Monthly Archives: September 2014

Dubai: Stem cells harvested from the umbilical cord blood can save lives.

Of the 3,377 stem cells collected so far at the Dubai Cord Blood and Research Centre (DCRC), nine have been used for life-saving transplants in children in cases of leukaemia and other blood diseases.

Advocating the importance of public donation of cord blood stem cells to help form a substantial registry of stem cells for the UAE, Kareema Salim Al Arrayed, head of DCRC, said: Since the inception of this centre in 2006, we have seen an increase in the awareness levels about cord blood banking and this has directly attributed to an increase in the number of people who save their cord blood at our cord blood bank. However, we need to raise awareness that cord blood stem cells can be donated. Presently, more than 80 diseases can be cured with the help of stem cells and this includes leukaemia, and treatment of genetic disorders such as thalassaemia.

She added: The DCRC encourages families to donate cord blood stem cells so that we have a strong UAE public registry to help people in need. Stem cells are the future of medicine and public banking is a trend that is catching on globally due to the several diseases stem cells can cure.

Many women today opt for cord blood collection at the time of birth and DCRC provides pregnant women and their families a guided tour of the centre and its facilities to engender their interest in preserving stem cells for their families or for the purpose of donation.

The DCRC was established in 2006 and the prime objective of the centre is to retrieve a newborns umbilical cord blood at birth and extract the haemopoietic stem cells and carry out its cryopreservation. The DCRC spokesperson explained that the umbilical cord blood is what remains in the placenta following birth. The placenta is the temporary organ that transfers oxygen and nutrients to the baby via the umbilical cord while in the mothers uterus. Until recently, in most cases, the umbilical cord and the placenta were discarded after birth. In the last decade, scientists and researchers have discovered that the umbilical cord blood could supply stem cells, the hidden treasure of life. These stem cells can be used to replace blood-forming cells in a person being treated for cancer or other life-threatening diseases such as haemoglobinopathies, leukaemia, immune system deficiencies and numerous genetic diseases and it holds out hope for incurable diseases.

Visit link:
Cord blood stem cells a life saviour

Sep 01, 2014 The biobank comprises three cryotanks, equipped with cooled protective hoods, and a transfer station from which the sample containers are transported via a rail system. There is enough space for approximately 60,000 samples. Credit: Fraunhofer IBMT

For the development of new drugs it is crucial to work with stem cells, as these allow scientists to study the effects of new active pharmaceutical ingredients. But it has always been difficult to derive enough stem cells of the right quality and in the right timeframe. A central biobank is about to remedy the situation.

Human stem cells allow scientists to assess how patients are likely to respond to new drugs and to examine how illnesses come about. For a few years now, it has been possible to take tissue samples from adults and use reverse programming to artificially produce stem cells, which have the potential to create any kind of cell found in the human body. Before this discovery, pharmaceutical researchers had to use adult stem cells or primary cells, which have a more limited potential. Another option is to use stem cells derived from human embryos, but quite apart from the ethical considerations these cells are available only in limited diversity. The new technique makes it possible for instance to reprogram adult skin or blood cells so that they behave in a similar way to embryonic stem cells and can become any type of cell. "These are known as induced pluripotent stem cells, or iPS cells for short," says Dr. Julia Neubauer from the Fraunhofer Institute for Biomedical Engineering IBMT in St. Ingbert, Germany. Although an increasing number of local biobanks have emerged in recent years, none of them fulfills the requirements of the pharmaceutical industry and research institutions. What is needed is a supply of 'ready-to-use' stem cells, which means large numbers of consistently characterized, systematically catalogued cells of suitable quality.

At the beginning of 2014, the IBMT teamed up with 26 industry and research partners to launch a project aimed at establishing a central biobank the European Bank for induced pluripotent Stem Cells (EBiSC) to generate iPS cells from patients with specific diseases or genetic mutations (http://ebisc.org/). Six months into the project and the first cells are available for use in the development of new drugs. By its three-year mark, it is hoped the project will be in a position to offer over 1000 defined and characterized cell lines comprising a hundred million cells. Such quantities are needed because a single drug screening involves testing several million cells. The main biobank facility is being built in the English city of Cambridge and an identical "mirror site" will be set up at the IBMT's Sulzbach location in Germany.

