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Initiative aims to clarify description of mesenchymal cells. Pamela Robey is used to being sent samples by scientists who are anxious to know whether the mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) they have extracted from fat can be coaxed to turn into either bone or cartilage. Robey, who directs the Stem Cell Unit at the US National Institutes of Health (NIH), is also used to delivering bad news to many of those who seek her help. “They usually are not happy,” she says, when her attempts to differentiate the cells produce little more than fatty globules. To Robey, that disappointment reflects a...

This interview was conducted by George S. Mack of The Life Sciences Report (5/10/13) Stem cell companies have languished long enough in micro-cap territory. The industry is now approaching highly visible phase 2 and phase 3 catalysts that will produce results never before seen in medicine. Managing Director and Senior Biotechnology Analyst Jason Kolbert of the Maxim Group has staked out a select group of nascent cell therapy companies positioned to reap huge gains for investors willing to diversify. In this interview with The Life Sciences Report, Kolbert reflects on the regenerative medicine space following the recent RegenMed Investor Day...

The promise of repairing damaged hearts through regenerative medicine -- infusing stem cells into the heart in the hope that these cells will replace worn out or damaged tissue -- has yet to meet with clinical success. But a highly sensitive visualization technique developed by Stanford University School of Medicine scientists may help speed that promise's realization. The technique is described in a study published March 20 in Science Translational Medicine. Testing the new imaging method in humans is probably three to five years off. Human and animal trials in which stem cells were injected into cardiac tissue to treat...

By offering unproven therapies, a Texas biotechnology firm has sparked a bitter debate about how stem cells should be regulated. Ann McFarlane is losing faith. In the first half of 2012, the Houston resident received four infusions of adult stem cells grown from her own fat. McFarlane has multiple sclerosis (MS), and had heard that others with the inflammatory disease had experienced improvements in mobility and balance after treatment. The infusions — which have cost her about US$32,000 so far — didn't help, but she knew that there were no guarantees. It is McFarlane's experience with Celltex Therapeutics, the company...

Tuberculosis is a devastating disease that kills nearly 2 million people worldwide each year. Although antibiotics exist that can ameliorate the symptoms, the courses of therapy last for months and don't completely eradicate the disease, which frequently recurs years or decades after the initial treatment. Now, in a classic case of bench-to-bedside research, scientists at the Stanford University School of Medicine have discovered a possible reason for the disease's resistance: The ability of the tuberculosis bacteria to infiltrate and settle down in a particular class of stem cell in the bone marrow. By doing so, the bacteria take advantage of...

ASSOCIATED PRESS LOS ANGELES — Researchers are reporting a key advance in using stem cells to repair hearts damaged by heart attacks. In a study, stem cells donated by strangers proved as safe and effective as patients’ own cells for helping restore heart tissue. The work involved just 30 patients in Miami and Baltimore, but it proves the concept that anyone’s cells can be used to treat such cases. Doctors are excited because this suggests that stem cells could be banked for off-the-shelf use after heart attacks, just as blood is kept on hand now. The study used a specific...

Mesenchymal stem cells protect and healA stem cell that can morph into a number of different tissues is proving a natural protector, healer and antibiotic maker, researchers at Case Western Reserve University and their peers have found. Mesenchymal stem cells reaped from bone marrow had been hailed as the key to growing new organs to replace those damaged or destroyed by violence or disease, but have failed to live up to the billing. Instead, scientists who'd been trying to manipulate the cells to build replacement parts have been finding the cells are innately potent antidotes to a growing list of...

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Biomedical researchers at the University at Buffalo have engineered adult stem cells that scientists can grow continuously in culture, a discovery that could speed development of cost-effective treatments for diseases including heart disease, diabetes, immune disorders and neurodegenerative diseases. UB scientists created the new cell lines – named "MSC Universal" – by genetically altering mesenchymal stem cells, which are found in bone marrow and can differentiate into cell types including bone, cartilage, muscle, fat, and beta-pancreatic islet cells. The researchers say the breakthrough overcomes a frustrating barrier to progress in the field of regenerative medicine: The difficulty...

UK scientists have developed a method to control the behaviour and fate of stem cells using chemically-defined nanopatterned surfaces. This could aid development of tissues and organs for transplants.Stem cell research offers limitless opportunities to develop new medical therapies, such as growing organs and tissues in the lab for transplantation into humans. The ability to reproducibly control cultures of stem cells is very important to avoid variation in clinical trials but the lack of consistency in the material on which the cells are grown has so far made this difficult. Also, current methods used to control stem cell behaviour, such...

