Monthly Archives: July 2017

Brain’s stem cells slow ageing in mice – Nature.com

Posted: July 30, 2017 at 9:43 pm

Patrick Landmann/SPL

Mice aged more slowly when injected with stem cells from the brains of newborns.

Stem cells in the brain could be the key to extending life and slowing ageing. These cells which are located in the hypothalamus, a region that produces hormones and other signalling molecules can reinvigorate declining brain function and muscle strength in middle-aged mice, according to a study published on 26 July in Nature1.

Shamini Bundell discovers more about the brains role in ageing

You may need a more recent browser or to install the latest version of the Adobe Flash Plugin.

Previous studies have suggested that the hypothalamus is involved in ageing, but the latest research shows that stem cells in this region can slow the process. That makes sense, because the hypothalamus is involved in many bodily functions, including inflammation and appetite, says Dongsheng Cai, a neuroendocrinologist at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York City.

In their study, Cai and his colleagues found that stem cells in the hypothalamus disappear as mice grow older. When the researchers injected their mice with viruses that destroy these cells, the animals seemed to grow older faster, experiencing declines in memory, muscle strength, endurance and coordination. They also died sooner than untreated mice of the same age.

Next, the team injected stem cells taken from the hypothalami of newborn mice into the brains of middle-aged mice. After four months, these animals had better cognitive and muscular function than untreated mice of the same age. They also lived about 10% longer, on average.

The researchers found that these stem cells release molecules called microRNAs, which help to regulate gene expression, into the cerebrospinal fluid. When the team injected these microRNAs into the brains of middle-aged mice, they found that the molecules slowed cognitive decline and muscle degeneration.

It's an interesting paper, says Leonard Guarente, a molecular biologist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, who studies ageing. He adds that it could lead to various ways of developing anti-ageing therapies in people.

Stem-cell therapies might enhance the ability of the hypothalamus to act as a master regulator, given that the latest results suggest it controls ageing through signalling peptides such as hormones and microRNAs, Cai says. He says that his team is trying to identify which of the thousands of types of microRNA produced are involved in ageing, and hopes to investigate whether similar mechanisms exist in non-human primates.

The findings represent a breakthrough in ageing research, says Shin-ichiro Imai, who studies ageing at Washington University in St Louis, Missouri. The next steps would be to link these stem cells with other physiological mechanisms of ageing, he says. For instance, these cells may have a role in regulating the neurons that release a hormone called GnRH, which is secreted by the hypothalamus and is associated with ageing. Imai would also like to know whether the microRNAs from the cells can pass into the bloodstream, which would carry them throughout the body.

Cai suspects that anti-ageing therapies targeting the hypothalamus would need to be administered in middle age, before a persons muscles and metabolism have degenerated beyond a point that could be reversed.

It is unclear by how much such a therapy could extend a human lifespan, but Guarente says that slowing the effects of ageing is the more important goal. Living longer isnt important if youre not healthy, he says.

Visit link:
Brain's stem cells slow ageing in mice - Nature.com

Posted in Missouri Stem Cells | Comments Off on Brain’s stem cells slow ageing in mice – Nature.com

Chemical persuasion by David Sparks Ph.d, click here for bio – AgInfo.net (press release) (registration) (blog)

Posted: July 30, 2017 at 9:43 pm

When it comes to nematodes, unraveling the root of the issue is complicated. These tiny parasites siphon off the nutrients from the roots of important crops like soybeans, and scientists keep uncovering more about how they accomplish this task. Research from the University of Missouri lab of Dr. Melissa Mitchum recently pinpointed a new way nematodes take over root cells.

In a normal plant, the plant sends different chemical signals to form different types of structures for a plant. One of those structures is the xylem for nutrient flow, Plant researchers discovered a peptide signal for vascular stem cells several years ago, but this is the first time anyone has proven that a nematode is also secreting chemical mimics to keep these stem cells from changing into the plant structures they normally would.

Stem cells? Xylem? Chemical mimics? Lets unpack whats going on.

First, all plants contain stem cells. These are cells with unbridled potential and are at the growth centers in a plant. Think the tips of shoots and roots. With the right urging, plant stem cells can turn into many different types of cells.

That influence often comes in the form of chemicals. These chemicals are typically made inside the plant and when stem cells are exposed to them at the right time, they turn certain genes either on or off that in turn start a transformation of these cells into more specialized organs.

Want a leaf? Expose a stem cell to a particular combination of chemicals. Need a root? Flood it with a different concoction of peptides. The xylem the dead cells that pipe water and nutrients up and down the plant requires a particular type of peptide that connects with just the right receptor to start the process.

