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Press Releases from AlphaMed Press

October 8, 2013
Stem cells delivered by patch effective in repairing cardiac damage weeks after heart attack occurs

The team, from the University of Louisville’s Cardiovascular Innovation Institute (Louisville, Ky.), had previously shown in rat studies that stem cell treatment immediately following an attack aided recovery by improving blood flow in the smallest vessels of the heart. This time the goal was to determine if the treatment was still effective if applied later in time.

“We also were seeking a more efficient delivery method for the stem cells by utilizing the heart patch model. Most studies employing an injection of stem cells encounter swift cell death or cell washout from the target tissue,” said Amanda LeBlanc, Ph.D., who led the investigation along with Stuart Williams, Ph.D., the institute’s executive and scientific director.

September 9, 2013
Study indicates benefits of stem cells in treating MS declines with donor’s age

MS is a neurodegenerative disease characterized by inflammation and scar-like lesions throughout the central nervous system (CNS). There is no cure and no treatment eases the severe forms of MS. But previous studies on animals have shown that transplantation of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) holds promise as a therapy for all forms of MS. The MSCs migrate to areas of damage, release trophic (cell growth) factors and exert neuroprotective and immunomodulatory effects to inhibit T cell proliferation.

MS-related clinical trials have all confirmed the safety of autologous MSC therapy. However what is unclear is whether MSCs derived from older donors have the same therapeutic potential as those from younger ones.

September 6, 2013
New way to track stem cell migration could advance treatments for brain tumors and more

Numerous stem cell-based therapies are currently under investigation, including an FDA-approved clinical trial focused on employing neural stem cells (NSCs) in delivering drugs targeting invasive brain tumors. “The ability to monitor the time course, migration and distribution of stem cells following transplantation into these patients would provide critical information for optimizing treatment regimens,” Dr. Moats said. “However, no effective cell-tracking methodology had yet garnered clinical acceptance.”

August 19, 2013
Bypassing immune rejection in stem-cell-based therapies

In an article featured in the latest issue of STEM CELLS, a research group from Stanford University describes a novel regimen for quashing this immunologic barrier — a short-course treatment with two costimlation-adhesion blockade agents, allowing engraftment of transplanted differentiated stem cells and their prolonged survival in tissue.

"Inducing immune tolerance to human embryonic stem cell graft is critical for the clinical success of regenerative medicine,” commented Dr. Joseph Wu, M.D., Professor of Medicine and Radiology at the Stanford University School of Medicine. “We have realized, however, that traditional immunosuppressive therapies used to prevent solid organ rejection, such as calcineurin inhibitors and corticosteroids, are insufficient to prevent human embryonic stem cell rejection following transplantation.”

August 14, 2013
Stem cell therapy shows promise in repairing brain damage even hours after stroke occurs

However, a new study released today in STEM CELLS Translational Medicine indicates that endothelial precursor cells, which are found in the bone marrow, umbilical cord blood, and as very rare cells in peripheral blood, could make a significant difference for these patients’ recovery — even in the later stages of stroke. In animal studies, the treatment minimized the initial brain injury and helped repair the stroke damage.

“Previous studies indicated that stem/progenitor cells derived from human umbilical cord blood (hUCB) improved functional recovery in stroke models,” noted Branislava Janic, Ph.D., a member of Henry Ford Health System’s Cellular and Molecular Imaging Laboratory in Detroit and lead author of the study. “We wanted to examine the effect of hUCB-derived AC133+ endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) on stroke development and resolution in rats.”

August 8, 2013
Stem cell-conventional treatment combo offers new hope in fighting deadly brain cancer

“In this work, we describe a highly innovative gene therapy approach, which is being developed along with the NIH and the FDA. Specifically, our group has developed an allogeneic neural stem cell line that is a carrier for a virus that can selectively infect and break down cancer cells,” explained Dr. Lesniak, the University of Chicago’s director of neurosurgical oncology and neuro-oncology research at the Brain Tumor Center.

The stem cell line, called HB1.F3 NSC, was recently approved by the FDA for use in a phase I human clinical trial.

GBM remains fatal despite intensive treatment with surgery, radiation and chemotherapy. And while cancer-killing viruses have been used in clinical trials to treat therapeutically resistant and infiltrative tumor burdens throughout the brain, “there were major drawbacks,” Dr. Lesniak explained.

July 12, 2013
New method to produce blood cells from stem cells could yield a purer, safer cell therapy

As such, it could lead to a purer, safer therapeutic grade of stem cells for use in regenerative medicine.

The discovery of iPSCs holds great promise for regenerative medicine since it is possible to produce patient-specific iPSCs from the individual for potential autologous treatment — that is, treatment using the patient’s own cells. This avoids the possibility of rejection and numerous other harmful side effects.

CD34+ cells are a type of blood stem cell that has been linked to proliferation. However, collecting enough CD34+ cells from a patient to produce an adequate amount of blood usually requires a large volume of blood to be taken from the patient. But scientists found a way around this, as outlined in the new study conducted by researchers in the Department of Medicine and Institute for Human Genetic, University of California-San Francisco. They were led by Yuet Wai Kan, M.D., FRS, and Lin Ye, Ph.D.

July 9, 2013
Universal stem cell product could overcome key challenges in donor organ transplants

In addition, the research demonstrates that the transplanted organ retained its immunologically privileged state during a subsequent transplantation into another naïve recipient.

June 17, 2013
Are root canals headed for obscurity? Stem cell study indicates maybe so

“Dental cavities and inflammation of the surrounding pulp is a challenging public health issue, as tooth decay not only can cause a patient great pain but it also can lead to other serious health issues including heart disease,” explained Misako Nakashima, DDS, Ph.D., of the National Center for Geriatrics and Gerontology in Obu, Japan. “Generally we treat deep cavities by capping the tooth and removing any inflamed pulp surrounding it. But this has limited success and the problem frequently progresses until the tooth must be removed.”

June 12, 2013
Novel liver stem cell model could speed up process for developing new drugs

But now a research team reports that it has developed a way to speed up the process. Their work, which involves the creation of a highly stable and sensitive liver stem cell model, is reported in the latest issue of STEM CELLS Translational Medicine.

“Liver toxicity is the second most common cause of human drug failure,” explained David Hay, Ph.D., of the University of Edinburgh’s MRC Centre for Regenerative Medicine, who led the team made up of university colleagues and scientists from Bristol-Myers Squibb, Princeton, N.J. “But one major bottleneck in safety testing new drugs has been finding a routine supply of good quality primary human hepatocytes from the desired genetic background.”

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