don’t form tumors when transplanted.......... http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=536561 Stem Cells http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=536561 Wed, 20 Feb 2008 04:47:00 EST US scientists said they have successfully reprogrammed human skin cells to behave exactly as embryonic stem cells. The research was published in the Feb. 11 edition of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of the Sciences. This is the third such confirmation that the technique is feasible. "Our reprogrammed human skin cells were virtually indistinguishable from human embryonic stem cells," lead author Kathrin Plath, an assistant professor of biological chemistry at UCLA and a researcher with the Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research, said in statement.... http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=530335 Stem Cells http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=530335 Thu, 14 Feb 2008 04:10:00 EST President George W. Bush said Monday the US is increasing funds for "ethical" stem cell research that does not involve destroying human embryos. In his annual State of the Union address before Congress, Bush hailed the discovery announced last November of methods to re-program adult skin cells to act like embryonic stem cells. Such developments show "the potential to move us beyond the divisive debates of the past by extending the frontiers of medicine without the destruction of human life," Bush said, referring to the creation of stem cell lines for research that involves destroying human embryos..................... http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=514709 stem cells http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=514709 Tue, 29 Jan 2008 04:48:00 EST A doctor who worked for the couple accused of stem cell fraud, and who are currently fighting extradition to the US, is back in business in Cape Town. And one of his former patients, paraplegic Justine Asher, has warned off an Eastern Cape family desperate to find a treatment for a degenerative kidney disease that has already taken the life of one son and is now threatening the life of a second. However, the doctor's new employee, Regenecell, has denied any link between them and his previous employers, who are on the FBI's most-wanted list and face a 51-count indictment handed down by a federal grand jury in Atlanta in March 2006. The doctor in question, Jeff Peimer from Cape Town, was among those who offered her hope that she would walk again, Asher said. She paid R120 000 for stem cell therapy, including substantial costs to travel abroad to have the treatment. The treatment had no effect and Asher is now suing Peimer's previous employers, South African Stephen van Rooyen and his American girlfriend, Laura Brown, for damages amounting to R430 000................... http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=513899 multiple sclerosis, stem cells http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=513899 Mon, 28 Jan 2008 03:49:00 EST A tiny, implantable device can pull adult stem cells out of a living rat with greater purity than any present technique, a U.S. study found. The device was designed by Michael R. King, who was studying how white blood cells, called neutrophils, know how to migrate to a point of infection. He observed that near an injury, the walls of the nearby blood vessels expressed an adhesive protein and if passing neutrophils brushed against selectins they stick to the vessel wall, but did remain struck, the neutrophils rolled to the site................ http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=513893 stem cells http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=513893 Mon, 28 Jan 2008 03:41:00 EST UK scientists are objecting to a new law that would require researchers wishing to work on embryonic stem cells to obtain consent from the cells' donors. Yesterday, 29 researchers, including three Nobel laureates, published a letter in the Times arguing that while such consent should be required in the future, obtaining it retroactively for cell lines and disease-specific tissue banks already inexistence would be impossible, since many donors were anonymous.............. http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=508351 stem cells http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=508351 Wed, 23 Jan 2008 04:29:00 EST Abstract A number of practical problems need to be addressed before any form of cell therapy can be widely applied in patients with multiple sclerosis. The choice of cell type is one considered elsewhere in this issue; others include the question of axon loss, that of continuing inflammatory disease activity, the mode of delivery of cells (bearing in mind the presence of innumerable lesions scattered throughout the CNS), the problem of measuring directly or indirectly the impact (if any) of an intervention, the timing of any treatment and perhaps above all the safety of the patient. All converge on the one increasingly relevant underlying question: when should stem cell treatments begin to be tested in patients.................? http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=508350 multiple sclerosis, stem cells http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=508350 Wed, 23 Jan 2008 04:27:00 EST British scientists will try to create human-animal embryos for the first time after receiving the go-ahead from the government's fertility regulator yesterday. The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority said it had offered year-long licences to two teams of scientists that hope to use the embryos to study stem cells, the body's master cells that have the potential to form any tissue or organ. The decision ends 12 months of delay during which the HFEA has sought to clarify whether the creation of embryos by fusing animal and human tissues is legal and scientifically