But for a nematode, the plan is to hijack the plants plan and make plant cells feed it. This microscopic worm attaches itself to a root and uses a needle-like mouthpiece to inject spit into a single root cell. That spit contains chemical signals of its own engineered to look like plant signals. In this case, these chemicals B-type CLE peptides and their purpose are just being discovered by Mitchums lab.

Now a nematode doesnt want to turn its feeding site into xylem because these are dead cells it cant use, so they may be tapping into part of the pathway required to maintain the stems cells while suppressing xylem differentiation to form a structure that serves as a nutrient sink, Mitchum said. To me thats really cool.

This means these cells are free to serve the nematode. Many of their cell walls dissolve to create a large nutrient storage container for the nematode and some create finger-like cell wall ingrowths that increase the take up of food being piped through the roots. For a nematode, thats a lifetime of meals for it while it sits immobile, just eating.

But how did scientists figure out and test that this nematodes chemical was the cause?

Using next generation sequencing technologies that were previously unavailable, Michael Gardner, a graduate research assistant, and Jianying Wang, a senior research associate in Mitchums lab, compared the pieces of the plant and nematode genome and found nearly identical peptides in both B-type CLE peptides.

Everything is faster, more sensitive and we can detect things that had gone undetected through these technological advances that didnt exist 10 years ago, Mitchum said.

To test their theory, Xiaoli Guo, postdoctoral researcher and first author of the study in Mitchums lab synthesized the B-type CLE nematode peptide and applied it to vascular stem cells of the model plant Arabidopsis. They found that the nematode peptides triggered a growth response in much the same way as the plants own peptides affected development. They used mutant Arabidopsis plants engineered to not be affected as much by this peptide to confirm their findings. We knocked out genes in the plant to turn off this pathway, and that caused the nematodes feeding cell to be compromised. Thats why you see reduced development of the nematode on the plants.

This all matters because these tiny nematodes cost U.S. farmers billions every year in lost yields from soybeans, and similar nematodes affect sugar beets, potatoes, corn and other crops. While this discovery is just a piece of a puzzle, these pieces hopefully will come together to build better crops. You have to know what is happening before you can intervene, Mitchum said. Now our biggest hurdle is to figure out how to not compromise plant growth while blocking only the nematodes version of this peptide.

See the article here:
Chemical persuasion by David Sparks Ph.d, click here for bio - AgInfo.net (press release) (registration) (blog)

Posted in Missouri Stem Cells | Comments Off on Chemical persuasion by David Sparks Ph.d, click here for bio – AgInfo.net (press release) (registration) (blog)

Pig research could improve IVF in humans – Wallace’s Farmer

Posted: July 30, 2017 at 9:43 pm

Researchers at the University of Missouri have made a discovery that could decrease the costs associated with IVF in humans and it all started with piglets.

The laboratories of Dr. Michael Roberts and Dr. Randall Prather, both University of Missouri Curators' Professors, work with pigs to research stem cells. During an attempt to improve how they grew these cells, researchers stumbled across a method to improve the success of IVF in pigs.

Their discovery doubles the number of piglets born and speeds up the entire IVF process by 400%, which significantly increases both the efficiency of experiments and their potential application to other species. The journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences published their work July 3 in itsonline early edition.

"It was a serendipitous discovery, really," Roberts says. "Generally, there are multiple steps to producing viable embryos that we can then implant in pigs and cows involved in our research; however, it's costly and sometimes yields very little return. We were seeking a way to do that more efficiently and stumbled upon a method that may have implications in human fertility clinics as well."

Increasing eggsIn IVF involving pigs, scientists first extract oocytes (eggs) from female pigs, as well as the "nurse" cells that surround them, and place them in a chemical environment designed to mature the eggs. The eggs are then fertilized to create zygotes, or single-celled embryos that are allowed to develop for six days. These embryos are then transferred back into a female pig with the hope of achieving a successful pregnancy and healthy piglets.

The chance of generating a successful piglet after all those steps is very low; generally, less than 2% of the original oocytes make it that far, Roberts says. "Normally, researchers overcome this low success rate by implanting large numbers of embryos, but that takes a lot of time and money."

Ye Yuan, a former research assistant professor in Roberts' lab, and Lee Spate, a senior research specialist in animal sciences, were tasked with increasing the efficiency and quality of piglet embryos before they are implanted.

It took 3In one study, the team analyzed various special growth factors used when culturing pig stem cells and added two factors fibroblast growth factor 2 (FGF2) and leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF). They found that this combination, when added with a third factor insulin-like growth factor created the special fluid environment the oocytes needed to become competent for fertilization, and further development to embryos, that could provide a successful pregnancy.

