Category Archives: Stem Cell Videos

MCKINNEY (CBSDFW.COM) - If you have ever dealt with back pain, then you know how quickly it can take over your life. But some North Texans are discovering that tiny cells in their own bodies could be key to long-lasting relief.

A simple walk on a beautiful day is not something that Kim Ferracioli takes for granted, as the McKinney resident has been dealing with debilitating back pain for years due to a bad disk in her lower spine. It was so painful, she said. Everytime I would stand up or sit too long, it was just a horrible pinching feeling.

When steroid injections, physical therapy and a minimally-invasive surgery actually made the pain worse, Ferracioli decided to try a new therapy that is revolutionizing the way that doctors treat spinal injuries.

Were using your stem cells, which decreases the rate for complications, explained Dr. Rob Dickerman, a neurosurgeon and one of a few doctors in the country using a patients own stem cells to actually grow new bones from scratch. We can remove a disk and put them between the bones of the spine, and itll stimulate a fusion.

Dickerman removes stem cells from a patients hip and places them in a disk-like carrier. Once implanted into the patients spine, within three months, the stem cells begin to grow into new bone where the damaged disk was removed.

There was an automatic difference, said Ferracioli about the procedure. I could get up out of chairs. I didnt need the cane anymore.

Dickerman said that the success of these procedures are just the first steps for stem cell use in the spine. He hopes that they will soon be able to treat more serious injuries. If we can tweak these cells, Dickerman explained, to make it beneficial to these patients that for the most part have irreparable injuries, that would just be a huge advance in science.

Research is already underway in several labs around the world, transplanting a patients own stem cells to repair spinal cord injuries and even traumatic brain injuries. Dickerman hopes to see these treatments hit the mainstream within the next few years.

In the meantime, Ferracioli said that this new procedure is the only thing that gave her life back. I had to literally pull this back leg up the stairs, Ferracioli recalled. Now, I can just go no pain!

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Stem Cells Could Be Key To Back Pain Relief

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Moraga Biotechnology Corporation, an adult stem cell company based in Culver City, California, announces the publication of its blood-derived Blastomere-Like Stem Cells (BLSCs) patent with the European Patent Office (EPO). The EPO had previously granted the patent of the Companys non-embryonic totipotent blastomere-like stem cell on May 19, 2011 in which the English claims were erroneously limited to rat stem cells. This error was corrected in the republished EP17895540B9. The EP17895540B9 claims isolated mammal/human post-natal blastomere-like stem cells and isolation methods.

Moragas chief executive, Dr. John F. Wong, noted: We are very pleased to have the EPO grant the 540 patent as Moraga and its U.K. partner, Pharmacells, Ltd. achieved a major milestone validating its adult stem cell technology. Moraga is particularly indebted to its patent counsel, Fish and Associates (Irvine, CA) for its fine work in prosecuting its patents both in Europe and currently in the United States with the U.S. Patent and Trade Office (USPTO).

For more information on Moraga Biotechnology Corp. please visit http://www.moragabiotech.com.

Excerpt from:
Moraga Announces Issuance of Adult Stem Cell Patent for Humans

Mixing the stem cells of an organ recipient with those of the donor could help to keep the body's picky immune system from rejecting transplants.

kalewa/Shutterstock

One of the greatest challenges in medicine is the need for replacement organs. Every 10 minutes another person's name is added to the national organ transplantation waiting list, the length of which now exceeds 100,000. Eighteen of these people die each day. Those who are fortunate enough to receive an organ often have to take immunosuppressive drugs for the rest of their lives, thus making them more vulnerable to other infections, and even then their new organs may gradually be rejected by their immune system.

One potential way to overcome this problem is through the creation of a chimeric immune system by mixing the immune (hematopoetic) stem cells of the recipient with that of the donor. As explained in last week's issue of Science Translational Medicine:

According to Greek mythology, the Chimera was a fire-breathing creature made of parts from different animals: the body of a lioness, a snake's head at the end of the tail, and the head of the goat. Sightings of this fearsome beast portended any of a number of terrible disasters. In the context of organ transplantation, a "chimera" can indicate both desirable and disastrous outcomes. For example, hematopoietic chimerism, in which the immune cells in the graft recipient come from both the host and the donor, may promote graft tolerance, but may also cause graft-versus-host disease (GVHD), in which the donor immune cells attack the healthy tissue of the host.

