Posted: December 5, 2014 at 7:47 am
Stem Cell Research in Long QT Syndrome - Long QT Family Day | Boston Children #39;s Hospital
Dr. William Pu, Assistant in Cardiology at Boston Children #39;s Hospital, discusses stem cell research in long QT syndrome. Learn more: http://www.childrenshosp...
By: Boston Children #39;s Hospital
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Stem Cell Research in Long QT Syndrome - Long QT Family Day | Boston Children's Hospital - Video
Posted: December 5, 2014 at 7:47 am
Persusive Video on Stem Cell Research
Song- Elements by Lindsey Stirling.
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Persusive Video on Stem Cell Research - Video
Posted: December 5, 2014 at 7:47 am
Posted: December 4, 2014 at 5:57 pm
PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:
3-Dec-2014
Contact: Glenna Picton picton@bcm.edu 713-798-4710 Baylor College of Medicine @bcmhouston
HOUSTON - (Dec. 3, 2014) - A novel mechanism - similar to how normal tissue stem cells respond to wounding - might explain why bladder cancer stem cells actively contribute to chemo-resistance after multiple cycles of chemotherapy drug treatment. Targeting this "wound response" of cancer stem cells can potentially provide a novel approach for therapeutic invention, said researchers from the National Cancer Institute-designated Dan L. Duncan Cancer Center at Baylor College of Medicine.
The results of their study appear online in the journal Nature today.
"Treatment for advanced bladder cancer is limited to surgery and chemotherapy. There are no targeted treatments available," said Dr. Keith Syson Chan, an assistant professor of molecular and cellular biology and of urology and the corresponding author on the report. "The chemotherapy response is far from ideal so the clinical goal is to advance research into this area and uncover a much more targeted approach."
Together with co-lead authors Antonina Kurtova, a graduate student in the Translational Biology and Molecular Medicine Program at Baylor, and Dr. Jing Xiao, research assistant in urology at Baylor, Chan and his team sought out to identify mechanisms underlying the development of resistance in bladder cancer that has invaded the muscles. They found that regrowth of cancer stem cells actively contributes to therapy resistance between drug treatment cycles.
"This is a paradoxical mechanism leading to resistance, one we didn't expect," said Chan. "The cancer stem cells actively regrow and respond to the induced damage or apoptosis (cell death) caused by chemotherapy in between the different cycles, similar to how normal tissue stem cells respond to wound-induced damages."
The proliferation is stimulated by the release of a metabolite (or factor) called prostaglandin E2 or PGE2 from the dying cells, which causes the cancer stem cells to repopulate tumors that were reduced in size by chemotherapy, they found.
In normal cells, this is a part of the wound repair process when PGE2 induces tissues stem cells to regrow; in cancer PGE2 ironically induces regrowth of more cancer stem cells in between chemotherapy cycles, Kurtova and Xiao said.
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'Wound response' of cancer stem cells may explain chemo-resistance in bladder cancer
Posted: December 4, 2014 at 5:56 pm
Researchers say they've developed a drug that may help heal a damaged spine the first time anything like a drug has been shown to help.
The drug works on nerve cells that are cut, sending connections across the break, and it helped injured rats move their back legs again and also gave them back control of their bladders.
"This recovery is unprecedented," said Jerry Silver, a neuroscience professor at Case Western Reserve University in Ohio who led the study.
Right now, there's no good way to heal a broken spine. Sometimes people grow nerve cells back, but usually not. All the cures that are in the works require invasive surgery, whether it's injections of stem cells, nerve tissue transplants or implants of neurostimulators.
But Silver's team came up with a compound that is injected. It doesn't require surgery.
"We're very excited at the possibility that millions of people could, one day, regain movements lost during spinal cord injuries."
"There are currently no drug therapies available that improve the very limited natural recovery from spinal cord injuries that patients experience," said Lyn Jakeman, a program director at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, part of the National Institutes of Health, which helped pay for the study. "This is a great step toward identifying a novel agent for helping people recover."
"We're very excited at the possibility that millions of people could, one day, regain movements lost during spinal cord injuries," Silver added.