Together, the three compounds create the chemical medium called "FLI," which could revolutionize both piglet and human IVF treatments; a patent application has been filed through the MU Office of Technology Management and Industry Relations to encourage commercialization of the new method.

"It improved every aspect of the whole process and almost doubled the efficiency of oocyte maturation," Roberts says. "Whenever you're doing science, you'd like to think you're doing something that could be useful. When we started it wasn't to improve fertility IVF in women, it was to just get better oocytes in pigs. Now it's possible that FLI medium could become important in bovine embryo work, and possibly even help with human IVF."

Source: University of Missouri, Columbia

Link:
Pig research could improve IVF in humans - Wallace's Farmer

Posted in Missouri Stem Cells | Comments Off on Pig research could improve IVF in humans – Wallace’s Farmer

Latinos left out of clinical trials and possible cures – Daily Democrat

Posted: July 30, 2017 at 9:42 pm

Two decades ago, Luis Antonio Cabrera received devastating news: He likely had only three months to live.

The Puerto Rican truck driver, then 50, had attributed his growing leg pain to spending so many hours on the road. The real culprit was a malignant tumor in his left kidney that was pressing on nerves from his lower spine.

His initial treatment involved removing the organ, a complex surgery that, by itself, proved insufficient, as the cancerous cells had already spread to his lungs. Therefore, his primary care physician in Puerto Rico contacted doctors at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), in Bethesda, Md., and managed to enroll Cabrera in a medical study to test an innovative therapy: transplanting blood stem cells to destroy the cancer cells.

Today, at 70, Cabrera, a father of five and grandparent who moved to West Virginia with his wife to be closer to NIH, feels strong and healthy. I come to do tests every six months Im like a patient at large, he said.

This story also ran in USA Today. It can be republished for free (details).

However, Cabrera is one of a relatively small number of Hispanics who participate in clinical trials. Only less than 8 percent of enrollees are Hispanic, even though Hispanics comprise 17 percent of the population, said Dr. Eliseo, director of NIHs National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities. In California, Latinos outnumber non-Hispanic whites.

That means not only do Hispanics have less access to experimental cutting-edge treatments but researchers have less data on how a drug works in that population. Studies have shown that different ethnic groups might respond differently to treatments. The lack of patients from minority groups is an endemic problem in clinical trials; minorities typically are represented at a very low rate.

Studies should represent the demographics of the country, said Dr. Jonca Bull, an assistant commissioner on minority health at the Food and Drug Administration. We need to close that gap so we can better understand how a particular drug or therapy works in different communities.

One of the few studies focused 100 percent on the Hispanic community has been the The Hispanic Community Health Study of Latinos, led by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute. This study has been analyzing a group of more than 16,000 Hispanics of different backgrounds in five cities since 2006, helping researchers learn more about the incidence of conditions such as diabetes, cholesterol, smoking and depression within the community.

In addition, an NIH-led initiative of the 21st Century Cures Act, a law in force since December, is compiling a database of about 1 million potential volunteers for medical studies, with a goal of including thousands of Hispanics.

Advertisement

Meanwhile, the University of California has been awarded a nearly $14.7 million multi-year grant from the National Institutes of Health to study contributors to dementia in the Latino population in the United States. The multicenter study will examine the biological underpinnings of stroke, mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimers disease among Hispanics, and pursue new therapeutic directions to reduce brain health disparities.

This is the largest study of Latinos with cognitive impairment ever done, said co-principal investigator Charles DeCarli, director of the UCD Alzheimers Disease Center. Latinos are the fastest growing minority population in our aging population, so cognitive impairment in this group is an important public health concern.

UC Davis and nine other institutions across the country will participate in the research. The investigators will draw from the more than 16,000-patient cohort of the ongoing Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos, a multicenter epidemiologic study primarily focused on cardiovascular and pulmonary diseases. An ancillary study, the Study of Latinos-Investigation of Neurocognitive Aging, is examining genetic and cardiovascular disease risk factors for neurocognitive deficits, and will also provide important data for this research.

DeCarli, a UCD Health professor of neurology, noted that the Latino population is especially important to study in the field of dementia because they have a higher prevalence of diabetes, hypertension and obesity compared to non-Hispanic Caucasians, all risk factors for stroke and dementia. Rates of Alzheimers disease are about 1.5 times higher than in white non-Hispanics.

However, there are many reasons why Latinos do not enroll in these studies, Perez-Stable said: lack of information, disparities in access to health care and not being fluent in English are among main factors. Dr. Otis Brawley, chief medical officer with the American Cancer Society (ACS), said Latino families are open to participating in clinical trials, especially to help treat a sick son or daughter, but they need advice from a doctor to navigate the process.