Ahmedabad, March 3: THE illusive grafting of stem cells for kidney transplantation to ensure complete withdrawal of drugs for patients who have undergone this critical transplantation has finally been reached by a team led by Dr HL Trivedi at the Institute of Kidney Diseases and Research Centre (IKDRC). The team infused new kind of stem cells called “Mesenchymal Stem Cells” on one Hetal Mewada who underwent transplantation at the institute on February 9 last. “These cells are infused to create tolerance in the recipient’s body for the donor’s organ,” said Dr Trivedi, Director of IKDRC. Transplanters across the globe have...

Stem cell therapy with bone-marrow derived mesenchymal stem cells appears promising to treat graft versus host disease (GvHD), researchers said at the 48th annual meeting of the American Society of Hematology (ASH). Katarina Le Blanc, MD, PhD, Karolinska University Hospital, Huddinge, Stockholm, Sweden, and colleagues transfused mesenchymal stem cells into the gut and liver of a small boy with severe, refractory, life-threatening GvHD as a "last resort" treatment. To their delight, the researchers saw a "remarkable" anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory response, Dr. Le Blank said in a presentation on December 12th. It has been known for some time that bone marrow...

A sugar molecule present on embryonic stem cells also has been found on the surface of a type of adult stem cell, a discovery that may help researchers isolate and purify adult stem cells for use in therapies aimed at bone healing, tendon repair and cartilage regeneration, researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center report. The molecule, called SSEA-4, was found on the surface of certain stem cells in bone marrow that give rise to fat, cartilage and bone. These so-called mesenchymal cells are a tiny component of bone marrow; the vast majority of bone marrow is made up of hematopoietic...

A radical new treatment could bring relief to millions of back pain sufferers, scientists said today. A team at the University of Manchester has developed a stem cell cure that could totally regenerate damaged tissues. Low back pain affects up to 80 per cent of the population at some point, and in many cases becomes persistent, eventually leading to debilitating pain. It is usually caused by the degeneration of the tissue between the discs in the back, which becomes dry and no longer able to support the body. Current treatments rely on strong painkillers or risky surgery, and aim to...

Mesenchymal stem cells can be grown on silicone membranes with micropatterned grooves. These grooves can align the cells with the direction of stretch in a specialized "stretch chamber." Click here for more information. Berkeley -- When stretched, a type of adult stem cell taken from bone marrow can be nudged towards becoming the type of tissue found in blood vessels, according to a new study by bioengineers at the University of California, Berkeley.  Researchers placed mesenchymal stem cells onto a silicone membrane that was stretched longitudinally once every second. It was a cellular workout routine that helped point the...

Chemists are developing new insights and techniques in an effort to expand the therapeutic potential of stem cells, which includes possible treatments for Parkinson's disease, diabetes, spinal cord injury and other devastating conditions. The American Chemical Society will explore some of these latest developments, including new findings on the transformation potential of adult stem cells, during a special symposium, "Emerging Technologies: Stem Cells," on Thursday, Sept. 14, in San Francisco during the Society's 232nd national meeting. All papers in this symposium, which begins at 1:30 p.m., will be presented at the Hilton San Francisco, Yosemite B. Shown below are selected...

Israeli researchers engineered mesenchymal stem cells to repair tendons. Weekend athletes who overexert themselves running or playing basketball may one day reap the benefits of research at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem that shows that adult stem cells can be used to make new tendon or ligament tissue. Tendon and ligament injuries present a major clinical challenge to orthopedic medicine. In the United States, at least 200,000 patients undergo tendon or ligament repair each year. Moreover, the intervertebral disc, which is composed in part of tendon-like tissue, tends to degenerate with age, leading to the very common phenomenon of low-back...

LONDON, Aug. 9, 2006-International experts have collaborated on one of the largest and most comprehensive collections of reviews focusing on mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs). These cells are the progenitors of multiple cell lineages, including bone, cartilage, muscle, adipose tissue and astrocytes, and are believed to hold the key to tissue regeneration. The collection is published in the latest issue of Regenerative Medicine, and reflects research efforts across Europe from the different centers that comprise the Genostem Integrated Project. This special focus report, published by Future Medicine Ltd, is currently available to all users until 9 September 2006. The Genostem Project...