justified...................... http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=501629 stem cells http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=501629 Fri, 18 Jan 2008 03:38:00 EST A group of UC Irvine scientists recently published a study on a more efficient way to differentiate stem cells in the international journal, “Stem Cells.” This new method will significantly enhance opportunities to examine stem cells, which have the ability to self-renew and develop into numerous different types of mature cells. Stem cells have the potential to reverse the effects of widespread diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s by relieving the loss of brain cells, spinal cord injuries and various other conditions through the replacement of dying cells. The new DEP device uses dielectrophoresis to sort neural cells using their electric charges. The study found that different types of cells have different electric properties; therefore, stem cells intended to become astrocytes would react differently than those intended to become neurons. Specific frequencies will attract only certain types of cells.......... http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=497538 stem cells http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=497538 Mon, 14 Jan 2008 04:59:00 EST Advanced Cell Technology, Inc. together with colleagues announced today the development of five human embryonic stem cell (hESC) lines without the destruction of embryos. These new results have the potential to end the ethical debate surrounding the use of embryos to derive stem cells. In fact, the NIH report to the President refers to this technology as one of the viable alternatives to the destruction of embryos................ http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=494690 stem cells http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=494690 Fri, 11 Jan 2008 02:40:00 EST In a groundbreaking experiment published in Cloning & Stem Cells, scientists from International Stem Cell (ISC) Corp. derived four unique embryonic stem cell lines that open the door for the creation of therapeutic cells that will not provoke an immune reaction in large segments of the population. The stem cell lines are “HLA-homozygous,” meaning that they have a simple genetic profile in the critical areas of the DNA that code for immune rejection. The lines could serve to create a stem cell bank as a renewable source of transplantable cells for use in cell therapy to replace damaged tissues or to treat genetic and degenerative diseases..................... http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=471993 stem cells http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=471993 Fri, 21 Dec 2007 02:30:00 EST Two young faculty members at the University of California, Santa Cruz, have received major grants for stem cell research from the California Insitute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM). The five-year grants totalling $4.5 million will support the research of Bin Chen, assistant professor of molecular, cell, and developmental biology, and Camilla Forsberg, assistant professor of biomolecular engineering. The grants are among 22 New Faculty Awards announced yesterday by CIRM to fund stem cell research at various California institutions. UCSC has now received a total of more than $9 million from CIRM to fund the campus's growing stem cell research program. "It is really remarkable how successful we've been at getting started in this new area of research," said Stephen Thorsett, dean of physical and biological sciences at UCSC. "Our proposals to CIRM have garnered more funding than those of any other institution that doesn't have a medical school....................." http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=462560 stem cells http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=462560 Fri, 14 Dec 2007 05:04:00 EST Thousands of patients with ailments such as multiple sclerosis and sickle cell disease have been given new hope that cell transplants could offer a more effective way to treat them. An important step towards the goal of transplanting the parent stem cells that give rise to red blood cells to treat genetic blood diseases, such as sickle cell disease, is reported by an American team. Using the same method, it should be possible to treat a person with an autoimmune disease, such as multiple sclerosis, in which immune cells attack the person's own body. An immune system transplant, much like a liver, kidney or heart transplant, would give the person a different set of white blood cells that might not attack the body, offering an effective treatment.................. http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=436658 multiple sclerosis, stem cells http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=436658 Fri, 23 Nov 2007 02:38:40 EST Human skin cells have been reprogrammed by two groups of scientists to mimic embryonic stem cells with the potential to become any tissue in the body. The breakthrough promises a plentiful new source of cells for use in research into new treatments for many diseases. Crucially, it could mean that such research is no longer dependent on using cells from human embryos, which has proved highly controversial. The US and Japanese studies feature in the journals Science and Cell. Until now only cells taken from embryos were thought to have an unlimited capacity to become any of the 220 types of cell in the human body - a so-called pluripotent state. But campaigners have objected to their use on the grounds that it is unethical to destroy embryos in the name of science........... http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=434469 stem cells http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=434469 Wed, 21 Nov 2007 02:26:30 EST A new study finds that neural stem cells may be able to save dying brain cells without transforming into new