Federal officials aim to augment these numbers. In March, the FDA launched a campaign to educate Hispanics about medical studies. Primary care physicians have to be the champions. In addition, the community health centers can help, because they are places of care that people trust, said Bull.

There are efforts in different states to encourage minorities to participate in clinical studies. In March, the California Medical Association Foundation launched a statewide campaign called Encouraging Diversity in Clinical Trials to reach Latinos and other minorities. The campaign features posters in doctors offices and educational videos.

As of July 5, there were 94,545 ongoing clinical trials in the United States, according to the NIHs official website, clinicaltrials.gov. As in Cabreras case, the primary physician usually helps a patient find a medical study, although the advent of the internet in recent decades has meant a growing number of patients discover trials themselves online. To participate, the person must meet the researchers criteria for eligibility: age, gender or condition. Often, the center conducting the study covers related costs of drugs, treatments and tests.

For Brenda Aldana, receiving care at Holy Cross Hospital in Silver Spring, Md., made all the difference.

Aldana, 34, arrived in the United States from Zacatecoluca, El Salvador, nine years ago. During her first year in the U.S., she began to feel tired and her hair began to fall out. She initially thought those were symptoms of the stress of starting a new life in a new country, but while visiting her sister in Frederick, Md., Aldana fainted. It turned out she was suffering more than nerves: She had a pulmonary embolism. Within two weeks of tests, she was diagnosed with lupus, a debilitating chronic condition with a high incidence among Latinas.

At Holy Cross, the doctors told me that they were going to help me get into a medical program for a medication to treat arthritis [caused by her lupus], said Aldana, who has three children, ages 17, 6 and 5.

Aldana travels from Olney, Md., to the NIH Clinical Center once a month to receive intravenous medication.

These days, Hispanics receive less quality medical care, so its important for them to be more involved in clinical trials, said Brawley, noting that enrolling in a clinical trial gives patients access to a high-quality physician they might not otherwise see.

In a medical study, instead of having the opinion of a single doctor, youll get the opinion of a group of highly qualified doctors who can say, This is good for people like you, Brawley said. The American Cancer Society has an information service to help patients find clinical trials that match their medical condition. This service is also available in Spanish.

John Vasquez, 21, of San Antonio, Texas, needed only internet access and a cellphone to find the medical study that could change his life. In September 2015, while on his way to his brothers football game, he lost feeling in his leg, arm and right part of his face. I thought I was having a stroke, he said.

He had aplastic anemia, a potentially deadly rare blood disorder that was destroying his red and white cells, and platelets, which aid the bodys clotting mechanism.

In a Facebook group for people with severe blood conditions, he was advised to contact the NIH, which sent him a kit for blood tests. After analyzing his clinical history, they told him he was eligible to participate in a medical study, which opened the gates to an innovative transplant that could change the course of his disease. Temporarily living with a sister in Maryland, he is scheduled for a bone marrow transplant on Aug. 1. His donor: his 14-year-old brother.

This story was produced by Kaiser Health News, an editorially independent program of the Kaiser Family Foundation. Dorsey Griffith of UC Davis contributed to this article.

See the original post:
Latinos left out of clinical trials and possible cures - Daily Democrat

Posted in West Virginia Stem Cells | Comments Off on Latinos left out of clinical trials and possible cures – Daily Democrat

International Space Station’s Crew Restored to Six People – Kansas City infoZine

Posted: July 30, 2017 at 9:42 pm

Washington, DC - infoZine - After a six-hour spaceflight, NASA astronaut Randy Bresnik, Sergey Ryazanskiy of Roscosmos and Paolo Nespoli of ESA (European Space Agency) arrived at the International Space Station at 5:54 p.m. EDT Friday to continue important scientific research in the orbiting laboratory.

The three crewmates launched aboard the Soyuz MS-05 spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 11:41 a.m. (9:41 p.m. Baikonur time), orbited Earth four times, and docked at the space station. Following standard pressurization and leak checks, the hatches between the spacecraft and station will be opened.

The newly-expanded Expedition 52 crew soon will conduct new science investigations arriving on SpaceXs 12th NASA-contracted commercial resupply mission targeted to launch in August. Investigations the crew will work on include a study developed by the Michael J. Fox Foundation of the pathology of Parkinsons disease to aid in the development of therapies for patients on Earth. The crew will use the special nature of microgravity in a new lung tissue study to advance understanding of how stem cells work and pave the way for further use of the microgravity environment in stem cell research. Expedition astronauts also will assemble and deploy a microsatellite investigation seeking to validate the concept of using microsatellites in low-Earth orbit to support critical operations, such as providing lower-cost Earth imagery in time-sensitive situations such as tracking severe weather and detecting natural disasters.

