Category Archives: Mesenchymal Stem Cells

Public release date: 25-May-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ] Contact: Scott LaFee slafee@ucsd.edu 619-543-6163 University of California - San Diego Five scientists from the University of California, San Diego and its School of Medicine have been awarded almost $12 million in new grants from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) to conduct stem cell-based research into regenerating spinal cord injuries, repairing gene mutations that cause amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and finding new drugs to treat heart failure and Alzheimer's disease. The awards mark the third round of funding in CIRM's Early Translational Awards program, which supports projects that are in the initial stages of identifying drugs or cell types that could become disease therapies. More than $69 million in awards were announced yesterday, including funding for first-ever collaboratively funded research projects with China and the federal government of Australia. "With these new awards, the agency now has 52 projects in 33 diseases at varying stages of working toward clinical trials," said Jonathan Thomas, JD, PhD and CIRM governing board chair. "Californians should take pride in being at the center of this worldwide research leading toward new cures. These projects represent the best of California stem cell science and the … Continue reading →

DUARTE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- City of Hope was granted a $5,217,004 early translational research award by the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) to support the development of a T cell-based immunotherapy that re-directs a patients own immune response against glioma stem cells. City of Hope has been awarded more than $49.7 million in grant support from CIRM since awards were first announced in 2006. City of Hope is a pioneer in T cell immunotherapy research, helping to develop genetically modified T cells as a treatment for cancer. This strategy, termed adoptive T cell therapy, focuses on redirecting a patients immune system to specifically target tumor cells, and has the potential to become a promising new approach for treatment of cancer. In this research, we are genetically engineering a central memory T cell that targets proteins expressed by glioma stem cells, said Stephen J. Forman, M.D., Francis and Kathleen McNamara Distinguished Chair in Hematology and Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation and director of the T Cell Immunotherapy Research Laboratory. Central memory T cells have the potential to establish a persistent, lifelong immunity to help prevent brain tumors from recurring. The American Cancer Society estimates that more than 22,000 people in the U.S. will … Continue reading →

SACRAMENTO California's stem cell agency today approved two grants to UC Davis Health System researchers for their innovative work in regenerative medicine. Kyriacos A. Athanasiou, distinguished professor of orthopaedic surgery and professor and chair of biomedical engineering, and the Child Family Professor of Engineering at UC Davis, is investigating the use of skin-derived stem cells to heal cartilage injuries and debilitating conditions of the knee such as osteoarthritis. W. Douglas Boyd, professor of surgery, plans to further refine a novel approach to treating cardiovascular injuries suffered during a heart attack by using stem cells and a tissue-like scaffold to repair cardiac damage. The pair received individual grants totaling approximately $6.6 million from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine's (CIRM) governing board. Athanasiou's and Boyd's multi-year grants were among the proposals submitted to CIRM for its third round of Early Translational Awards, which are intended to enable clinical therapies to be developed more rapidly. "Both of these scientists are conducting exciting research that could have far-reaching implications in health care," said Jan Nolta, director of the UC Davis Institute for Regenerative Cures and the university's stem cell program director. "Dr. Athanasiou is bioengineering new cartilage that could have the same physiological … Continue reading →

Fat stem cells may help treat kidney ailments BS Reporter / Mumbai/ AhmedabadMarch 06, 2007 In a breakthrough in the stem cell research, scientist from Ahmedabad have developed a technique to encourage a new kind of stem cells called Mesenchymal stem cells generated from fat (adipose tissue) of donors, which can be used in treating kidney diseases. Mesenchymal stem cells generated from fat of donors hold great promise for the treatment of kidney diseases, claims H L Trivedi, director, Institute of Kidney Diseases and Research Center (IKDRC), Ahmedabad. We will soon patent the research, he added. The institute will soon convene a meeting of scientists working on the project and take a decision on securing the patent for the research. A team of scientists from the IKDRC, led by Trivedi, has clinically proved that when presented in the right physical context, certain growth factors encourage the survival and proliferation of fat mesenchymal stem cells grown outside the body. Trivedi says the research offers hope of cent per cent recovery for patients suffering from severe kidney diseases as the mesenchymal stem cells will nullify the rejection rate of the body, thus inducing the body to accept the newly transplanted kidney as … Continue reading →

CLEARWATER, FL--(Marketwire -05/24/12)- Biostem U.S., Corporation, (HAIR.PK) (HAIR.PK) (Biostem, the Company), a fully reporting public company in the stem cell regenerative medicine sciences sector, announces a $5,000,000 financing agreement through private placement of stock. CEO, Dwight Brunoehler, announced today that the company has signed an agreement with a funder to issue 20,000,000 shares of the company's common stock in exchange for $5,000,000 in cash or 25 cents ($.25) per share. No other considerations will be granted to the funder in exchange for the cash payment. In announcing the funding agreement, Mr. Brunoehler commented, "We consider the eagerness of the funder to acquire Biostem shares at a price above the current market to be a tribute to our proven proprietary technology to enhance hair re-growth using human stem cells. Although we anticipated funding the company through the sale of a convertible debenture, the funder insisted on being able to acquire stock at a set price now, rather than risk having to convert at higher prices later. Although Rule 144 sale restrictions usually cause private placements of stock to be executed at a discount to the market, Biostem feels that its current share price is not truly reflective of the value of … Continue reading →

