Category Archives: Stem Cell Research

Boston, MA (PRWEB) January 08, 2015 James Sherley, Director of the new biotech start-up Asymmetrex, LLC (previously, the Adult Stem Cell Technology Center, LLC) says that he is looking forward to laboratories around the globe evaluating the companys most recent exciting new stem cell technology, which allows tissue stem cells to be counted for the first time. The new technology is reported online this week in Stem Cell Research. With only the purchase of two commercially available antibodies, any basic cell biology lab can evaluate the new technology for counting its favorite adult tissue stem cells, which Asymmetrex also refers to as distributed stem cells. Asymmetrex scientists accomplished the essential proof of principle in the report with cultured mouse hair follicle stem cells. They also showed that cells with the specific detection criterion were found in mouse hair follicles themselves in regions known to contain the stem cells. With collaborator Dr. Jennifer Chen, they demonstrated that cells in experimental cultures enriched for human skeletal muscle stem cells had the criterion, too. The technology is predicted to be universally able to count adult tissue stem cells in many different tissue types and different vertebrate species, including most, if not all, human … Continue reading →

Published 07 January 2015 Cellular Biomedicine Group, a biomedicine firm engaged in the development of effective treatments for degenerative and cancerous diseases, announced the initiation of patient recruitment to support a study of ReJoin human adipose derived mesenchymal progenitor cell (haMPC) therapy for Cartilage Damage (CD) resulting from osteoarthritis (OA) or sports injury. The study is based on the same science that has shown tremendous progress in the treatment of Knee Osteoarthritis (KOA). Both arthroscopy and the use of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) will be deployed to further demonstrate the regenerative efficacy of ReJoin on CD. The decision to explore the efficacy of the company's proprietary ReJoin therapy on an additional orthopedic indication, Cartilage Damage (CD), follows the encouraging data readout from its Knee Osteoarthritis Phase IIa Clinical Trial, of which the twelve-month follow-up results were announced in December 2014. "We anticipate patient treatment in this study to be completed by the end of Q2 2015, and to report the interim results in Q3 2015. We very much look forward to finding the promise of ReJoinTM therapy for further indications. The repair of damaged cartilage would fundamentally improve the quality of life for CD patients, allowing for greater mobility, flexibility … Continue reading →

Date: January 6, 2015 Source: Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., Publishers Summary: Timothy Ray Brown, long known only as the "Berlin Patient" had HIV for 12 years before he became the first person in the world to be cured of the infection following a stem cell transplant in 2007. He recalls his many years of illness, a series of difficult decisions, and his long road to recovery in a new first-person account. Timothy Ray Brown, long known only as the "Berlin Patient" had HIV for 12 years before he became the first person in the world to be cured of the infection following a stem cell transplant in 2007. He recalls his many years of illness, a series of difficult decisions, and his long road to recovery in the first-person account, "I Am the Berlin Patient: A Personal Reflection," published in AIDS Research and Human Retroviruses, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers. Brown's Commentary describes the bold experiment of using a stem cell donor who was naturally resistant to HIV infection to treat the acute myeloid leukemia (AML) diagnosed 10 years after he became HIV-positive. The stem cell donor had a specific genetic mutation called CCR5 Delta 32 … Continue reading →

Body clock protects cells from metabolism-generated oxygen radical damage during division Irvine, Calif., Jan. 6, 2015 -- UC Irvine scientists studying the role of circadian rhythms in skin stem cells found that this clock plays a key role in coordinating daily metabolic cycles and cell division. Their research, which appears Jan. 6 in Cell Reports, shows for the first time how the body's intrinsic day-night cycles protect and nurture stem cell differentiation. Furthermore, this work offers novel insights into a mechanism whereby an out of synch circadian clock can contribute to accelerated skin aging and cancers. Bogi Andersen, professor of biological chemistry and medicine, and Enrico Gratton, professor of biomedical engineering, focused their efforts on the epidermis, the outermost protective layer of the skin that is maintained and healed by long-lived stem cells. While the role of the circadian clock in processes such as sleep, feeding behavior and metabolism linked to feeding and fasting are well known, much less is known about whether the circadian clock also regulates stem cell function. The researchers used novel two-photon excitation and fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy in Laboratory of Fluorescence Dynamics in UCI's Department of Biomedical Engineering to make sensitive and quantitative measurements of … Continue reading →

Mayo Clinic's Dr. Shane Shapiro Discussing Latest in Stem Cell Research at #WSCS14 Dr. Shane Shapiro, orthopedic physician, discussing highlights of stem cell research and regenerative medicine from the Mayo Clinic in Florida campus, during... By: Mayo Clinic … Continue reading →