During their expedition, the crew members also are scheduled to receive an Orbital ATK Cygnus spacecraft launched from NASAs Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia and a Russian Progress resupply mission, each delivering several tons of food, fuel, supplies and research such as an investigation to demonstrate the merits of manufacturing fiber optic filaments in microgravity.

Whitson, Fischer and Yurchikhin are scheduled to remain aboard the station until September. Shortly after their departure, NASA astronauts Mark Vande Hei and Joseph Acaba and Russian cosmonaut Alexander Misurkin will join the Expedition 53 crew. Bresnik, Ryazanskiy and Nespoli are scheduled to return in December.

For more than 16 years, humans have lived and worked continuously aboard the International Space Station, advancing scientific knowledge and demonstrating new technologies, making research breakthroughs not possible on Earth that will enable long-duration human and robotic exploration into deep space. A global endeavor, more than 200 people from 18 countries have visited the unique microgravity laboratory that has hosted more than 1,900 research investigations from researchers in more than 95 countries.

See the article here:
International Space Station's Crew Restored to Six People - Kansas City infoZine

Posted in Kansas Stem Cells | Comments Off on International Space Station’s Crew Restored to Six People – Kansas City infoZine

Scientists build DNA from scratch to alter life’s blueprint – Kansas City Star

Posted: July 30, 2017 at 9:42 pm

At Jef Boeke's lab, you can whiff an odor that seems out of place, as if they were baking bread here.

But he and his colleagues are cooking up something else altogether: yeast that works with chunks of man-made DNA.

Scientists have long been able to make specific changes in the DNA code. Now, they're taking the more radical step of starting over, and building redesigned life forms from scratch. Boeke, a researcher at New York University, directs an international team of 11 labs on four continents working to "rewrite" the yeast genome, following a detailed plan they published in March.

Their work is part of a bold and controversial pursuit aimed at creating custom-made DNA codes to be inserted into living cells to change how they function, or even provide a treatment for diseases. It could also someday help give scientists the profound and unsettling ability to create entirely new organisms.

The genome is the entire genetic code of a living thing. Learning how to make one from scratch, Boeke said, means "you really can construct something that's completely new."

The research may reveal basic, hidden rules that govern the structure and functioning of genomes. But it also opens the door to life with new and useful characteristics, like microbes or mammal cells that are better than current ones at pumping out medications in pharmaceutical factories, or new vaccines. The right modifications might make yeast efficiently produce new biofuels, Boeke says.

Some scientists look further into the future and see things like trees that purify water supplies and plants that detect explosives at airports and shopping malls.

Also on the horizon is redesigning human DNA. That's not to make genetically altered people, scientists stress. Instead, the synthetic DNA would be put into cells, to make them better at pumping out pharmaceutical proteins, for example, or perhaps to engineer stem cells as a safer source of lab-grown tissue and organs for transplanting into patients.

Some have found the idea of remaking human DNA disconcerting, and scientists plan to get guidance from ethicists and the public before they try it.

Still, redesigning DNA is alarming to some. Laurie Zoloth of Northwestern University, a bioethicist who's been following the effort, is concerned about making organisms with "properties we cannot fully know." And the work would disturb people who believe creating life from scratch would give humans unwarranted power, she said.

"It is not only a science project," Zoloth said in an email. "It is an ethical and moral and theological proposal of significant proportions."

Rewritten DNA has already been put to work in viruses and bacteria. Australian scientists recently announced that they'd built the genome of the Zika virus in a lab, for example, to better understand it and get clues for new treatments.

At Harvard University, Jeffrey Way and Pamela Silver are working toward developing a harmless strain of salmonella to use as a vaccine against food poisoning from salmonella and E. coli, as well as the diarrhea-causing disease called shigella.

A key goal is to prevent the strain from turning harmful as a result of picking up DNA from other bacteria. That requires changing its genome in 30,000 places.

"The only practical way to do that," Way says, "is to synthesize it from scratch."

The cutting edge for redesigning a genome, though, is yeast. Its genome is bigger and more complex than the viral and bacterial codes altered so far. But it's well-understood and yeast will readily swap man-made DNA for its own.

Still, rewriting the yeast genome is a huge job.

It's like a chain with 12 million chemical links, known by the letters, A, C, G and T. That's less than one-hundredth the size of the human genome, which has 3.2 billion links. But it's still such a big job that Boeke's lab and scientists in the United States, Australia, China, Singapore, and the United Kingdom are splitting up the work. By the time the new yeast genome is completed, researchers will have added, deleted or altered about a million DNA letters.