One of the problems with repairing a crushed spine is scar tissue. The body grows a lot of it, and even if nerve cells try to send out little growths called axons across the breach, they get bogged down by the scar tissue.
The culprits are molecules called proteoglycans. They are covered with sugars, and like anything sugary, they are sticky and grab the delicate axons that nerve cells grow to connect to other nerves. "What we found is that when nerve fibers are damaged they have a receptor that can see those proteoglycan molecules and stick tightly to it. They stick so tightly they can't move. It's like flypaper," Silver told NBC News.
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'Unprecedented': Drug May Help Heal Damaged Spines
Posted: December 4, 2014 at 5:55 pm
MIAMI (PRWEB) December 03, 2014
Joseph Purita, M.D., will represent Global Stem Cells Group, Inc. as a keynote speaker at the VI Annual World Congress on Anti-Aging, Regenerative and Aesthetic Medicine (A4M) in Mexico City Feb, 13-15, 2015. Purita, who heads the Global Stem Cells Group Scientific Advisory Board, will join other global leaders in the field of anti-aging and regenerative medicine.
Hosted by the American Academy of Anti-aging Medicine (A4M), the conference will be attended by physicians and medical practitioners from different countries and disciplines who will gather to discuss the newest therapies, protocols and innovative procedures available to target health problems associated with old age.
Purita, a pioneer in the use of stem cell therapies in orthopedics, will be joined by Dra Maritza Novas, R.N., M.S.N., a lead trainer and part of the research and development team for Stem Cell Training, Purita and Novas will present the latest advances in evidence-based, best-practice protocols for the early detection, prevention and treatment of medical problems associated with aging.
Global Stem Cells Group plans to host a booth at the conference to present the companys growing line of regenerative medicine products and services. The event will take place at the Fiesta Americana Reforma Hotel in Mexico City. Attendees will have access to practical and theoretical workshops on a variety of topics related to anti aging medicine, regenerative therapies and cosmetic medicine, and will be able to witness procedures performed by specialists.
Conferences like this one set the standard for medical management and disease treatment for elderly patients.
For more information on the VI Annual World Congress on Anti-Aging Medicine, visit the a4m-mexico website, email bnovas(at)stemcellsgroup(dot)com or call 305-224-1858.
About the Global Stem Cell Group:
Global Stem Cells Group, Inc. is the parent company of six wholly owned operating companies dedicated entirely to stem cell research, training, products and solutions. Founded in 2012, the company combines dedicated researchers, physician and patient educators and solution providers with the shared goal of meeting the growing worldwide need for leading edge stem cell treatments and solutions. With a singular focus on this exciting new area of medical research, Global Stem Cells Group and its subsidiaries are uniquely positioned to become global leaders in cellular medicine.
Global Stem Cells Groups corporate mission is to make the promise of stem cell medicine a reality for patients around the world. With each of GSCGs six operating companies focused on a separate research-based mission, the result is a global network of state-of-the-art stem cell treatments.
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Global Stem Cells Group, Inc. to Attend the VI Annual World Congress on Anti-Aging Medicine in Mexico City
Posted: December 4, 2014 at 5:54 pm
Durham, NC (PRWEB) December 04, 2014
Shangqin Guo, Ph.D., a scientist at Yale University, is the recipient of the 2014 STEM CELLS Young Investigator Award. The award is presented to a young researcher who serves as principal author of a significant study published in the journal over the past year.
The paper that earned Dr. Guo this recognition is "Dynamic Migration and Cell-Cell Interactions of Early Reprogramming Revealed by High Resolution Time-Lapse Imaging, published in STEM CELLS May 2013 issue. It describes a live cell imaging approach for studying the process of Yamanaka reprogramming at single cell resolution. It also reports on the unexpected dynamic behaviors associated with early reprogramming and explores how such behaviors could compromise conventional experimental designs and interfere with data interpretation.
Jan A. Nolta, Ph.D., editor-in-chief of STEM CELLS, commented on Dr. Guos award. There are still many questions about how cells can be most effectively reprogrammed back to pluripotency and what steps occur during this process, she said. The outstanding study by Dr. Guos laboratory created a dynamic imaging system that was used to address multiple key questions regarding early reprogramming from hematopoietic cells.
