“Latest Stem Cells News”

Don’t look for this just yet at your neighborhood clinic, but Minnesota scientists are pushing stem cell therapies into new frontiers — into territory that is so open that doctors and regulators still are shaping practices and policies as they go along.

In one breakthrough, researchers at Mayo Clinic in Rochester obtained stem cells derived from the bone marrow of heart disease patients and guided the cells to help heal, repair and regenerate damaged heart tissue. This is “landmark work,” said an editorial accompanying their research report in Monday’s Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

And last week, University of Minnesota researchers reported in the New England Journal of Medicine that they had for the first time used stem cells from bone marrow to help children who suffer from a rare, fatal skin disease.

While these advances are significant, they also show why we have to be patient about waiting for stem cells to deliver their seemingly magical healing power for every day therapy. That has been especially true while ethical, religious and political concerns held up research on stem cells derived from early embryos.

But even with so-called adult stem cells (those not from early embryos), it takes years of painstaking work to isolate just the right cells and then concoct cultures that will not only nurture them in the laboratory but also coax them to perform new functions.

The past few years brought high development in obtaining and culturing autologous adult stem cells. In this paper we review publications of experimental investigations and clinical trials of the muscle-derived cells and the application in the treatment of stress urinary incontinence among women. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) can be obtained from bone marrow but it is associated with a painful biopsy procedure.

Collection of muscle-derived stem cells (MDSCs) is less harmful because the skeletal muscle biopsy is performed with a small caliber needle in local anesthesia. The stem-based therapy could be the next step in the treatment of urinary incontinence. There are still many elements of therapy such as effectiveness or long-term side effects which need to be researched.

Department of Gynecology and Oncology, Collegium Medium Jagiellonian University of Kraków
Dr Klaudia STANGEL-WÓJCIKIEWICZ

A technique that combines nanotechnology with adult stem cells appears to destroy atherosclerotic plaque and rejuvenate the arteries, according to a study reported at the American Heart Association‘s Basic Cardiovascular Sciences 2010 Scientific Sessions – Technological and Conceptual Advances in Cardiovascular Disease.

In the study, nanoparticles (microscopic particles with at least one dimension less than 80 nm) were infused into the heart of pigs along with adult stem cells. After the nanoparticles were heated by laser light, they burned away arterial plaque. However, nanoparticles were less effective at eliminating plaque if not combined with adult stem cells.

“This unique approach holds promise for use in humans for acute care and urgent restoration of blood flow,” said Alexandr Kharlamov, M.D., lead author and research manager at the Department of Internal Medicine and Research Center of Regenerative Medicine, Ural State Medical Academy in Yekaterinburg, Russian Federation. “Biophotonics (light therapy), plasmonics (plasma therapy), stem cell therapy and nanotechnology might someday offer a completely novel treatment to reduce artery plaque build-up.”

NeoStem, Inc., an international biopharmaceutical company with operations in the U.S. and China, today announced that it has been awarded a $700,000 contract from the U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command, Telemedicine and Advanced Technology Research Center (USAMRMC-TATRC) under U.S. Army Medical Research Acquisition Activity contract number: (W81XWH-10-2-0039).

This contract is for the purpose of evaluating the use of topically applied bone marrow-derived adult mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) for rapid wound healing. The Company previously announced that this funding was included in the Department of Defense FY09 Appropriations Bill and will begin receiving funds to initiate the program in 2010.

“NeoStem is thrilled to have the United States Government’s support to advance our technology and is honored to become part of TATRC’s regenerative medicine portfolio. It is our goal with this important project to leverage adult stem cell technology to help our soldiers avoid amputations and immobilization from injuries that they may sustain while fighting for our country.

Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) scientists have discovered that endothelial cells, the building blocks of the vascular system, keep blood stem cells dividing healthily in a lab dish much longer and more effectively than previous methods of growing the cells. The new advance dramatically improves scientists’ ability to manufacture large quantities of authentic adult blood stem cells, which may help revolutionize the field of bone marrow transplantation.

Shahin Rafii, an HHMI investigator at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City, and his colleagues report on the development of an endothelial cell platform that supports self-renewal of the blood stem cells, known as long-term hematopoietic stem cells (LT-HSCs), in the March 2010 issue of the journal Cell Stem Cell. Their study also describes a novel mechanism by which endothelial cells support propagation of LT-HSCs in adult mice.

The adult stem cell nutrition is the world’s first natural stem cell enhancer, supports the natural release of adult stem cells which, Rebuild, Renew, Rejuvenate the Body!

Numerous studies performed by various scientific teams throughout the world, including the National Institute of Health have clearly established that the higher the levels of circulating stem cells the better the ability of the body to maintain optimal health.

A recent publication in the New England Journal of Medicine reported that the level of stem cells in the blood was one of the best indicators of cardiovascular health. Elevating the number of stem cells in the blood has been shown to improve health in many ways. This stem cell nutrition supports the natural release of stem cells by 25-30%, which is bound to assist the body in maintaining optimal health.