brain tissue, at least in rodents. Researchers from the University of California, Irvine, report that stem cells rejuvenated the learning and memory abilities of mice engineered to lose neurons in a way that simulated the aftermath of Alzheimer's disease, stroke and other brain injuries. Researchers expect stem cells to transform into replacement tissue capable of replacing damaged cells. But in this case, the undifferentiated stem cells, harvested from 14-day-old mouse brains, did not simply replace neurons that had died off. Rather, the group speculates that the transplanted cells secreted protective neurotrophins, proteins that promote cell survival by keeping neurons from inducing apoptosis (programmed cell death). Instead, the once ill-fated neurons strengthened their interconnections and kept functioning. "The primary implication here is that stem cells can help rescue memory deficits that are due to cell loss," says Frank LaFerla, a professor of neurobiology and behavior at U.C. Irvine and the senior author on a new study published in The Journal of Neuroscience. If the therapeutic benefit was indeed solely due to a neurotrophic factor, the door could be opened to using that protein alone as a drug to restore learning ability................. http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=408345 multiple sclerosis, stem cells http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=408345 Fri, 02 Nov 2007 03:44:06 EST Immune Ablation and Autologous Stem Cell Transplantation for Aggressive Multiple Sclerosis Immunoablative therapy plus autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT) completely abrogates Multiple Sclerosis relapses and MRI events related to ongoing inflammation for up to 5 years, researchers reported here at the 23rd Congress of the European Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis (ECTRIMS). Mark S. Freedman, MD, Steering Committee Member and Professor of Neurology, University of Ottawa, and Director, Multiple Sclerosis Research Unit, Ottawa Hospital-General Campus, Ottawa, Canada, presented the 5-year interim analysis from a 3-year phase 2 study. "If we completely remove the diseased immune system, we should halt ongoing immune-mediated damage, because we would have removed the mistake," Dr. Freedman said during his presentation. Furthermore, the purified stem cells should be capable of restoring a functional immune system, and might even be capable of stimulating repair.............. http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=394799 multiple sclerosis, stem cells http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=394799 Tue, 23 Oct 2007 05:09:50 EST New nerves grown from stem cells taken from a patient's fat could be available by 2011, researchers have said. They could potentially be used to repair peripheral nerves left severed by surgery or accidents. Manchester University scientists plan to place the new nerve tissue inside a biodegradable plastic tube, which can be used to rejoin the two broken ends. The findings of their study on rats, in Experimental Neurology, could help hundreds of people a year, they say. At the moment, only limited techniques are available to help repair nerves outside the spinal cord, even though they have a limited capacity to regrow. Other nerves from elsewhere in the patient are often used, which does not restore perfect function and can cause further damage. The Manchester technique uses stem cells - immature cells which the body naturally uses to create different tissue types............... http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=393351 multiple sclerosis, stem cells http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=393351 Mon, 22 Oct 2007 05:01:14 EST Patients in Oman and the Gulf suffering from chronic degenerative diseases of the brain and spinal cord and the liver, including alcoholic and viral cirrhoses, generally regarded as 'incurable illnesses', have a new hope. Stem cell therapy, that has virtually revolutionised the world of medicine in recent years, is now within their reach after the Health Ministry yesterday gave the go-ahead for an Indian hospital, which has done pioneering research in the field, to set up a referral centre in Muscat. Tie-up The 'Referral Centre for Advanced Stem Cell Therapy', which will be the first of its kind in the region and the result of a tie-up between Chennai-based Lifeline Hospitals and Al Hayat Polyclinic in Qurum, is expected to start functioning next month................ http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=379404 stem cells http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=379404 Wed, 10 Oct 2007 04:50:37 EST The pharmaceutical industry on Tuesday announced its first direct involvement in research using human embryonic stem cells. Three companies have set up a consortium with the government to develop stem cells for safety testing of new drugs through a public-private partnership. The launch of Stem Cells for Safer Medicines, or SC4SM, is significant because “big pharma” has been reluctant to engage in embryonic stem cell research. Companies fear the reaction in markets such as the US, where the use of human embryos is controversial, and they have left the field to universities and biotechnology businesses. GlaxoSmithKline, AstraZeneca and Roche are inaugurating SC4SM in collaboration with several government departments............. http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=371815 stem cells http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=371815 Wed, 03 Oct 2007 04:01:34 EST Three teams in Scotland have managed to derive and grow stem cells without using any animal cells that might contaminate them, overcoming one of the obstacles of using human embryonic stem cells to treat diseases, a media report has said. The approach has led to the hope that embryonic stem cells (ESCs), the primitive cells in