“Latest Stem Cells News”

Breast milk, long revered for the nutritional advantages it gives a newborn, could be just as vital in terms of infant development, a leading scientist will claim this week. Up to three different types of stem cells have been discovered in breast milk, according to revolutionary new research.

Dr Mark Cregan, medical director at the Swiss healthcare and baby equipment company Medela, believes the existence of stem cells means breast milk could help a child “fulfil its genetic destiny”, with a mother’s mammary glands taking over from her placenta to guide infant development once her child is born.

“Breast milk is the only adult tissue where more than one type of stem cell has been discovered. That is very unique and implies a lot about the impressive bioactivity of breast milk and the consequential benefits to the breastfed infant,” said Dr Cregan, who is speaking at Unicef’s Baby Friendly Initiative conference this week. His research has isolated adult stem cells of epithelial (mammary) and immune origin, with “very preliminary evidence” that breast milk also contains stem cells that promotes the growth of muscle and bone tissue.

Scientists will use his discovery, made at the University of Western Australia, in Perth, Australia, to attempt to harvest stem cells from breast milk for research on a range of issues – from why some mothers struggle to produce milk to testing out new drugs that could aid milk production. “There is a plentiful resource of tissue-specific stem cells in breast milk, which are readily available and from a non-invasive and completely ethical source,” Dr Cregan said.

Advocates hope the discovery will help to lift the UK’s breastfeeding rates: only one-third of babies are exclusively breastfed at one week, the number dropping to one-fifth at six weeks. At five months, only 3 per cent of mothers still exclusively nurse their babies – although the World Health Organisation recommends that babies should consume only breast milk until they are at least six months old.

Rosie Dodd, campaigns director at the National Childbirth Trust, said: “This finding highlights the many factors that are in breast milk that we know so little about and that all have different advantages, such as helping a baby’s immune system to develop.”

Dr Cregan said the discovery of immune stem cells was the “most exciting development”, adding, “It’s quite possible that immune cells in breast milk can survive digestion and end up in the infant’s circulation. This has been shown to be occurring in animals, and so it would be unsurprising if this was also occurring in human infants.”

British scientists gave a cautious welcome to Dr Cregan’s discovery, warning that just because stem cells exist in breast milk did not mean that they could be used to develop a therapy – the ultimate goal of stem cell research. Chris Mason, professor of regenerative medicine at University College London, said: “It may give us some insight into specific breast diseases and is potentially valuable when it comes to drug discovery and drug development but it is fanciful to think it could provide routine therapies.”

from http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/stem-cel…hy-breast-is-best-1825558.html

Discover StemCells, Inc. A pioneer in the field of neural stem cells, StemCells Inc was founded by the renown Irving Weissman, Fred Gage, and David Anderson. Martin McGlynn, CEO, presents StemCells Inc’s use of neural stem cells, and clinical development strategy based on the neuroprotective effect of neural stem cells.

Stem Cells Inc is preparing a BLA for NCL (a.k.a. Batten’s Disease). Martin reveals the source of the stem cells used, as well as the quantity of cells needed for the treatment of various diseases. StemCells Inc’s next clinical trials (PMD, spinal cord, macular degeneration) and milestones are also presented here. We conclude this interview with Martin’s comments on successfully dealing with the complexity of regularity matters, beyond FDA approval.

What is a neural stem cell? How can they help treat neurological disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, spinal cord injury, stroke, ALS (Lou Gehrig‘s Disease)? Evan Snyder of the Burnham Institute helps define neural stem cells (NSC), explaining that they are relatively inaccessible in the adult patient, but that they seem to benefit from some immunotolerance.

It follows that we may be able to use readily available lines of embryonic stem cells for therapy in neurodegenerative disease. Evan reviews current clinical applications for neural stem cells (including as a vehicle for small molecule delivery), and gives his future outlook for neural stem cells. Evan forsees NSCs being used in anti-inflammatory and neuroprotective functions, to deliver tumor killing genes, and to build iPS drug discovery models.

Warnings are being issued by experts of the dangers of medical tourism saying that unproven stem cell therapy overseas could leave patients worse off.

Signing up for stem cell therapy is worth the risk for many people who are suffering with conditions like spinal injury, multiple sclerosis, motor neuron or Parkinson’s disease.

A medical journal reported earlier this year that an Israeli teenager developed brain tumors after experimental injections at a Russian clinic.

There are alternate reports also of patients contracting meningitis after treatments in China.

A handbook will be released by the Australian Stem Cell Centre to help patients analyze radial stem cell treatments abroad.

