Category Archives: Mesenchymal Stem Cells

MARLBOROUGH, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Advanced Cell Technology, Inc. (ACT; OTCBB: ACTC), a leader in the field of regenerative medicine, announced today that the company is presenting at two upcoming conferences: the 2012 Bio International Convention and Clinical Outlooks for Regenerative Medicine meeting, both in Boston, on Tuesday, June 19. The presentations will cover the companys three ongoing clinical trials using human embryonic stem cell-derived retinal pigment epithelial cells to treat macular degeneration, and other programs. Gary Rabin, chairman and CEO, will present at the 2012 Bio International Convention on Tuesday, June 19 at 8:15 a.m. EDT, at the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center. Matthew Vincent, Ph.D., director of business development, will present at the Clinical Outlooks for Regenerative Medicine meeting at 9:15 a.m. EDT on the same date, at the Starr Center, Schepens Eye Research Institute, at 185 Cambridge Street in Boston. Both presentation slide decks will be available on the conference presentations section of the ACT website. About Advanced Cell Technology, Inc. Advanced Cell Technology, Inc., is a biotechnology company applying cellular technology in the field of regenerative medicine. For more information, visit http://www.advancedcell.com. Forward-Looking Statements Statements in this news release regarding future financial and operating results, future growth in … Continue reading →

14 June 2012 Last updated at 10:45 ET By Pallab Ghosh Science correspondent, BBC News Doctors in Scotland have said five stroke patients involved in an experimental stem cell treatment have shown signs of slight improvement. They have stressed that it is too soon to tell whether the improvement is due to the therapy. The medical team has talked about the first results of the treatment at a conference in Japan. The procedure is controversial as brain cells from a foetus were originally used to create the stem cells. A team, from Glasgow's Southern General Hospital, has been injecting the stem cells into the brains of stroke patients. The trial began in November 2010. The participants are all men over the age of 60 who have been severely disabled by a stroke and have shown no sign of improvement for at least a year. We hope to tease out over the next 18 months whether the improvement is due to the treatment The doctors hope that the treatment will repair their damaged brain tissue and restore some of their movement and ability to speak. The trail is at an early stage, and doctors are primarily looking to see that the … Continue reading →

SARATOGA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- The Myelin Repair Foundation (MRF) today announced the achievement of a myelin repair Phase 1 clinical trial for multiple sclerosis earlier than the foundations goal set for 2014. By establishing its Accelerated Research Collaboration (ARC) Model to advance myelin repair treatments forward into clinical trial Phase 1 within a decade, the Myelin Repair Foundation achieved this critical milestone ahead of its goal, validating the efficiency of the ARC model to speed drug development. This Phase 1 clinical trial conducted at Cleveland Clinic will examine the efficacy of a new myelin repair therapeutic pathway with mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), based on MRF supported research conducted by MRF Principal Investigator Dr. Robert Miller, Professor of Neurosciences and Vice President for Research & Technology Management at Case Western Reserve University. To date, half of the 24 patients planned for this initial trial have been enrolled. Scientists hope that one day their research will reach clinical trials, and Im thrilled to achieve this milestone in my career, said Dr. Robert Miller. Without the support of Myelin Repair Foundation funding a critical component of our research that is the basis of this trial, this achievement would not have been possible. Our partnership … Continue reading →

COLUMBIA, Md.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Osiris Therapeutics, Inc. (OSIR), announced today it has received consent from New Zealand to market its first-in-class stem cell therapy Prochymal (remestemcel-L), for the treatment of acute graft-vs-host disease (GvHD) in children. With this decision New Zealand joins Canada, which last month became the worlds first internationally recognized regulatory authority to grant approval to a stem cell drug. Prochymal is also the first therapy approved for GvHD - a devastating complication of bone marrow transplantation that kills up to 80 percent of children affected, many within just weeks of diagnosis. "With each of our approvals it becomes clearer that the time for life-saving stem cell therapies in the practice of medicine has arrived, and we are humbled to have a leading role, said C. Randal Mills, Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of Osiris. I would like to thank the professionals at Medsafe for their thoughtful and expeditious review of this complex application. I would also like to thank the team at Osiris that continues to do an outstanding job of making Prochymal available to children around the world suffering from the devastating effects of GvHD." Osiris submitted a New Medicine Application (NMA) to Medsafe(New Zealand's medical … Continue reading →

Featured Article Academic Journal Main Category: Bones / Orthopedics Also Included In: Stem Cell Research Article Date: 14 Jun 2012 - 4:00 PDT Current ratings for: 'Fat Stem Cells Grow Bone Faster And Better' They write about their work in the 11 June online first issue of a paper published in the new peer-reviewed journal Stem Cells Translational Medicine, which aims to span stem cell research and clinical trials. The two co-senior authors of the study are Chia Soo, vice chair for research at University of California - Lost Angeles (UCLA) Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, and Bruno Pault, professor of Orthopedic Surgery at UCLA. Both are members of the Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research at UCLA. Soo told the press that fat tissue is considered a good source of mesenchymal stem cells, the sort that can be coaxed to form various tissue types such as bone, cartilage and muscle, because there is plenty of it and it is easy to get hold of with procedures like liposuction. One conventional method of growing these stem cells from fat tissue relies on culturing the fat cells for weeks to isolate the stem cells that form … Continue reading →