Cancer in most cases may be the result of biological bad luck rather than caused by genes or behavior, with the random division of stem cells making people more vulnerable to mutations, a new study shows. A formula that plotted the number of stem-cell divisions over a lifetime against the risk of cancer showed a correlation and explained two-thirds of cases, according to a research paper published this week in the journal Science. The study, conducted by mathematician Cristian Tomasetti and geneticist Bert Vogelstein of Johns Hopkins University, is based on previously published cancer statistics. The research may bolster arguments that cancer often cant be prevented, with risky behavior such as smoking and excessive exposure to the sun being less of a cause than chance. That would support focusing more resources on diagnosing the disease in early stages and on treatments to reduce mortality rates. The researchers cautioned that the study isnt a license to engage in unhealthy behavior. Cancer-free longevity in people exposed to cancer-causing agents, such as tobacco, is often attributed to their good genes, but the truth is that most of them simply had good luck, Vogelstein said in a statement. Tissue types that have more stem-cell … Continue reading →

Mayo Clinic's Dr. Jorge L. Rakela Discussing Latest in Stem Cell Research at #WSCS14 Dr. Jorge Rakela, transplant hepatologist at #MayoClinicAZ discussing latest in stem cell research at Mayo Clinic in Arizona, during the 10th Annual World Stem Cell Summit that took place in... By: Mayo Clinic … Continue reading →

Video will begin in 5 seconds. AirAsia QZ8501 search and recovery begins Air Asia flight QZ8501: Debris found Italian ferry blaze captured on video Missing AirAsia plane search resumes AirAsia plane search unlike MH370 It was hailed as groundbreaking stem cell research at the time. But now the female Japanese scientist has been found guilty of falsifying data. In her short scientific career, the trajectory of Haruko Obokata was meteoric. Before the 30-year-old was 20, she was accepted into the science department at Tokyo's Waseda University where the admittance board placed great importance on a candidate's aspirations. Then she studied at Harvard University in what was supposed to be a half-year program, but advisers were so impressed with her research, they asked her stay longer. It was there that she would come up with an idea that would come to define her in ways good and bad. The research was called STAP "stimulus-triggered acquisition of pluripotency" which unveiled a new way to grow tissue. "I think about my research all day long, including when I am taking a bath and when I am on a date with my boyfriend," Obokata told theAsahi Shimbun. Excerpt from: Rising Japanese scientist faked heralded … Continue reading →

IMAGE:Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) derived from patients with frontotemporal dementia were genetically corrected and converted to cortical neurons. The green staining indicates the cortical marker CTIP2, the red stain... view more Credit: Susanna Raitano/Stem Cell Reports 2014 Belgian researchers have identified a new strategy for treating an inherited form of dementia after attempting to turn stem cells derived from patients into the neurons most affected by the disease. In patient-derived stem cells carrying a mutation predisposing them to frontotemporal dementia, which accounts for about half of dementia cases before the age of 60, the scientists found a targetable defect that prevents normal neurodevelopment. These stem cells partially return to normal when the defect is corrected. The study appears in the December 31st issue of Stem Cell Reports, the official journal of the International Society of Stem Cell Research published by Cell Press. "Use of induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) technology"--which involves taking skin cells from patients and reprogramming them into embryonic-like stem cells capable of turning into other specific cell types relevant for studying a particular disease--"makes it possible to model dementias that affect people later in life," says senior study author Catherine Verfaillie of KU Leuven. Frontotemporal disorders … Continue reading →

The potential therapeutic benefits of HESC research provide strong grounds in favor of the research. If looked at from a strictly consequentialist perspective, it's almost certainly the case that the potential health benefits from the research outweigh the loss of embryos involved and whatever suffering results from that loss for persons who want to protect embryos. However, most of those who oppose the research argue that the constraints against killing innocent persons to promote social utility apply to human embryos. Thus, as long as we accept non-consequentialist constraints on killing persons, those supporting HESC research must respond to the claim that those constraints apply to human embryos. In its most basic form, the central argument supporting the claim that it is unethical to destroy human embryos goes as follows: It is morally impermissible to intentionally kill innocent human beings; the human embryo is an innocent human being; therefore it is morally impermissible to intentionally kill the human embryo. It is worth noting that this argument, if sound, would not suffice to show that all or even most HESC research is impermissible, since most investigators engaged in HESC research do not participate in the derivation of HESCs but instead use cell … Continue reading →