Category Archives: Mesenchymal Stem Cells

COLUMBIA, Md.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Osiris Therapeutics, Inc. (OSIR), announced today that its multi-center, randomized, controlled clinical trial evaluating the safety and effectiveness of Grafix for the treatment of chronic diabetic foot ulcers has been accepted for podium presentation at the upcoming Symposium on Advanced Wound Care (SAWC) in Las Vegas on Friday, September 27, 2013. Dr. Larry Lavery, Principal Investigator and Professor of Plastic Surgery at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, will discuss the primary and secondary endpoints as well as additional key safety data from the trial. In August, Osiris reported that the trial had reached the pre-specified stopping rules for overwhelming efficacy. 62% of patients receiving Grafix achieved complete wound closure compared to only 21% (p The 26th Symposium on Advanced Wound Care Conference is held from September 27th to 29th. The meeting is the largest wound care conference in the country and is the official conference of the Association for the Advancement of Wound Care (AAWC). About the Trial (Protocol 302) Protocol 302 is a single-blind, randomized, controlled multi-center trial evaluating the efficacy and safety of weekly applications of Grafix for the treatment of chronic diabetic foot ulcers. A total of 131 patients were enrolled at … Continue reading →

Public release date: 5-Sep-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ] Contact: Meng Zhao eic@nrren.org 86-138-049-98773 Neural Regeneration Research It is widely believed that bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells are highly adherent fibroblastic cells, defined as colony-forming unit-fibroblasts. Nevertheless, a few reports have shown that the non-adherent bone marrow cells can give rise to colony-forming unit-fibroblasts in vitro, and possess a certain differentiation potential. According to a recent study from Dr. Xiaoming Ben and colleagues, non-adherent bone marrow cell-derived mesenchymal stem cells from C57BL/6J mice cultured using the "pour-off" method developed colony-forming unit-fibroblasts, and could be expanded by supple-mentation with epidermal growth factor. The non-adherent bone marrow cell-derived mesenchymal stem cells exposed to basic fibroblast growth factor/epidermal growth factor/nerve growth factor expressed the neuron specific markers, neurofilament-200 and NeuN, in vitro. Non-adherent bone marrow cell-derived mesenchymal stem cells from -galactosidase transgenic mice were also transplanted into focal ischemic brain (right corpus striatum) of C57BL/6J mice. Cells co-labeled with both -galactosidase and NeuN were seen by double immunohistochemical staining. These findings, published in the Neural Regeneration Research (Vol. 8, No. 22, 2013), suggest that the non-adherent bone marrow cell-derived mesenchymal stem cells could differentiate into neuronal-like cells in vitro and in vivo, … Continue reading →

Sep. 4, 2013 Scientists at Rice University have trapped bismuth in a nanotube cage to tag stem cells for X-ray tracking. Bismuth is probably best known as the active element in a popular stomach-settling elixir and is also used in cosmetics and medical applications. Rice chemist Lon Wilson and his colleagues are inserting bismuth compounds into single-walled carbon nanotubes to make a more effective contrast agent for computed tomography (CT) scanners. Details of the work by Wilson's Rice team and collaborators at the University of Houston, St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital, and the Texas Heart Institute appear in the Journal of Materials Chemistry B. This is not the first time bismuth has been tested for CT scans, and Wilson's lab has been experimenting for years with nanotube-based contrast agents for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanners. But this is the first time anyone has combined bismuth with nanotubes to image individual cells, he said. "At some point, we realized no one has ever tracked stem cells, or any other cells that we can find, by CT," Wilson said. "CT is much faster, cheaper and more convenient, and the instrumentation is much more widespread (than MRI). So we thought if we put bismuth … Continue reading →

Public release date: 3-Sep-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ] Contact: Vicki Cohn vcohn@liebertpub.com 914-740-2100 Mary Ann Liebert, Inc./Genetic Engineering News New Rochelle, NY, September 3, 2013A new recombinant antibody can detect and isolate mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), a nonembryonic source of stem cells with promising applications in tissue engineering, blood stem cell transplantation, and treatments for immune-mediated disorders. The antibody recognizes an i blood group antigen present on MSCs in umbilical cord blood, as described in a study published in BioResearch Open Access, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers. The article is available free on the BioResearch Open Access website. Tia Hirvonen and coauthors from the Finnish Red Cross Blood Service, Glykos Finland Ltd., and Biova Ltd. (Helsinki), and VTT Technical Research Center of Finland (Espoo), identified a blood donor with high levels of antibody to the i blood group antigen. No antibodies recognizing this antigen are commercially available at present. In the article "Production of a Recombinant Antibody Specific for i Blood Group Antigen, a Mesenchymal Stem Cell Marker," the authors explain that the i antigen can serve as a marker to detect and isolate MSCs in umbilical cord blood (UCB). They describe the use … Continue reading →