The underlying problem behind rejection and GVHD -- both of which shrink the potential donor pool -- is matching. Now, a novel procedure has come one step closer to overcoming the matching problem and achieving transplantation tolerance. In an exciting, albeit small, study the University of Louisville team transplanted mismatched, unrelated donor kidneys into eight patients along with a mix of donor hematopoetic stem cells and a special population of tolerance-inducing facilitator cells (FCs). These FCs have been shown in animal models to improve engraftment (acceptance of the graft) and avoid GVHD. The results and potential meaning are well-summarized by Science Translational Medicine:

Five of eight kidney transplant recipients exhibited durable chimerism and were weaned off immunosuppressive therapies by one year after transplantation, with no signs of GVHD or engraftment syndrome. If confirmed in larger patient cohorts, this approach to transplantation could free some patients from the difficulties associated with lifelong immunosuppression and add transplantation as a viable option for patients for whom no matched donors exist.

An editorial written in STM about the study says that this procedure "may potentially have an enormous, paradigm-shifting impact on solid-organ transplantation" and that "few transplant developments in the past half-century have been more enticing than these that put transplantation tolerance within our grasp." This editor followed up with the primary investigator of the study, Dr. Suzanne Ildstad from the Institute for Cellular Therapeutics at the University of Louisville, to ask about the future of the procedure as well as other applications that are being explored:

Your paper refers to applications "not only in sold organ and cell transplant recipients but also for ... hemoglobinopathies, inherited metabolic disorders, and autoimmune diseases." What other applications are currently being explored using this novel chimeric approach?

We are currently working on applying this procedure to sickle cell disease, thalassemia, metachromatic leukodystrophy, and in the near future, type 1 diabetes.

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A Chimeric Immune System: Fixing the Problem With Organ Transplant

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Talk about a potentially major game changer for a woman and her eggs.

For the first time ever, researchers have proven the existence of egg-producing stem cells in the ovaries of humans.

The breakthrough throws open the door -- albeit years down the road -- to the possibility that women in their 30s and 40s, whose fertility is on the decline, could replenish their dwindling egg supplies.

Researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston used a new technique to pull stem cells from the ovaries of six women in their 20s and 30s whose ovaries had been removed as part of gender reassignment surgery.

When grown in the lab, those stem cells produced oocytes, which are immature egg cells that have not yet developed into an egg.

A video on the journal's web site does a good job of describing the research in layman's terms.

"These cells, when maintained outside the body, are more than happy to make eggs on their own," Jonathan Tilly, a professor of obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive biology at Harvard Medical School and chief of research at the Massachusetts General Hospital Vincent Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, said in a video interview.

"And if we can guide the process correctly, I think it opens up the chance that sometime in the future we might get to the point of having an unlimited source of human eggs. . . . It would rewrite, essentially, human assisted reproduction," he said.

The findings of the research team led by Tilly are in the March issue of the journal Nature Medicine.

Fertility specialists view these findings not only as exciting but also as a complete paradigm shift. And rightly so, since conventional wisdom has long dictated that a woman is born with all of the eggs she'll ever have. And when they're gone, they're gone.

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Stem cells might one day form human eggs, research finds

London, March 19 (ANI): An injection of human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) into their brain helped monkeys with Parkinson's disease-like symptoms ease their suffering, say Japanese scientists.

These cells were injected into monkeys whose brains had been damaged by a chemical that destroys dopamine-producing neurons and so causes Parkinson's symptoms.

In the study conducted by Jun Takahashi of Kyoto University in Japan and colleagues, two monkeys received hESCs that had been matured into an early form of neural cell.

Six months later, the monkeys had recovered 20 to 45 per cent of the movement they had lost before treatment.

Post-mortems a year after treatment showed that the cells had developed into fully functioning dopamine-secreting neurons.

Another monkey that received less-mature neural cells also showed improvements.

"Monkeys starting with tremors and rigidity [began] to move smoothly, and animals originally confined to sitting down were able to walk around," New Scientists quoted Takahashi as saying.

But it will probably be four to six years before clinical trials in humans begin, according to the team. (ANI)

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Human stem cell injections ease Parkinson's symptoms in monkeys

UPLAND, CA (PRWEB) March 19, 2012

Imagine a procedure using a little of your own excess tummy fat as an injectable for the aging areas of the face, and then adding your own extra stem cells and blood to give it a good chance of surviving and growing. The Stem Cell Facelift with PRP (Platelet Rich Plasma) Therapy is now available at Allure Image Enhancement, making it one of the first medical practices in the Inland Empire to offer this breakthrough procedure.

