“Latest Stem Cells News”

A team of researchers lead by Dr Thimios Mitsiadis at the University of Zurich, Switzerland, has identified a gene responsible for the formation of enamel, which is the key component of the teeth. The experiments were accomplished in mice carrying a deletion of the transcription factor Tbx1, a gene that plays a principal role in several human malformations (heart, thymus, parathyroid, face, and teeth) associated to the DiGeorge syndrome.

“Subjects afflicted by DiGeorge syndrome exhibit teeth with enamel defects. We have demonstrated that a direct link between impaired Tbx1 function and enamel defects exists. Enamel forms via the mineralization of specific enamel proteins that are secreted by dental epithelial cells called ameloblasts. Our results clearly show that teeth of Tbx1 null mice lacked enamel and ameloblasts,” explains Prof Mitsiadis.

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The Ministry of Health is considering developing new regulations to protect patients who will undergo stem cell treatment in Bermuda.

Nelson Bascome

The proposal — which would cover desperately ill people flying to the Brown-Darrell Clinic in Winterhaven, Smith’s — comes after vociferous complaints from international doctors about the Island’s lack of legislation.
Breaking his silence on the controversial topic by responding to Parliamentary Questions from Shadow Health Minister Louise Jackson, Health Minister Nelson Bascome also revealed the clinic will only be treating foreigners.

Asked by Mrs. Jackson whether moves are being made to oversee patient protection, Mr. Bascome replied: “There presently does exist a qualified, independent, ethical review committee which has a remit over services provided by the Bermuda Hospitals Board.
“The Ministry of Health is presently considering the development of a regulatory framework for any therapeutic or research stem cell treatment in Bermuda.”

The Brown-Darrell Clinic — a partnership between Premier Ewart Brown, his wife Wanda, and California-based Stemedica — was initially scheduled to open in 2007.
However, no information on the project has been provided since International Society For Stem Cell Research president George Daley was extremely critical of any group running experimental treatment in jurisdictions without regulatory oversight.

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Piero Anversa

Piero Anversa, Italian scientist and director of regenerative medicine at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital of Harvard University in Boston is ready to perform the first biological by-pass in history. This evening in Milan during a meeting called ‘Futuro della Sanita’ (The Future of Health), Anversa explained that he has identified human coronary stem cells able to develop into coronary artery tissue.

He said, “My dream is for someone to have a heart attack, come to the hospital, and return home healthy.” For that to occur, it will be necessary to reproduce muscle and the large coronary vessels. He continued, “If we are able to accomplish this, it would change everything. Medicine that used to repair something that was damaged would become preventative. This will allow us to prevent cardiac deficiency.”

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Giancarlo Comi

A biopolymer could aid in the regrowing of nerves induced by the use of stem cells according to a new research project that gives hope to people who have been in an accident and have lost the use of one or more limbs. The procedure will enter into clinical testing in January after animal testing has been completed.

The Experimental Neurological Institute (INSPE), founded in 2005 at San Raffaele Hospital of Milan became operational with the inauguration of more than 1,200 square meters of lab space entirely dedicated to general and clinical research therapies for serious neurological diseases, like multiple sclerosis, strokes, spinal trauma, and peripheral neuropathy.

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The regional transplant center realized by the San Camillo-Forlanini Hospital along with the Spallanzani medical center is attempting to improve the efficiency of organ transplants with the use of stem cells removed from and used in the patient (autologous stem cells). The project designed by the Lazio based medical institutes is currently being used in experiments at the Ospedali Riuniti di Bergamo (United Hospitals of Bergamo). Rejection is the most frequent cause of kidney transplant failure. With current anti-rejection drugs, about 50% of kidney transplants stop functioning after about 10 years due to chronic rejection or the toxicity of the immunosuppressive therapies which favor tumor growth.

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Gerhard Bauer, an American researcher and expert on ‘mother’ stem cells, during the 50th congress of the American Society of Hematology (ASH) in San Francisco, announced that human testing for an AIDS treatment based on genetically modified stem cells could begin within 5 years. Bauer has been working for the past 10 years on modified stem cells that could repair strongly compromised immune systems in HIV patients. “For this reason the apparent success obtained by German researchers on an American patient with AIDS and leukemia reinforces the idea that we are on the right path.”

Last month the German researchers announced that their patient underwent a bone marrow transplant, introducing stem cells taken from a donor with a natural immunity to HIV, and after the operation he lived for 20 months with no sign of the AIDS virus. “The result does not surprise me,” added Bauer, the next director of the UC Davis Institute for Regenerative Cures in Sacramento while presenting preliminary results obtained from mice at the American Society of Hematology announcing that ‘the first tests on human beings could begin within five years.’

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