Boeke compares a genome to a book with many chapters, and researchers are coming out with a new edition, with chapters that allow the book to do something it couldn't do before.

To redesign a particular stretch of yeast DNA, scientists begin with its sequence of code letters nature's own recipe. They load that sequence into a computer, then tell the computer to make specific kinds of changes. For example one change might let them rearrange the order of genes, which might reveal strategies to make yeast grow better, says NYU researcher Leslie Mitchell.

Once the changes are made, the new sequence used as a blueprint. It is sent to a company that builds chunks of DNA containing the new sequence. Then these short chunks are joined together in the lab to build ever longer strands.

The project has so far reported building about one-third of the yeast genome. Boeke hopes the rest of the construction will be done by the end of the year. But he says it will take longer to test the new DNA and fix problems, and to finally combine the various chunks into a complete synthetic genome.

Last year, Boeke and others announced a separate effort, what is now called Genome Project-write or GP-write . It is chiefly focused on cutting the cost of building and testing large genomes, including human ones, by more than 1,000-fold within 10 years. The project is still seeking funding.

In the meantime, leaders of GP-write have started discussions of ethical, legal and social issues. And they realize the idea of making a human genome is a sensitive one.

"The notion that we could actually write a human genome is simultaneously thrilling to some and not so thrilling to others," Boeke said. "So we recognize this is going to take a lot of discussion."

___

Follow Malcolm Ritter at @MalcolmRitter. His recent work can be found here.

Read the original here:
Scientists build DNA from scratch to alter life's blueprint - Kansas City Star

Posted in Kansas Stem Cells | Comments Off on Scientists build DNA from scratch to alter life’s blueprint – Kansas City Star

Stem Cells Guided by Electric Fields May Offer New Therapies for … – Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News (press release)

Posted: July 12, 2017 at 1:47 pm

Scientists at the University of California, Davis School of Medicine's Institute for Regenerative Cures report that electric fields can be used to guide neural stem cells transplanted into the brain toward a specific location. Their study (Electrical Guidance of Human Stem Cells in the Rat Brain), which appears in Stem Cell Reports, opens the door for potentially guiding stem cells to repair brain damage.

we report a strategy that mobilizes and guides migration of stem cells in the brain invivo. We developed a safe stimulation paradigm to deliver directional currents in the brain, write the investigators. Tracking cells expressing GFP [green fluorescent protein] demonstrated electrical mobilization and guidance of migration of human neural stem cells, even against co-existing intrinsic cues in the rostral migration stream.

Min Zhao, M.D., Ph.D., carries out research on how electric fields can guide wound healing. Damaged tissues generate weak electric fields, and Zhao's research has shown how these electric fields can attract cells into wounds to heal them.

"One unmet need in regenerative medicine is how to effectively and safely mobilize and guide stem cells to migrate to lesion sites for repair," Dr. Zhao said. "Inefficient migration of those cells to lesions is a significant roadblock to developing effective clinical applications."

Natural neural stem cells are found deep in the brain, in the subventricular zone and hippocampus. To repair damage to the cortex, they have to migrate some distance, especially in the large human brain. Transplanted stem cells might also have to migrate some way to find an area of damage.

Dr. Zhao, and his colleague, Junfeng Feng, M.D., a neurosurgeon at Ren Ji Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, and Shanghai Institute of Head Trauma, developed a model of stem cell transplants in rats. They placed human neural stem cells in the rostral migration stream, which is a pathway in the rat brain that carries cells toward the olfactory bulb. Cells move along this pathway, partly carried by the flow of cerebrospinal fluid and partly guided by chemical signals.

By applying an electric field within the rat's brain, the scientists found that they could get the transplanted stem cells to swim upstream against the fluid flow and natural cues and head for other locations within the brain.

The transplanted stem cells were still in their new locations weeks or months after treatment.

"Electrical mobilization and guidance of stem cells in the brain therefore provides a potential approach to facilitate stem cell therapies for brain diseases, stroke, and injuries," noted Dr. Zhao.

Read more here:
Stem Cells Guided by Electric Fields May Offer New Therapies for ... - Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News (press release)

Posted in Stem Cells | Comments Off on Stem Cells Guided by Electric Fields May Offer New Therapies for … – Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News (press release)

UW-Madison scientists grow functional artery cells from stem cells – Madison.com

Posted: July 12, 2017 at 1:47 pm

In a step toward one of stem cell sciences chief goals, UW-Madison researchers have grown functional human artery cells that helped lab mice survive heart attacks.