Stem Cell Facelift with PRP Therapy provides an amazing full facial restoration and can simulate the effects of a face lift, brow lift, and total facial rejuvenation in one sitting. In addition, the benefits of the PRP Therapy with growth factors enhance stem cell survival, giving long lasting and potentially permanent results, says John Grasso MD, Medical Director at Allure Image Enhancement. I find these procedures to be an exciting new approach to the world of dermal fillers. Rather than using lab derived products, patients can enjoy the benefits of volume and longevity from their own cells.

Stem Cells often thought of as controversial and futuristic, are the latest beauty secret now available. Although injectable wrinkle treatments are very popular, there are many who shy away from putting anything foreign into their face. The two most common requests my patients ask me when it comes to anti-aging rejuvenation are: 1. Is there something natural I can use? and 2. Is there anything that lasts longer? Autologous fat transfer enhanced with stem cells and platelet rich plasma is going to change the world of Anti-Aging skin care, says Mina Grasso NP, owner of Allure Image Enhancement. For those who do not have adequate fat deposits or choose not to have autologous fat transfer can still benefit from the healing and repair response of various growth factors and cytokines with PRP alone or combined with manufactured fillers.

Fat transfer has been around for many years and may yield inconsistent results: 50% of the transferred fat usually breaks down within 2 years. Fat is an abundant source of mesenchymal stem cells. The difficulty is that in obtaining fat using Liposuction, up to half of the natural stem cells may be damaged. By adding additional autologous stem cells to the suctioned fat, it closer approximates the original concentration of stem cells in fat in the body and may aid the transplanted fat cells in surviving longer. Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP), which contains growth factors and cytokines, stimulates a repair response in soft tissue when added to the stem cell enhanced fat cells. The grafted fat and stem cells as well as surrounding local cells are activated by these growth factors to generate new growth that plumps up sagging areas. The growth factors enhance the quality of skin on the surface and repair sun damage and skin color irregularities.

Using this revolutionary new method, stem cells show promise in regenerating collagenproducing fibroblasts, cartilage, muscle and even bone cells. Research trials are under way using stem cells to repair other damaged tissue such as lungs, knees, and hearts and reverse neurological degenerative diseases. Stem Cell Facelift with PRP results in long-lasting volume in the treated area, and patients can start to see improvement in skin texture a healthy glow as soon as three weeks following treatment, with dramatic results occurring over a period of two to four months and lasting for years..

About Allure Image Enhancement, Inc. Founded by Mina Grasso, RN, MSN, FNP-C, and her husband John Grasso MD. Allure Image Enhancement, Inc., for 15 years has served the Inland Empire with the latest in medical esthetics, providing services such as Botox Cosmetic, Restylane, Dysport, Juvderm, Latisse, Laser Hair Removal, Tattoo Removal, Laser Skin Rejuvenation, Vein Treatment, Body Shaping, and many more services.

Contact: Nicholas Rodgers, CAC Manager Allure Image Enhancement, Inc. 1113 Alta Ave., Suite 210 Upland, CA 91786 (909) 982-1074 nick(at)allureimage(dot)com http://www.allureimage.com

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Breakthrough Beauty Procedure Using Your Own Stem Cells Offered in the Inland Empire

Among the primary causes of adult-onset blindness are degenerative diseases of the retina, such as macular degeneration and retinitis pigmentosa. While some treatments have been developed that slow down the rate of degeneration, the clinical situation is still generally unsatisfactory. But if you could grow a new retina, transplant might be a possible cure. Now new hope is springing up from a research project at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in which scientists have succeeded in growing human retinal tissue from stem cells.

Pluripotent stem cells are capable of forming nearly any tissue in the body including retinal tissue. There has been great controversy about using pluripotent stem cells for human research or treatment, as historically the only source was to harvest them from early stage human embryos. Instead, for this work the researchers were able to regress mature body cells back into the pluripotent stem cells from which they originally grew. The process is called reprogramming, and is accomplished by inserting a set of proteins into the cell.

To produce the pluripotent stem cells, a white blood cell was taken from a simple blood sample. Genes which code for the reprogramming proteins are inserted into a plasmid, a nonliving ring of DNA. The cell is then infected with the plasmid, rather as a virus infects a cell, with the difference that the plasmid's genes do not become part of the cell's genetic structure. As the reprogramming proteins are formed within the cell by the plasmid DNA, the cell has a good chance of being reprogrammed into a pluripotent stem cell. This stem cell can then be encouraged to grow and differentiate into retinal tissue rather than make more blood cells.

