Category Archives: Stem Cell Research

MEDIA RELEASE A*STAR Scientists Make Groundbreaking Discovery on Stem Cell Regulation New link between polyamine levels and embryonic stem cell state deepens our understanding of embryonic stem cell regulation which is a key step in bringing cellular therapies from the laboratory to the clinic. 1. A*STAR scientists have for the first time, identified that precise regulation of polyamine[1] levels is critical for embryonic stem cell (ESC) self-renewal the ability of ESCs to divide indefinitely and directed differentiation. This paper is crucial for better understanding of ESC regulation and was published in the journal Genes & Development on 1st March by the team of scientists from the Institute of Medical Biology (IMB), a research institute under the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR). 2. Embryonic stem cells hold great potential for the development of cellular therapies, where stem cells are used to repair tissue damaged by disease or trauma. This is due to their unique ability to renew themselves and differentiate into any specific types of cell in the body. One of the challenges with cellular therapies is ensuring that ESCs are fully and efficiently differentiated into the correct cell type. This study sheds light on understanding how ESCs are … Continue reading →

BEVERLY, MA and TORONTO--(Marketwire -03/01/12)- Hamilton Thorne Ltd. (TSX-V: HTL.V - News), a leading provider of precision laser devices and advanced imaging systems for the fertility, stem cell and developmental biology research markets, today announced the expansion of its distribution partnership with Leica Microsystems GmbH of Wetzlar, Germany, a leading global producer of innovative high-tech precision optics systems for the analysis of microstructures. This new arrangement will provide Leica Microsystems with access to Hamilton Thorne's current portfolio of laser products, as well as select pipeline products including the strongly anticipated IMSI STRICT software for the fertility market. The expanded partnership will enable Hamilton Thorne and Leica Microsystems to further penetrate markets that have proven successful and synergistic for both companies such as fertility and cell research markets. The new multi-year agreement provides Leica Microsystems with non-exclusive rights to market and distribute Hamilton Thorne products in Spain, Portugal and Italy, in addition to the North American market. Hamilton Thorne and Leica Microsystems continue to collaborate on technical product integration between the two companies. "We are pleased to continue our strategic partnership with Leica Microsystems, a renowned global leader in microscopy and optics. In the US markets especially, Leica Microsystems has provided … Continue reading →

Embryonic stem cells hold great potential for the development of cellular therapies, where stem cells are used to repair tissue damaged by disease or trauma. This is due to their unique ability to renew themselves and differentiate into any specific types of cell in the body. One of the challenges with cellular therapies is ensuring that ESCs are fully and efficiently differentiated into the correct cell type. This study sheds light on understanding how ESCs are regulated, which is essential to overcome these challenges and turn the vision of cell therapies into reality. Using a mouse model, the team of scientists from IMB showed that high levels of Amd1, a key enzyme in the polyamine synthesis pathway, is essential for maintenance of the ESC state and self renewal of ESCs. To further demonstrate the critical role of Amd1 in ESC self-renewal, the scientists showed that increasing Amd1 levels led to delayed ESC differentiation. The research also revealed that downregulation of Amd1 was necessary for differentiation of ESCs into neural precursor cells and that Amd1 is translationally regulated by a micro-RNA (miRNA), the first ever demonstration of miRNA-mediated regulation of the polyamine pathway. While the polyamine pathway is well established and … Continue reading →

Women may make new eggs throughout their reproductive yearschallenging a longstanding tenet that females are born with finite supplies, a new study says. The discovery may also lead to new avenues for improving women's health and fertility. A woman has two ovaries, which release eggs during her monthly ovulation.(Learn more about the human body.) Previous research had suggested that a woman is born with all the egg cells she will ever have in her lifetime. But in recent experiments, scientists discovered a new type of stem cell in the ovaries thatwhen grown in the labgenerates immature egg cells.The same immature cells isolated from adult mouse ovaries canturn into fertile eggs. Stem cells,found in embryos and certain adult body tissues, have the potential to grow into many different types of cells. (See"Liposuction Fat Turned Into Stem Cells, Study Says.") The finding reinforces the team's previous experiments in mice, which had identified a new type of ovarian stem cell that renews a female mouse's source of eggs throughout its fertile years. That study, published in the journal Nature in 2004, was the "first to reach the conclusion that this long-held belief in our fieldthat young girls are given a bank account at … Continue reading →

Public release date: 29-Feb-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ] Contact: Ong Siok Ming ong_siok_ming@a-star.edu.sg 65-682-66254 Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), Singapore A*STAR scientists have for the first time, identified that precise regulation of polyamine levels is critical for embryonic stem cell (ESC) self-renewal the ability of ESCs to divide indefinitely and directed differentiation. This paper is crucial for better understanding of ESC regulation and was published in the journal Genes & Development on 1st March by the team of scientists from the Institute of Medical Biology (IMB), a research institute under the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR). Embryonic stem cells hold great potential for the development of cellular therapies, where stem cells are used to repair tissue damaged by disease or trauma. This is due to their unique ability to renew themselves and differentiate into any specific types of cell in the body. One of the challenges with cellular therapies is ensuring that ESCs are fully and efficiently differentiated into the correct cell type. This study sheds light on understanding how ESCs are regulated, which is essential to overcome these challenges and turn the vision of cell therapies into reality. Using a mouse model, the … Continue reading →