05/24/2012 . (Classic Rock) Former Iron Maiden singer Paul Di'Anno wants his ex-bandmate Clive Burr to undergo stem cell therapy, despite the costs and risks associated with the procedure. Burr, the drummer with Maiden from 1979 until 1982, has been in a wheelchair as a result of multiple sclerosis, which has been attacking his nervous system since before he was diagnosed in 2002. MS reduces the ability of the brain and spinal cord to communicate with each other, resulting in a wide range of potentially severe symptoms. The cause is unknown and there is no cure; but in 2009 researchers made the first breakthrough in reversing symptoms through stem cell therapy. Di'Anno tells Talking Metal Pirate Radio Burr's condition is "not very good at all." He had a lot to say, read it here. Classic Rock Magazine is an official news provider for antiMusic.com. Copyright Classic Rock Magazine- Excerpted here with permission. antiMUSIC News featured on RockNews.info and Yahoo News ...end Here is the original post: Di'Anno Wants Former Iron Maiden Bandmate To Undergo Stem Cell Therapy … Continue reading →

ScienceDaily (May 23, 2012) University of Michigan researchers have proven that a special surface, free of biological contaminants, allows adult-derived stem cells to thrive and transform into multiple cell types. Their success brings stem cell therapies another step closer. To prove the cells' regenerative powers, bone cells grown on this surface were then transplanted into holes in the skulls of mice, producing four times as much new bone growth as in the mice without the extra bone cells. An embryo's cells really can be anything they want to be when they grow up: organs, nerves, skin, bone, any type of human cell. Adult-derived "induced" stem cells can do this and better. Because the source cells can come from the patient, they are perfectly compatible for medical treatments. In order to make them, Paul Krebsbach, a professor of biological and materials sciences in the School of Dentistry, said, "We turn back the clock, in a way. We're taking a specialized adult cell and genetically reprogramming it, so it behaves like a more primitive cell." Specifically, they turn human skin cells into stem cells. Less than five years after the discovery of this method, researchers still don't know precisely how it works, … Continue reading →

A growth factor isolated from human stem cells shows promising results in a mouse model of multiple sclerosis. Human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) have become a popular potential therapy for numerous autoimmune and neurological disorders. But while these bone marrow-derived stem cells have been studied in great detail in the dish, scientists know little about how they modulate the immune system and promote tissue repair in living organisms. Now, one research team has uncovered a molecular mechanism by which hMSCs promote recovery in a mouse model of multiple sclerosis (MS). According to research, published online Sunday (May 20) in Nature Neuroscience, a growth factor produced by hMSCs fights MS in two ways: blocking a destructive autoimmune response and repairing neuronal damage. The finding could help advance ongoing clinical trials testing hMSCs as a therapy for MS. The researchers have identified a unique factor that has surprisingly potent activity mediating neuron repair, said Jacques Galipeau, a cell therapy researcher at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, who was not involved in the research. The magnitude of the effect on a mouse model of MS is a big deal. MS is an autoimmune disease in which the immune system attacks myelin sheaths that … Continue reading →

Editor's Choice Main Category: Multiple Sclerosis Article Date: 24 May 2012 - 14:00 PDT Current ratings for: 'Recovery From Multiple Sclerosis By Growth Factor In Stem Cells' 5 (3 votes) 4.5 (2 votes) Animals that were injected with hepatocyte growth factor were noted to have grown new neural cells and lower levels of inflammation. Most significantly, the researchers noted that the protective envelope of myelin, the myelin sheath, which surrounds the core of a nerve fiber and facilitates the transmission of nerve impulses, re-grew and covered lesions that were caused by MS. Robert H. Miller, professor of neurosciences at the School of Medicine and vice president for research at Case Western Reserve University declared: "The importance of this work is we think we've identified the driver of the recovery." MS is caused by damage to the myelin sheath, the protective covering that surrounds nerve cells. The nerve damage is caused by inflammation, which occurs when the body's own immune cells attacks the nervous systems located in areas of the brain, the optic nerve, and spinal cord. This damage can cause an interruption of the nerve signals, which results in loss of balance and coordination, cognitive ability, as well as in … Continue reading →

Newswise Every year, approximately 795,000 people in the United States suffer a stroke and the late U.S. Senator and Democratic Party vice presidential candidate Lloyd Bentsen was one of them. As the senator and his wife, B. A., dealt with the challenges of stroke, they developed the idea for a stroke research center. The couples efforts led to the 2009 opening of the Senator Lloyd and B.A. Bentsen Center for Stroke Research at The Brown Foundation Institute of Molecular Medicine for the Prevention of Human Diseases (IMM), a part of The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth). Sen. Bentsen died prior to the centers opening. In April at the IMM, B.A. Bentsen and one of the couples sons, Lan, got updates on six projects funded by the stroke center. The center was launched with a generous gift from the Bentsen family and the center distributes up to $1 million annually for research. The primary focus of the Bentsen Stroke Center is to develop cell-based therapeutics, including the use of certain populations of stem cells, to reduce secondary brain injury and enhance recovery, said Brian R. Davis, Ph.D., interim director of Center for Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine … Continue reading →