Laboratory-grown human retinal tissue will certainly be used in testing drugs and to study degenerative diseases of the retina, and may eventually make available a new transplantable retina, or a new retina that is grown in place within the eye.

The figure above compares a schematic of the human retina with a photomicrograph of laboratory-grown retinal tissue. The new tissue has separated into at least three layers of cells, with rudimentary photosensitive rods or cones (red) at the top of the picture, and nerve ganglia (blue-green) at the bottom. The blue cells in the middle layer are likely bipolar retinal cells. The structure of the lab-grown retinal tissue is similar to that of a normal human eye, as can be seen by comparison with the retina schematic. The cells also formed synapses, which provide the channels through which optical information flows to the brain.

"We don't know how far this technology will take us, but the fact that we are able to grow a rudimentary retina structure from a patient's blood cells is encouraging, not only because it confirms our earlier work using human skin cells, but also because blood as a starting source is convenient to obtain," says Dr. David Gamm, pediatric ophthalmologist and senior author of the study. "This is a solid step forward." Further steps are eagerly awaited by those living in the dark.

Source: University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health

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Physicians grow retinas from human blood-derived stem cells

MONKEYS with Parkinson's disease-like symptoms have had their suffering eased by an injection of human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) into their brain.

Jun Takahashi of Kyoto University in Japan and colleagues injected these cells into monkeys whose brains had been damaged by a chemical that destroys dopamine-producing neurons and so causes Parkinson's symptoms.

Two monkeys received hESCs that had been matured into an early form of neural cell. Six months later, the monkeys had recovered 20 to 45 per cent of the movement they had lost before treatment. Post-mortems a year after treatment showed that the cells had developed into fully functioning dopamine-secreting neurons. Another monkey that received less-mature neural cells also showed improvements (Stem Cells, DOI: 10.1002/stem.1060).

"Monkeys starting with tremors and rigidity [began] to move smoothly, and animals originally confined to sitting down were able to walk around," says Takahashi.

The team says it will probably be four to six years before clinical trials in humans begin.

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Stem cell brain injections ease Parkinson's

I had a large heart attack about two years ago. As a result, my cardiologist says that my heart only pumps half as well as a healthy heart.

Im on a number of medications to help my heart, but can you tell me if theres anyone studying a way to restore a weak heart like mine back to the way it was? T.Y., Scranton, Pa.

Dear T.Y.: A heart attack is the permanent damage and death of heart muscle resulting from a blockage to the blood vessel supplying that area.

Once an area of tissue is dead, it forms a permanent scar and its gone for good or so weve always thought.

The results from a small but very exciting study conducted by the Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute show that for the first time, heart attack patients who received an infusion of their own heart-derived stem cells were able to regrow healthy new heart muscle.

The Caduceus trial, just published online in the journal Lancet, involved 25 heart attack patients who, one year following their own stem cell infusion, showed a reduction in their heart attack scar size from 24 percent of their heart mass to only 12 percent. This represents a potential paradigm shift in our understanding of patients who are post-heart attack.

If this is successful when repeated on a larger study population, we may be able to help folks like you reverse the damage caused by a heart attack and dissolve your hearts scarring. Pretty exciting stuff!

My wife and I want to start a family in the near future.

Ive been taking Adderall for ADD, and am wondering if I need to stop it until my wife becomes pregnant. Does it affect the sperm? D.L., Flowery Branch, Ga.

Dear D.L.: There is nothing in the medical literature that shows taking a prescribed amphetamine like Adderall causes a reduction the sperm count, a reduction in sperm motility, sperm deformity or any damage to the genetic information contained within sperm.

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Infusion of stem cells could fix heart damage

14-03-2012 13:25 Could synthetic stem cells mean the end of certain forms of blindness? Scientists at the University of Wisconsin have created basic retina structures, giving hope to many with eye damage that their vision could be repaired someday. The retina structures were created by synthesizing stem cells from a patient's blood, and successfully sent important information to the brain that helps humans see. Scientists can create the stem cells from a simple blood test, and the ability to build the retina structures from the cells—and isolate which layers need repair—will allow researchers to further study degenerative diseases like retinitis pigmentosa. The study is still in its primordial phases, but it could lead to some big leaps forward in research and maybe even some day the ability to generate new cells for patients whose eyes are going bad. Just think: Someday grandma may stop asking you where she put her reading glasses!

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Scientists Make Big Leap in Eye Research by Growing Retina Structures - Video