The development, from the lab of stem cell pioneer James Thomson, could help scientists create arteries to use in bypass surgeries for cardiovascular disease, the nations top killer. Several challenges remain, however, and studies in people are years away.

This work provides valuable proof that we can eventually get a reliable source for functional arterial endothelial cells and make arteries that perform and behave like the real thing, Thomson said in a statement.

The research, reported Monday in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, is part of a federally funded effort at UW-Madison to create artery banks for cardiovascular surgery from universally compatible donors.

In a related project, other UW-Madison researchers are testing three-dimensional heart patches of heart muscle cells, grown from stem cells, in pigs. The goal is to replace diseased or damaged heart tissue in humans.

Since Thomson became the first scientist to successfully grow human embryonic stem cells in a lab in 1998, researchers around the world have been coaxing the universal cells into various cell types heart, pancreas, kidney, brain to develop therapies and better understand diseases.

Today, many researchers use cells reprogrammed to their embryonic state from mature cells known as induced pluri- potent stem, or iPS, cells as the raw material. Thomson helped discover iPS cells in 2007.

Many labs can convert embryonic stem cells or iPS cells into specific cell types, but developing specialized cell lines that are pure, functional and robust has been a challenge.

Thomson and his team set out to find a recipe for growing artery cells that would really function like arteries.

The researchers used two new techniques: single-cell RNA sequencing to identify genes highly expressed in cells that initiate artery development, and CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing to evaluate the function of the genes.

They found that five small molecules and growth factors are needed to encourage iPS cells to become functional artery cells. To their surprise, they discovered that insulin, a common growth factor that had been used before in trying to grow artery cells, actually inhibits such growth.

They used their recipe to make artery cells, and tested the cells in mice that had their left coronary arteries tied off to mimic heart attacks. Four weeks later, 83 percent of mice treated with the cells were alive, compared to 33 percent of mice that didnt get the cells.

We can use those cells to further create tissue-engineered arteries for bypass surgeries, said Jue Zhang, a scientist in Thomsons lab at the Morgridge Institute for Research and lead author of the study.

Developing off-the-shelf bypasses for surgery is the goal of an $8 million, seven-year grant UW-Madison received last year from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute to create universal artery banks.

The blood vessels of many cardiovascular disease patients arent suitable for use as bypasses, doctors say, and growing bypasses from individual patients stem cells would be timely and expensive. The hope is to use iPS cells from a rare population of genetically compatible donors to grow arteries anyone could use.

UW-Madison scientists, including engineers Tom Turng and Naomi Chesler and pathologist Igor Slukvin at the Wisconsin National Primate Research Center, plan to grow artery cells on scaffolds and test them in monkeys. If successful, the cells would be produced for human studies at the Waisman Biomanufacturing facility on campus.

The heart patches involve another $8.6 million, seven-year National Institutes of Health grant, shared with the University of Alabama-Birmingham and Duke University.

The patches involve three types of heart cells, derived from iPS cells, said Dr. Tim Kamp, a UW-Madison cardiologist and co-director of the universitys Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine Center.

In studies in pigs, getting the patches to connect and survive when transplanted to pig hearts after heart attacks remains a challenge, Kamp said. Immune tolerance of the human grafts in pigs is another concern, he said.

But if such hurdles can be overcome, tests in humans could follow.

More here:
UW-Madison scientists grow functional artery cells from stem cells - Madison.com

Posted in Stem Cells | Comments Off on UW-Madison scientists grow functional artery cells from stem cells – Madison.com

New NUH study to test stem cells as treatment for liver disease … – TODAYonline

Posted: July 12, 2017 at 1:47 pm

SINGAPORE The use of stem cell treatment to repair liver cirrhosis, or hardening of the liver, will be tested in a clinical trial here involving 46 patients and costing S$2.6 million.

The four-year study, which was launched yesterday, came amid a growing waiting list in Singapore for a liver transplant, which is currently the only cure for patients with end-stage liver cirrhosis.

Conducted by a multi-centre team from several restructured hospitals here, the study is led by the National University Hospital (NUH).

Liver failure is one of the top 20 causes of death in Singapore, but many patients are not suitable for a transplant due to factors such as age and surgical fitness.

Out of every five patients doctors see with end-stage liver disease, only one qualifies for a liver transplant, said Dr Dan Yock Young, principal investigator of the clinical trial and senior consultant at NUHs division of gastroenterology and hepatology.

(A liver transplant) is curative, but it is a complex procedure, and many patients are not suitable for it. For these patients, treatment is limited, but morbidity and mortality rates are high as high as 50 per cent in one year and this is probably worse than many (of the) other terminal illnesses we talk about today, he said.