embryos from which all our tissues originate, can be grown into transplantable tissues for treating many disorders, from diabetes to osteoporosis, the New Scientist Magazine said on Thursday................... http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=370224 stem cells http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=370224 Sun, 30 Sep 2007 04:21:16 EST A new treatment for multiple sclerosis (MS) is being pioneered near Bristol. Six patients at Frenchay Hospital are being injected with their own stem cells in the hope that they will repair damage to the brain. Approximately 60,000 people in the UK suffer from MS, an incurable disease of the nervous system. Prof Neil Scolding, of the Institute of Clinical Neurosciences, said: "We know stem cells are attracted into the brain, into these areas of damage." He added that he hoped the stem cells would "help those areas to stop getting worse" and "repair damage"........... http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=368777 multiple sclerosis, stem cells http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=368777 Thu, 27 Sep 2007 03:13:19 EST Stem Cell Sciences plc will lead an EU-funded, multinational novel drug screening collaboration using stem cells. The project, named NEUROscreen, will use Stem Cell Sciences' proprietary neural stem (NS) cell technology and has received a contribution from the EU's 6th Framework Program for Research and Technical Development (FP6). The EU's contribution to the NEUROscreen project is worth 2.4 million euro over three years, of which approximately 420,000 euro will flow directly to SCS over the three year period.............. http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=368032 stem cells http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=368032 Wed, 26 Sep 2007 07:53:20 EST A team of Auckland researchers which has spent two years growing cultures of cells taken from adult human brains is investigating whether stem cells could be used to combat neurodegenerative disorders such as multiple sclerosis or Alzheimer's disease. Professor Mike Dragunow's Auckland University team is one of only a handful of laboratories worldwide pioneering work with human brain cells. It plans to use a three-year Marsden Fund grant of $750,000 from the Government to work on nerve cells called astrocytes, which support and feed neurons, with process and transfer signals in the brain.................. http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=353493 Stem Cells, Multiple Sclerosis http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=353493 Fri, 07 Sep 2007 09:35:15 EST Stem cells transplanted into the brains of mice generate more numerous and more mature nerve cells if the brain cells called astrocytes are not activated. This discovery at the Sahlgrenska Academy is an important step forward for stem cell research. The study was performed by a research team at the Center for Brain Repair and Rehabilitation at the Sahlgrenska Academy. The findings are being published in the journal Stem Cells. Many see the transplantation of stem cells and activation of the body's own stem cells as a promising future treatment for several neurological disorders.............. http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=331253 Stem Cells http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=331253 Tue, 21 Aug 2007 02:13:57 EST In response to “unexpected” positive results, a local research facility conducting a bone marrow stem cell transplant therapy trial has been awarded additional funding. The Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada announced Tuesday that the Ottawa Health Research Institute, a University of Ottawa-affiliated arm of the Ottawa Hospital, will receive $2.4 million over five years to continue and further develop the trial begun in October 2000. The procedure, which early on resulted in one death and carries potentially serious side effects, involves employing a patient’s bone marrow cells to replace a diseased immune system with a new, purified one.............. http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=271420 Multiple Sclerosis, Stem cells http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=271420 Wed, 18 Jul 2007 05:23:44 EST Some people with incurable diseases may be misled about how stem cell research can help them, a leading neurologist has told Irish Medical Times. Speaking ahead of next week’s annual Neurology Update Meeting, focusing on the use of stem cells in neurology, Dr Orla Hardiman said some of her patients have been “exploited” by the stem cell industry, and have travelled to places like Ukraine in the hope that stem cell therapy will cure their disease. “It is important to put into context the potential benefits, but also the current limitations, in the use of stem cells,” said Dr Hardiman, a consultant neurologist in Beaumont Hospital............... http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=270046 Multiple Sclerosis, Stem cells http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=270046 Tue, 17 Jul 2007 08:34:01 EST Breakthrough at new McMaster institute will dramatically change focus for human stem cell science. A startling discovery on the development of human embryonic stem cells by scientists at McMaster University will change how future research in the area is done. An article published in the prestigious scientific journal Nature this week reports on a new understanding of the growth of human stem cells. It had been thought previously that stem cells are directly influenced by cells in the local environment or ‘niche’, but the situation may be more complex. Human embryonic stem cells are perpetual machines that generate fuel for life.......... http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=260932 Stem Cells http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=260932 Wed, 11 Jul 2007 14:18:29 EST