The studies show the importance of cell-to-cell contact through dumbbell structures after early divisions and identify E-cadherin as a key regulator. The use of the imaging and new technology in this study is truly elegant, and I congratulate our Young Investigator Award winner on this important accomplishment, she added.
Dr. Guo currently is assistant professor in the Department of Cell Biology at Yale University. Her lab at the Yale Stem Cell Center focuses on learning the cell fate decision processes including how does a cell know what to be and what not to be?
For someone who is just starting off, this provides a sense of reassurance, recognition and gratification, she said about receiving the award.
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Full Citation: Megyola, C. M., Gao, Y., Teixeira, A. M., Cheng, J., Heydari, K., Cheng, E.-C., Nottoli, T., Krause, D. S., Lu, J. and Guo, S. (2013), Dynamic Migration and Cell-Cell Interactions of Early Reprogramming Revealed by High-Resolution Time-Lapse Imaging. STEM CELLS, 31: 895905. doi: 10.1002/stem.1323
Paper URL: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/stem.1323/full
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Dynamic Imaging System Nets Yale Scientist the 2014 STEM CELLS Young Investigator Award
Posted: December 4, 2014 at 5:53 pm
10 hours ago by Cheryl Chng
Temasek Life Sciences Laboratory, Hokkaido University and Ehime University are pleased to announce that their researchers have discovered that the reduction of gonadal stem cells will yield more male zebrafish. The article reporting this finding has been published online in Stem Cell Reports today.
These results indicate that a certain number of these specialized gonadal stem cells (primordial germ cells or PGCs) is required for ovary formation. Reduced PGC numbers result in more males, as some of the females are forced to change their sex permanently without affecting their fertility, indicating that PGC count plays a regulatory role during sexual differentiation in zebrafish. The findings suggest that a stem cell counting mechanism in the zebrafish gonad is important for determining sexual development, which provides new insight in vertebrate germline biology.
The sex ratio of cultured stocks is an important aspect of aquaculture, as there are distinct differences (e.g. size, colour, maturation, etc.) between the two sexes in several fish species. This discovery may provide potential tools for improved sex control of fishes in farms in the future.
Brief Summary of Research
There are more fish species on Earth than all other vertebrates combined. Fishes are very diverse not only in their external appearance, but also in the way their sexual development is controlled. Zebrafish are small-bodied ornamental fish that have become an important model for vertebrate biology over the past four decades. Every zebrafish individual starts to develop as an immature female, and future males must undergo a 'gonadal transformation' to produce functional testes. The molecular regulation of this process appears to be complex and poorly understood.
In an article that appears online in Stem Cell Reports (Cell Press), researchers from Temasek Life Sciences Laboratory (Singapore) in collaboration with Japanese scientists from Hokkaido University and Ehime University reveal that the number of PGCs plays a regulatory role during sexual differentiation in zebrafish. Using different methods and zebrafish lines, they demonstrate that a reduction in the number of PGCs results in more males presumably by forcing some of the females to change their sex permanently without affecting their fertility.
"These data show that a PGC counting mechanism in the gonad determines sexual development, giving rise to the hypothesis of PGC dosage-dependent sex differentiation. This provides a novel perspective to research on sexual development of fishes and a new insight in vertebrate germline biology" said Associate Professor Rie Goto at Ehime University.
"Better understanding of this 'gonadal switch' in zebrafish might eventually lead to improved tools for sex control in cultured fish species, especially in 'sex changing' food fishes, such as the groupers or Asian seabass, and improvements in their farm-based culture" commented Professor Lszl Orbn, Senior Principal Investigator at Temasek Life Sciences Laboratory.
Explore further: New method to grow zebrafish embryonic stem cells can regenerate whole fish
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Reduction of germ cells yields more zebrafish males
Posted: December 4, 2014 at 5:49 pm
High quality essays written by experts on stem cell research are presented. Essays discuss the uses and potential uses of embryonic stem cells and adult stem cells, as well as the controversies related to embryonic stem cell research. Key words and definitions are also provided.
