“Latest Stem Cells News”

Cultured stem cells from eyes helped improve the sight of eight patients with Limbal Stem Cell Deficiency, a painful, blinding disease, British doctors said.

The patients’ own corneal cells were cultured and used to reduce corneal cloudiness from the disease, The North East England Stem Cell Institute, Newcastle, England, reported in a release Thursday.

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It was formalized yesterday by Health Secretary Francesca Martini a working group aimed to deepen and to develop guidelines for the technological requirements – both structural and organizational – for health activities on the use of stem cells in veterinary medicine.

Guidelines – a ministerial note said – will be the tool to guide the operators in a complex matter in terms of protecting animal owners, animal welfare, health of veterinarians and the inevitable ethical implications.

‘I have formalized this working group – Martini said – to fill a gap about such a sensitive field as the use of stem cells. This is a first step to addressing activities ‘that are carried out within the free initiative of veterinary surgeons, lacking until now rules and instructions that define the procedures, and health standards about the use of stem cells’.

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CINCINNATI—New research from the University of Cincinnati may help in the recovery of lost vision for patients with corneal scarring.

Winston Whei-Yang Kao, PhD, professor of ophthalmology, along with other researchers in UC’s ophthalmology department found that transplanting human umbilical mesenchymal stem cells into mouse models that lack the protein lumican restored the transparency of cloudy and thin corneas.

Mesenchymal stem cells are “multi-potent” stem cells that can differentiate into a variety of cell types.

These findings are being presented Dec. 8 in San Diego at the 49th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Cell Biology.

“Corneal transplantation is currently the only true cure for restoration of eyesight that may have been lost due to corneal scarring caused by infection, mechanical and chemical wounds and congenital defects of genetic mutations,” Kao says. “However, the number of donated corneas suitable for transplantation is decreasing as the number of individuals receiving refractive surgeries, like LASIK, increases.”

“Worldwide, there is a shortage of suitable corneas for transplantation, and at the present time, there is no effective alternative procedure besides corneal transplantation to treat corneal blindness,” he continues. “There is a large need to develop alternative treatment regimens, one of which may be the transplantation of mesenchymal stem cells.”

Researchers used mouse models that did not have the lumican gene, also known as lumican knock-out models. Lumican is a protein that controls the formation and maintenance of transparent corneas.

“Lumican knock-out models manifested thin and cloudy corneas,” he says. “Transplantation of the umbilical stem cells significantly improved transparency and increased corneal stromal thickness in these mice.”

In addition, Kao says, the umbilical mesenchymal stem cells survived in the mouse stroma (connective tissue) for more than three months with minimal or no rejection and became corneal cells, repairing lost functions caused by mutations.

“Our results suggest a potential treatment regimen for congenital and/or acquired corneal diseases,” he says, adding that the availability of human umbilical stem cells is almost unlimited. “These stem cells are easy to isolate and can be recovered quickly from storage when treating patients.

“These findings have the potential to create new and better treatments—and an improved quality of life—for patients with vision loss due to corneal injury.”

This study was funded by grants from the National Eye Institute, Research to Prevent Blindness and the Ohio Lions Eye Research Foundation.

from http://healthnews.uc.edu/news/?/9613/

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Hematologists are not typical “first responders,” and many feel ill-equipped to act in an emergency situation. Dr. Nelson Chao of Duke University hopes that those who attend the Emergency Preparedness Education Program Session this morning at 7:30 in La Nouvelle Ballroom C will feel more prepared to respond in times of crisis. Dr. Chao explains, “Preparation is an area that we don’t stress or think about enough, and we probably should. Our preparation would help both our patients and our staff in an emergency.” The session will include discussion of two recent crises and one hypothetical disaster that we will hopefully never face.

This year, the annual ASH meeting returns to New Orleans for the first time since Hurricane Katrina devastated the city. The effects of Hurricane Katrina were felt throughout the United States, but only those who lived through the natural disaster can truly understand its impact. Dr. Cindy Leissinger of Tulane University School of Medicine experienced the disaster first-hand and will share her unique perspective. She hopes that attendees will learn that the unimaginable can happen and that preparation can help in the recovery.

She will focus on the state of the medical community prior to Hurricane Katrina and what was learned from the disaster. One of her lessons involves the importance of communication. As she explains, “After Katrina, all of us were displaced — more than a million people were displaced — and that continued for many months for most of us. The most essential thing during that period for us as professionals and for our patients was the ability to communicate with each other. We had to scramble to put communication systems in place after Katrina — hopefully we learned some lessons that will help us to do a better job if another Katrina happens.” The lessons that Dr. Leissinger will present can be applied to other situations and are essential knowledge for all medical providers.

Questions about the H1N1 influenza outbreak from patients, families, and other providers are common for many hematologists this season. Some of these questions are relatively straightforward, including inquiries about the safety of vaccination and indications for prophylaxis. Other questions are more challenging, including how to vaccinate large patient populations efficiently, what to do when a staff member who has been at work becomes ill, and how to handle a worst-case scenario like an outbreak on a stem cell transplant unit. Dr. Richard Hatchett from the National Institute of Allergies and Infectious Disease will update the audience on the international H1N1 outbreak. He will address the current state of readiness and review public health measures. Dr. Hatchett’s expertise will be invaluable for hematologists and oncologists who care for populations vulnerable to influenza and other pathogens.

The session will conclude with Dr. Chao’s discussion of international preparedness for a potential radiological attack. Hematologists, oncologists, and experts in stem cell transplantation are uniquely qualified to care for survivors of a nuclear disaster and would be called on in such an emergency. International collaboration and preparation is necessary for the response to be effective. Dr. Chao will examine the nature of radiation injury and describe current international strategies for emergency response. In the event of a nuclear attack the response must be swift; preparation is essential. The unifying theme of preparedness promises to stimulate thought and discussion.

from http://www.hematology.org/Publications/ASH-News-Daily/2009/4627.aspx

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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.

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New Technology to Increase Efficacy of Adult Stem Cells in COPD Treatment

Entest BioMedical announced today it has filed a second patent application in the area of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). This new patent application builds upon the Company’s previously filed COPD patent application and involves the use of photoceutical devices to target stem cells toward areas impacted by COPD in the lungs.

Steve Josephs, PhD, a Scientific Advisor to the Company stated “that by using photoceutical devices in treating COPD, it is believed stem cells can be focused on areas of the lungs where there is damage. Furthermore, being able to target specific areas and draw stem cells to those areas should produce greater efficacy in patient treatment outcomes. ”

David Koos, Chairman and CEO of Entest stated, “This new patent application we filed covers methods of enhancing our previously disclosed adult stem cell technologies in the treatment of COPD. It is our belief the use of photoceuticals devices coupled with adult stem cell therapy is a treatment model completely new and unique to addressing this terrible disease.”

Entest’s treatment approach for COPD is based on the development of easy-toimplement therapies involving the use of stem cells, and other cells found in the fat tissue of the patient. By incorporating photoceutical devices currently in use for other clinical treatments, this invention discloses methods of increasing the rate of cell homing, retention, and growth factor production in the lung.

from http://www.entestbio.com/latest-news/entest-biomedical-files-patent-application-for-selective-targeting-of-stem-cells-to-lung-using-photoceutical-devices.html

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