13 June 2012 Last updated at 08:31 ET Japanese stem cell scientist Dr Shinya Yamanaka has been awarded the Millennium Technology Prize. His award is for discovering how to reprogram human cells to mimic embryonic stem cells, which can become any cell in the body. Called induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells, these now aid research into regenerative medicine. He was joint-winner with Linus Torvalds, who created a new open source operating system for computers. This is the first time the prize has been shared by two scientists - they will split the 1.2m euros ($1.3m; 800,000) award. My goals over the decade include to develop new drugs to treat intractable diseases by using iPS cell technology and to conduct clinical trials using it on a few patients with Parkinson's diseases, diabetes or blood diseases. The President of the Republic of Finland, Sauli Niinisto, presented the prize at the Finnish National Opera in Helsinki. Dr Ainomija Haarla, President of Technology Academy Finland - the foundation which awards the prize every two years - said: "The International Selection Committee has to judge whether an innovation has had a favourable impact on people's lives and assess its potential for further development to benefit … Continue reading →

Scientists from the University of California have discovered a way to eliminate painful bone grafts by using purified fat stem cells to grow a bone. They claim that adipose, or fat, tissue is thought to be an ideal source of mesenchymal stem cells that can be developed into bone, cartilage, muscle and other tissues. These cells are plentiful and an easily be obtained through procedures like liposuction. Traditionally, cells taken from fat had to be cultured for weeks to isolate the stem cells which could become bone. This method had lot of risk of developing infection and genetic instability. Another way to grow a bone was through stromal vascular fraction (SVF) method. Now scientists have used a cell-sorting machine to isolate and purify human perivascular stem cells (hPSC) from adipose tissue and showed that the cells worked far better than traditional methods in creating bone. "The purified human hPSCs formed significantly more bone in comparison to the SVF by all parameters," said Dr Chia Soo, researcher at the University of California. "And these cells are plentiful enough that patients with not much excess body fat can donate their own fat tissue." Like us on Facebook Scientists' claim that fat stem … Continue reading →

Drs. Chia Soo andBruno Pault,from the Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research at UCLA,have found a way to turn stem cells from fat tissue into bone of higher quality than that grown with prior techniques. The mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) isolated from the fat tissue may develop into bone, cartilage, muscle as well as other tissues. More importantly, fat tissue is easily accessible through liposuction. What is unique about their research is that they were able topurify stem cells from fat tissue relatively quickly. Until now, the isolatedcells were a mixed bag including some not capable of formingbone or it took weeks for researchers to isolate specific stem cells and grow them in a culture, which increased the risk of infection and genetic variability. Adding the growth factor NELL-1 to the mix helped Drs. Soo and Paultaccelerate bone formation in animal models. The hope is that this new technique may replace the need for painful bone grafts and allow patients to quickly grow bones from their own cells. Source: UCLA Press Release View post: Building bones from fat [Life Lines] … Continue reading →

LOS ANGELES UCLA stem cell scientists who purified a subset of stem cells from fat tissue and used the stem cells to grow bone discovered that the bone formed faster and was of higher quality than bone grown using traditional methods. The finding may one day eliminate the need for painful bone grafts that use material taken from patients during invasive procedures. Adipose, or fat, tissue is thought to be an ideal source of mesenchymal stem cells cells capable of developing into bone, cartilage, muscle and other tissues because such cells are plentiful in the tissue and easily obtained through procedures like liposuction, said Dr. Chia Soo, vice chair of research for the UCLA Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery. Soo and Bruno Pault, the co-senior authors on the project, are members of the Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research at UCLA. Traditionally, cells taken from fat had to be cultured for weeks to isolate the stem cells which could become bone, and their expansion increases the risk of infection and genetic instability. A fresh, non-cultured cell composition called stromal vascular fraction (SVF) also is used to grow bone. However, SVF cells taken from … Continue reading →

A few years ago, concerns over these heart trials were voiced by a Norwegian professor, Harald Arnesen. He concluded in 2007 that they are not convincing and that one German team had achieved striking results only because the control group in its trial had done particularly badly. Prof Arnesen called for a moratorium on this kind of stem-cell therapy. That still did not deter the clinicians. This January, another trial funded by the EU was announced the largest of all, with 3,000 heart-attack patients recruited from across Europe. The idea behind the trials is straightforward. During a heart attack, a clogged blood vessel starves heart muscle of oxygen. Up to a billion heart muscle cells, called cardiomyocytes, can be damaged, and the body responds by replacing them with relatively inflexible scar tissue, which can lead to fatal heart failure. So why not implant stem cells that can grow into cardiomyocytes? Stem cells, of course, come in many kinds: the embryonic variety have the potential to turn into all 200 cell types in the body. Adult stem cells, harvested from the patient, have a more limited repertoire: bone marrow stem cells generate blood cells, for example. So to claim, as was … Continue reading →