Experts, however, are warning patients against taking the risk with radical treatments abroad.

The Australian Stem Cell Centre Clinical adviser Dr Kirsten Herbert says that three patients contracted meningitis after stem cell treatment in China because of spinal cord injuries.

He also adds that cancer too is a possible side-effect although the likelihood is very rare.

It is important to not demoralize people who are seeking these cures but they must be helped in finding the right advice.

from http://topnews.us/content/28514-warning-issued-against-stem-cell-tourism-experts

Scientists at the John Innes Centre in Norwich, UK, have shown how plants can protect themselves against genetic damage caused by environmental stresses. The growing tips of plant roots and shoots have an in-built mechanism that, if it detects damage to the DNA, causes the cell to ‘commit suicide’ rather than pass on its defective DNA.

Plants have, at the very tips of their roots and shoots, small populations of stem cells, through which they are able to grow and produce new tissue throughout the plant’s life. These stem cells are the precursors to producing plant tissues and organs. This means that any defect that arises in the stem cell’s genetic code will be passed on and persist irreversibly throughout the life of the plant, which may last thousands of years.

It is therefore critical that there are safeguards that prevent stem cell defects becoming fixed, particularly as the stem cells exist at the growing tips of shoots and roots where they are especially exposed to potentially hazardous environments.

Nick Fulcher and Robert Sablowski, with funding from the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), set out to discover what these safeguards could be. By using X-rays and chemicals they were able to induce damage to DNA, and found that stem cells were much more sensitive to DNA damage than other cells. The cells are able to detect the DNA damage, triggering the death of these cells, thus preventing the damaged genetic code becoming fixed in the rest of the plant tissues.

A similar system exists in animal cells, which has been very well investigated, as the failure of this system can lead to cancer. The discovery of a similar, although distinct system in plants is therefore of great interest in the field of plant development, as well as in the efforts of scientists to develop plants better able to cope with environmental stress.

Drought, high salinity and the accumulation of hazardous chemicals in the soil are side-effects of a changing climate, so knowledge of how plants cope with theses stresses is of fundamental importance to agricultural science’s response to climate change. This is one aim of the research carried out by the John Innes Centre, an institute of the BBSRC.

from http://www.jic.ac.uk/corporate/media-and-public/current-releases/sablowskiDNAdamage.htm

Researchers from North Carolina State University have identified a gene that tells embryonic stem cells in the brain when to stop producing nerve cells called neurons. The research is a significant advance in understanding the development of the nervous system, which is essential to addressing conditions such as Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease and other neurological disorders.

The bulk of neuron production in the central nervous system takes place before birth, and comes to a halt by birth. But scientists have identified specific regions in the core of the brain that retain stem cells into adulthood and continue to produce new neurons.

NC State researchers, investigating the subventricular zone, one of the regions that retains stem cells, have identified a gene that acts as a switch – transforming some embryonic stem cells into adult cells that can no longer produce new neurons. The research was done using mice. These cells form a layer of cells that support adult stem cells. The gene, called FoxJ1, increases its activity near the time of birth, when neural development slows down. However, the FoxJ1 gene is not activated in most of the stem cells in the subventricular zone – where new neurons continue to be produced into adulthood.

“Research into why and how some stem cells in the subventricular zone continue to produce new neurons is important because a biological understanding of how these cells function can contribute to new treatments to replace damaged or diseased brain tissue, hopefully in regions that cannot do this by themselves,” says Dr. Troy Ghashghaei, an assistant professor of neurobiology at NC State and the senior author of the research. “This research helps us understand brain development itself, which is key to identifying novel approaches for treatment of many neurological disorders.”

When the FoxJ1 gene is activated, it produces a protein that functions as a transcription factor. Transcription factors swim through the nucleus of a cell turning other genes on and off, turning the embryonic stem cell into an adult cell. Some of the adult cells will function as stem cells, creating new neurons, but most will not – instead serving to support the adult stem cells by forming a stem cell “niche.” This niche has a complex cellular architecture that allows adult stem cells to remain active in the subventricular zone.

Ghashghaei’s lab is now moving forward with new research to determine what activates the FoxJ1 gene and how the FoxJ1 protein regulates the expression of other genes. This understanding will reveal how the activation and inactivation of genes controlled by FoxJ1 orchestrates the development of the adult stem cell niche. Ghashghaei’s laboratory is a recent recipient of funding from the National Institutes of Health to support this line of research (…)

from http://news.ncsu.edu/releases/wmsghasghaeifoxj1/