Adult neural stem cells in mice are a diverse, restricted set of progenitors. Adult neural stem cells in the mouse brain are less plastic than previously thought, according to a study published online this week in Science. The authors found that a stem cell's position in the brain determines the type of neuron it generates. As a result, it may be more difficult to coax adult neural stem cells into becoming various types of neurons than some researchers have predicted, according to senior author Arturo Alvarez-Buylla of the University of California, San Francisco............. http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=251708 Stem Cells http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=251708 Fri, 06 Jul 2007 03:27:17 EST Scientists at Britain's two leading universities have made a massive breakthrough in stem cell research. The two independent teams based at Cambridge University and Oxford University have discovered a new type of embryonic stem cell in mice and rats, which is very similar to human embryonic stem cells. The discovery, and its virtually simultaneous verification, is likely to accelerate understanding of stem cell development and help the derivation of stem cells in other species - including livestock and disease-prone mice used in research........... http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=225956 Stem Cells http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=225956 Wed, 27 Jun 2007 08:21:26 EST President Bush vetoed the second embryonic stem cell research bill that passed Congress while he has been in office. The only spending bill the President vetoed while the Republicans controlled the congress was the other previous embryonic stem cell research bill. Many Democrats and some Republicans in congress promised voters they would support the legislation if elected. It is very unlikely the House of Representatives or Senate can muster the votes for an override.................... For the full story please go to MSRC: MS Research News : Stem Cell Research & Treatment : General Stem Cell Research http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=208582 Stem Cells http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=208582 Thu, 21 Jun 2007 04:18:47 EST In developing embryos, stem cells have an unlimited capacity for self-renewal and give rise to all the different types of cells that make up the body – skin, muscle, nerve, brain, blood and roughly 250 other specialised cells. Many scientists believe that the flexibility and regenerative powers of embryonic stem cells hold enormous promise in treating disease and that, one day, they may be used to repair damaged hearts, kidneys, livers or other tissue, or even to grow new organs for transplant. Working with mice, the University of Ottawa's Michael Rudnicki and his colleagues have figured out what makes stem cells so special – at a molecular level. They say they have identified the network of genes at work during the unique period when stem cells are building a body. There are 1,155 of these genes, says Dr. Rudnicki, but they are all ultimately controlled by a single gene called Oct4....... http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=205418 Stem Cells http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=205418 Wed, 20 Jun 2007 06:51:47 EST Human eggs discarded in fertility treatments could provide a new source of embryonic stem cells, scientists have said. Up to 30% of eggs used during in vitro fertilisation are found to be unusable and are discarded. But now researchers have extracted stem cells from one of these unusable eggs. This discovery could provide a much-needed resource in the fight against diseases such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, liver disease and diabetes, researchers from Midlothian-based Roslin Cells Ltd said.................. http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=205124 Stem Cells http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=205124 Wed, 20 Jun 2007 03:57:34 EST US scientists say they have for the first time created stem cells from cloned primate embryos, bringing human therapeutic cloning one step closer. The announcement, by Dr Shoukhrat Mitalipov of the Oregon National Primate Research Centre in Portland, was made at the International Society for Stem Cell Research meeting in Cairns, this week. The development means that human therapeutic cloning is a step closer to reality, says Australian stem cell expert Professor Alan Trounson, who was at the meeting. Scientists can't properly judge the work until it has been published, says Trounson, but he is "cautiously optimistic" about its potential.......... http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=199422 Stem Cells http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=199422 Tue, 19 Jun 2007 09:37:16 EST Scientists say they have developed a method in mice for creating the equivalent of embryonic stem cells without using eggs or destroying an embryo, a finding that could help circumvent the controversy surrounding the promising research. The finding, which was published online by Nature, comes as the U.S. House of Representatives is set to vote on a bill relaxing restrictions on federal funding of embryonic stem cell research and a separate bill that would authorise cloning for therapeutic purposes. Sean Tipton, president of the Coalition for the Advancement of Medical Research, an organisation that supports embryonic stem cell research, said the new research, while important, probably won't have a significant impact on the current political debate. "It will change the talking points a little, but I don't think it's going to change any votes," Tipton told United Press International..................... http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=171446 Stem Cells http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=171446 Fri, 08 Jun 2007 05:48:37 EST