Animal studies conducted over the last five years have shown that stem cells can reconstruct the micro-environment of a normal liver.

Like how branches are of critical importance in supporting the leaves and fruits of a tree, the endothelial (stem) cells contribute to supporting a nutritious environment for the hepatocyte (liver) cells, Dr Dan explained.

While similar stem-cell studies have been conducted in other centres in Asia, there has been no definitive evidence of the benefits of the treatment for liver patients.

The study will recruit 46 patients aged between 40 and 70 years old, and who are at the terminal stages of chronic liver disease, over three years. It is funded by the National Medical Research Council.

During the clinical trial, patients will be divided into a therapeutic group and a control group.

All patients will receive an injection to stimulate their bone marrow cells as part of the supportive treatment for their liver cirrhosis. However, only patients in the study group will have the stem cells from the bone marrow extracted and deposited directly into their liver for more targeted repair.

Using ones own stem cells will avoid the problem of cell rejection.

The liver tissue will be examined three months later, and an investigation to compare pre- and post-transplant results will be conducted after a year.

Since invasive surgery is not required for stem-cell therapy, the fatality risk is significantly lowered for the patient. However, other risks such as severe bleeding and infections still remain, given the patients weakened condition.

NUH also noted that the stem-cell therapy does not replace liver transplants, and the latter remains the best available treatment for liver cirrhosis.

It is very painful to turn patients away when we cannot offer them a liver transplant, said Dr Dan, adding that this stem cell therapy will serve as an alternative option.

We hope that this is a stepping stone to trials for stem cell candidates, he added.

MORE WAITING FOR A LIVER

The number of people on the waiting list for a liver transplant has been growing in recent years. In June last year, it was reported that there were 54 people on the list, more than double the 24 patients in 2011.

Chronic Hepatitis B remains the primary cause of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, which refers to a range of liver conditions affecting people who drink little to no alcohol. However, obesity has become a contributing factor to the illness as well.

Go here to see the original:
New NUH study to test stem cells as treatment for liver disease ... - TODAYonline

Posted in Stem Cells | Comments Off on New NUH study to test stem cells as treatment for liver disease … – TODAYonline

Experimental stem cells could help dogs suffering from arthritis – FOX 46 Charlotte

Posted: July 12, 2017 at 1:47 pm

FOX 46 WJZY - By age 10 up to 80 percent of dogs will develop arthritis. It can make it difficult for them to walk, stand or even move, but the experimental use of stem cells from young dogs could helprejuvenatejoints in older animals.

Brian Cirillo is concerned about his four-year-old dog Cosby's health.

"He's always the last one to kind of get moving and if he's laying down for a long time he takes a long time to stand up," Cirillo said.

Initially acting as fosters, Brian adopted Cosby and his two siblings when they were just four weeks old, bringing the total number of rescue dogs at their home up to six.

"He's the only one that's so scared of everything and I'm starting to wonder now if it's because he's in pain, you know, and he doesn't want to have to get out of a situation or something," saidCirillo.

To diagnose Cosby's problem he's getting a physical exam, X-rays, and blood tests, but there's a possibility Cosby could qualify to get something else-- an injection of experimental stem cells into his joint.

"We're looking at taking the miraculous healing capabilities of the body, concentrating it, and then bringing it back to the body and we're not seeing a lot of side effects,"Cirillosaid.

Veterinarian Dr. Michael Amsberry owns the St. Francis Pet Care Center, one of several sites across the county taking part in a clinical trial testing whether specially grown stem cells made by animal cell therapies in San Diego will help arthritis symptoms in dogs.

"Specifically this study is knees, hips, elbows and shoulders but the most common in this study is hips," Dr. Amsberry said.

The cells are grown from umbilical cord blood.

"So what they've done is harvested little umbilical cords from c-sections from dogs and they isolate these cells. They grow them up, they can culture them up to hundreds of millions of cells so from one sample they can treat thousands of dogs," said Dr. Amsberry.

The treatment is free and Dr. Amsberry says so far he's injected eight dogs.

"Any downside, we just haven't seen any downsides period," he said.

It's an experimental option Brian hopes will work for Cosby.

"If he gets older and keeps getting worse that's never good so if we can try to get ahead of the problem with stem cells and actually cure the problem and he doesnt have to be on a lot of chemicals and medicines his whole life, that would be great," saidCirillo.

Go here to read the rest:
Experimental stem cells could help dogs suffering from arthritis - FOX 46 Charlotte

Posted in Stem Cells | Comments Off on Experimental stem cells could help dogs suffering from arthritis – FOX 46 Charlotte