Gently freezing cells

The IBMT was brought on board for EBiSC by virtue of the comprehensive expertise it gained through participation in the EU's "Hyperlab" and "CRYSTAL" projects. For EBiSC, IBMT scientists are responsible for freezing the cells and for automating cell cultivation and the biobank itself. For an efficient long-term storage of functional stem cells, they have to be cooled down to temperatures of below 130 degrees Celsius in a controlled way. The scientists have to prepare the cells so they can survive the cold shock of nitrogen gas. The IBMT has, for instance, developed technologies that allow cells to be frozen in an extremely gentle way. "Cells don't like being removed from the surface they are grown on, but that's what people used to do in order to freeze them. Our method allows the cells to stay adherent," explains Neubauer.

Just as with foodstuffs, stem cells depend on an unbroken cold chain to preserve their functionality and viability. The scientists store the cells in special containers or cryotanks each measuring one by two meters. To remove a particular sample, the scientists have to open the cryotank. The problem is that this exposes all the other samples to warmer ambient air, causing them to begin to thaw out. "It's just like when you go to your refrigerator at home it's not a good idea to leave the door open too long," says Neubauer. She and her colleagues at the IBMT and industry partner Askion GmbH have together developed a stem cell biobank complete with protective hoods that protect the other samples whenever the cryotank is opened. In addition to maintaining the temperature, the hoods help keep another key shelf-life criterion, humidity, at a constant level.

Flawless freezing is important, but it is just as important to automate the whole process. "That not only guarantees consistency, it's what makes it possible to provide large quantities of cells of the required quality in the first place," says Neubauer. And the scientists' cooling process already boasts a finished technology. In their automated biobank, each cell sample is labelled with barcodes to allow them to be tracked. The samples travel along a conveyor belt to the individual cyrotanks, and a computer monitors the entire freezing and storage process.

Now the scientists are working on automating cell cultivation or the multiplying of the cells. There are essentially two possible approaches. One is to use robots that translate each preparation step into a mechanical one. The other is to use stirred bioreactors that provide free-moving cells with the ideal supply of nutrients and oxygen. Both technologies feature in the IBMT's portfolio. "By the time the project is completed, we'll know which is the better method for what we're trying to do," says Neubauer.

Explore further: Animal-free reprogramming of adult cells improves safety

Continue reading here:
Central biobank for drug research

Researchers have recently found a method to expand blood stem cells that could lead to new and better cancer treatment, it has been reported.

Scientists from the University Of Colorado School Of Medicine have reported the breakthrough discovery of a process to expand production of stem cells used to treat cancer patients. These findings could have implications that extend beyond cancer, including treatments for inborn immunodeficiency and metabolic conditions and autoimmune diseases.

Researchers from the Charles C. Gates Center for Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Biology and Taiga Biotechnologies, Inc. said they have uncovered the keys to the molecular code that appear to regulate the ability of blood stem cells to reproduce and retain their stem-like characteristics.

The team developed protein products that can be directly administered to blood stem cells to encourage them to multiply without permanent genetic modifications. The technology described in the article has worked with blood stem cells obtained from cord blood, adult bone marrow or peripheral blood from adults.

Taiga Biotechnologies are now in the process of setting up first-in-human clinical trials with the blood stem cell expansion approaches described in the article. The clinical applications for expanded human blood stem cells vary from inborn immunodeficiency conditions, like SCID and sickle cell anemia, to metabolic conditions, like Hurler's disease or Gaucher syndrome.

Autoimmune diseases that could be affected include severe multiple sclerosis and lupus. And the types of cancer that could be treated as a result of this research include leukemia, lymphoma, myeloma and other types of solid tumors.

The article is published in PLOS ONE. (ANI)

Link:
Scientists' new approach can provide better treatment for cancer