Experts discuss stem cell banking ethics, policies By Noimot OlayiwolaStaff Reporter Umbilical cord blood banking and transplantation, issues of ethics and policy as well as regulations governing stem cell banking were some of the high points of discussion during a session on Stem Cell Banking at the Qatar International Conference on Stem Cells Science and Policy, underway at the Qatar National Convention Centre. Sharing the Saudi Arabia experience on umbilical cord blood transplantation during a presentation, King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centres blood bank (transfusion & donor services) director and of the Stem Cell Cord Blood Bank at the department of pathology and laboratory medicine, Dr Hind al-Humaidan, noted that the transplantation of allogeneic (taken from different individuals of the same species) bone marrow has been successfully used in the treatment of high risk or recurrent hematologic malignancies, bone marrow failure syndromes, selected hereditary immunodeficiency states and metabolic disorders. Early in the history of bone marrow transplantation, it was clear that access to a suitable donor was a major obstacle severely limiting the use of this potentially curative treatment modality. Although using an HLA (human leukocyte antigen) sibling donor is the best choice for transplantation, not all patients could … Continue reading →

A long-held belief about women and fertility is that each woman has a set amount of eggs in her lifetime and that when those eggs are depleted at menopause, so are her chances at having a biological child. However, research out of Massachusetts General Hospital is questioning that view. Using stem cells taken from human ovaries, scientists have produced early-stage eggs, which brings up all sorts of questions about possible new methods for treating infertility. Nicholas Wade, writing in The New York Times, adds, "The ability to isolate stem cells from which eggs could be cultivated would help not only with fertility but also with biologists' understanding of how drugs and nutrition affect the egg cells." Jonathan Tilly, the director of Mass General's Vincent Center for Reproductive Biology and leader of the new research, had reported in 2004 that ovarian stem cells in mice could create new eggs "similar to how stem cells in male testes produce sperm throughout a man's life." His new study attempted to prove this with humans. Researchers took healthy ovaries from patients having sex reassignment surgery, and injected stem cells from the ovaries into human ovarian tissue grafted under the skin of mice: "Within two weeks, early … Continue reading →

SAN DIEGO, CA and PORTLAND, OR--(Marketwire -02/28/12)- Medistem Inc. (Pinksheets: MEDS.PK - News) announced today its Annual "Evening with Medistem" Event will take place in Portland, Oregon on March 7th, 2012. The event is being hosted by Vladimir Zaharchook, Vice Chairman at Medistem, Inc., and will feature stem cell luminaries and pioneers working with Medistem including Dr. Amit Patel, Director of Regenerative Medicine at University of Utah and the first person to administer stem cells into patients with heart failure, Dr. Michael Murphy, Vascular Surgeon at Indiana University and Principal Investigator for Medistem's FDA clinical trial in patients with risk of amputation, and Dr. Alan Lewis, former CEO of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, advisory board member of Medistem. In 2007 Medistem discovered an entirely new type of stem cell, the Endometrial Regenerative Cell (ERC). This cell has proven it is a "universal donor" and can be used to treat many more conditions compared to other types of stem cells. The company received FDA clearance to begin clinical trials in September of 2011 for critical limb ischemia, a condition that is associated with amputation. Medistem is also running a Phase II clinical trial for heart failure using the new stem … Continue reading →

By Noimot Olayiwola Staff Reporter Researchers and scientists in the field of both embryonic and adult stem cells research in the Middle East were yesterday urged to be more open to collaboration and networking among themselves in order to build on their already acquired and existing strengths for the betterment of the future use of stem cells in curing genetic diseases in the region. Stem cells are ‘unspecialised’ cells that are able to divide and produce copies of themselves and having the potential to differentiate, that is, to produce other cell types in the body. Speaking on how to further expand the scope of stem cell research in the region during a panel discussion yesterday at the ongoing Qatar International Conference on Stem Cell Science and Policy, Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar’s Dr Jeremie Arash Rafii Tabrizi said there was the need for the region’s researchers in the field of stem cells to know each other and come together to network and form collaborations. “I believe that each and everyone in the field within this region has built some sort of strength while conducting their individual researches, so I will suggest that we all come together to put heads … Continue reading →

Harvard scientists are challenging traditional medical logic that dictates that women are born with a finite amount of eggs.  The scientists said they have discovered the ovaries of young women harbor rare stem cells that are in fact capable of producing new eggs. If properly harnessed, those stem cells may someday lead to new treatments for women suffering from infertility due to cancer or other diseases – or for those who are simply getting older, according to the researchers.  Lead researcher Jonathan Tilly of Harvard's Massachusetts General Hospital has co-founded a company, OvaScience Inc., to try to develop the findings into fertility treatments. The idea that women are born with all the egg cells – called oocytes – they’ll ever have has been called into question by past research, which found egg-producing stem cells in adult mice. In this latest study, Harvard researchers, in collaboration with Japanese scientists, used donated frozen ovaries from 20 year olds and ‘fished out’ the purported stem cells.   The researchers inserted a gene into the stem cells, which caused them to glow green.  If the cells produced eggs, those would glow green, too. The researchers first watched through a microscope as new eggs grew … Continue reading →