Bone Marrow Mesenchymal Stem Cells Injection Dr Christopher Vertullo demonstrates arthroscopic view of bone marrow derived mesenchymal stem cell delivery after marrow stimulation opening wedge high ti... By: Dr Christopher Vertullo: Knee.Surgeon.net … Continue reading →

Miami, Florida (PRWEB) September 01, 2013 Jose Cirino aligns himself with 50 plus leading physicians in Miami, Florida to provide a series of educational seminars on the medical benefits of umbilical cord blood stem cell banking. Cirino has leveraged more than a decade of experience in the biotech industry and is a founding member of GeneCell International, Miamis preferred cord blood bank. As Director of Operations, he has expanded the company as well as the educational awareness in the field of adult stem cells worldwide. As the minority birth population continues to increase in Miami, Florida, the gateway to international countries, Cirino feels it is essential the community is aware of the full potential of this benefit. Umbilical cord blood preservation is a process by which blood is collected from the umbilical cord of a newborn baby and is stored cryogenically in a specially designated bank. According to the National Marrow Donor Program, cord blood contains cells that can be transfused to a patient to treat various diseases, including lymphoma and leukemia. Currently, there are approximately 80 treatable diseases and the list of illnesses continues to grow. Cord blood is rich in stem cells and because certain immune cells found … Continue reading →

Why is osteoarthritis cartilage damage so hard to treat... an opportunity for stem cells? http://www.stemcellsarthritistreatment.com Osteoarthritis is a disease of hyaline cartilage, the tough gristle that caps the ends of long bones. Cartilage is... By: Nathan Wei … Continue reading →

Aug. 29, 2013 The human body has hundreds of different cell types, all with the same basic DNA, and all of which can ultimately be traced back to identical stem cells. Despite this fundamental similarity, a bone cell has little in common with a brain cell when it comes to appearance or function. The fact that bone is rigid and mechanically distinct from soft fat or brain had been speculated to play some role in differentiation to new cells in those parts of the body, but mechanisms have been unclear. Now, a study by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania have shown that a protein found in the nuclei of all cells -- lamin-A -- plays a key role in the differentiation process. The study was led by professor Dennis Discher and postdoctoral researchers Joe Swift and Irena Ivanovska of the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering in Penn's School of Engineering and Applied Science. It was published in the journal Science. Lamin-A is a protein found in the nucleus of all adult cells. This rope-like protein forms a protective netting around the DNA contained at the core of the nucleus. The first hint that lamin-A might be involved in … Continue reading →

Aug. 26, 2013 Cognitive deficits following ischemic stroke are common and debilitating, even in the relatively few patients who are treated expeditiously so that clots are removed or dissolved rapidly and cerebral blood flow restored. A new study in Restorative Neurology and Neuroscience demonstrates that intracerebral injection of bone-marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (BSCs) reduces cognitive deficits produced by temporary occlusion of cerebral blood vessels in a rat model of stroke, suggesting that BSCs may offer a new approach for reducing post-stroke cognitive dysfunction. According to the American Heart Association, almost half of ischemic stroke survivors older than 65 years of age experience cognitive deficits, contributing to functional impairments, dependence, and increased mortality. The incidence of cognitive deficits triples after stroke and about one quarter of cognitively impaired stroke patients' progress to dementia. For these reasons, "there is an underlying need for restorative therapies," says lead investigator Gary L. Dunbar, PhD, of the Field Neurosciences Institute Laboratory for Restorative Neurology, and Director of the Central Michigan University Program in Neuroscience. In order to see whether mesenchymal stem cells derived from bone marrow could attenuate or prevent cognitive problems following a stroke-like ischemic event, the investigators mimicked stroke in rats by injecting … Continue reading →

Public release date: 26-Aug-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ] Contact: Daphne Watrin d.watrin@iospress.nl 31-206-883-355 IOS Press Amsterdam, NL, August 23, 2013 Cognitive deficits following ischemic stroke are common and debilitating, even in the relatively few patients who are treated expeditiously so that clots are removed or dissolved rapidly and cerebral blood flow restored. A new study in Restorative Neurology and Neuroscience demonstrates that intracerebral injection of bone-marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (BSCs) reduces cognitive deficits produced by temporary occlusion of cerebral blood vessels in a rat model of stroke, suggesting that BSCs may offer a new approach for reducing post-stroke cognitive dysfunction. According to the American Heart Association, almost half of ischemic stroke survivors older than 65 years of age experience cognitive deficits, contributing to functional impairments, dependence, and increased mortality. The incidence of cognitive deficits triples after stroke and about one quarter of cognitively impaired stroke patients' progress to dementia. For these reasons, "there is an underlying need for restorative therapies," says lead investigator Gary L. Dunbar, PhD, of the Field Neurosciences Institute Laboratory for Restorative Neurology, and Director of the Central Michigan University Program in Neuroscience. In order to see whether mesenchymal stem cells derived from bone marrow … Continue reading →