If stem cells (whether embryonic or adult) are introduced into a patient's heart after a heart attack, they will migrate to the site of the damage, proliferate, and differentiate into new... READ MORE
In November 1998, two research teams led by James A. Thomson of the University of Wisconsin and John D. Gearhart of Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine independently... READ MORE
In July 2006, the U.S. Senate passed the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act of 2005, a bill that relaxed restrictions on government funding for stem cell research. The bill would allow... READ MORE
Argues that if stem cell interventions materialize along the lines described by their more avid proponents, it might upend our current ethical...READ MORE
Focuses on the controversial breakthrough in the field of human stem cell research. Details on the effective treatment for debilitating diseases and...READ MORE
Discusses the moral issues arising from stem cell research in the United States. Significance of the debate on embryo-destroying stem-cell research...READ MORE
Defines terms used in stem cell research and embryonic stem cell research.READ MORE
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The article discusses the debate about stem cell research.READ MORE
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Posted: December 4, 2014 at 5:49 pm
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Newswise New York, New York Research to Prevent Blindness (RPB), the leading eye research foundation, is partnering with the International Retinal Research Foundation (IRRF) to advance knowledge about age-related macular degeneration (AMD) through novel stem cell research. RPB/IRRF & RPB Sybil B. Harrington Catalyst Awards for Stem Cell Research Approaches for Age-Related Macular Degeneration (the Catalyst Awards) have been given to three leading researchers. Each will receive $250,000 over four years. Research related to both dry and wet forms of AMD is supported by these awards.
Said RPB President Brian F. Hofland, PhD: The concept for these partnership grants evolved out of a significant gift that we received from an anonymous donor who wanted us to focus on stem cell research and AMD. It came with the condition that we would find matching funding. We found a valuable partner in the International Retina Research Foundation very quickly for two of the awards, and one we matched with bequest money that we received from the Sybil Harrington Estate a generous family that is committed to health-related research on several fronts. We are especially encouraged that this all came together at a key time in the field of stem cell research, and we are hopeful that these three awards together will indeed be a catalyst for breakthroughs in this area.
There also will be a collaborative learning component that will have the three researchers work together and share information on areas of mutual interest and overlap, according to Hofland.
We are incredibly excited about the potential impact on AMD stem cell therapies that could result from this partnership, adds Sandra Blackwood, Executive Director, IRRF. RPB and IRRF both seek to accelerate vision science discoveries that could lead to life-changing treatments for patients who have lost sight. By pooling our resources we can better meet the needs of the scientists who are doing the actual heavy lifting.
Stem cell-based, sight-restoring therapies may become available for patients with eye diseases in the next few years, says Jeffrey Goldberg, MD, PhD, University of California, San Diego, and a member of RPBs Scientific Advisory Panel. But there are still hurdles to overcome. The Catalyst Award recipients are working on critical aspects of those issues and could significantly accelerate the efficacy of those treatments.
These Catalyst Awards provide seed funding for high-risk/high-gain innovative, cutting-edge vision science research conducted by:
David M. Gamm, MD, PhD, RPB/IRRF Catalyst Awardee, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine, whose goal is to optimize transplanted retinal pigmented epithelium cell survival based on an innovative hypothesis. Gamm is a leader in the RPE stem cell transplantation field. Cell survival is critical to the success of RPE transplantation as a therapy for retinal degenerative diseases. Akiko Maeda, MD, PhD, RPB Sybil B. Harrington Awardee, Case Western Reserve University, who proposes to test the validity of induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-derived retinal 3D-optic cups as platforms for individualized drug screening for AMD patients. The combination of stem cell and pharmacologic approaches greatly increases the potential for translation of the concepts under investigation into treatments for patients. Budd A. Tucker, PhD, RPB/IRRF Catalyst Awardee, University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine, whose main objective is to produce outer retinal cell grafts (grown from fibroblasts taken from a patients own skin) on biodegradable scaffolds and deliver the cell scaffolds into an eye. This work could solve two problems facing cell transplantation methods today: immune response, and the enormous loss of cells that occurs following bulk injection of stem cells into the eye.
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Research to Prevent Blindness, Inc. and the International Retinal Research Foundation Announce Catalyst Awards for AMD ...
