“Latest Stem Cells News”

Currently stem cell research is only a hope and a strong one at that, and Obama was right to resume a promising line of research that could also be useful for multiple sclerosis. This was a statement made by 1986 Nobel Prize for medicine winner Rita Levi Montalcini who spoke yesterday morning at a conference sponsored by Italian MS Society (AISM), of which she was Honorary President for the First World Multiple Sclerosis Day.

“Embryonic stem cell research is only one of the paths we are taking, and although we are far away, we must never surrender. I am certain that one day we will be able to defeat this disease, which strikes mainly young individuals,” said Montalcini. To proceed, research “needs public investments. But at the same time, private investments are just as important”.

“Stem cell research is still at its beginnings, and it is only one possibility to find a treatment for muscular sclerosis,” said Gianvito Martino, of the Neuro-immunology unit at San Raffaele in Milan at the first World Multiple Sclerosis Day.
“We have placed too much importance and created too many expectations for stem cell research, which will not provide a definitive solution for this disease.” “This is an opportunity that cannot be missed out on”, added Martino. “We have observed that stem cells can prevent damage, but they do not repair damaged tissue. They cannot be used on people with the disease who have suffered significant injuries”.

Martino asked, “those with the disease and their families to not take trips to other countries in hopes that they will receive miracle stem cell treatments. The safety of these treatments has not yet been verified. We are certain that we will begin to see the damages that result from these treatments in these patients, including the presence of tumors.”

Among the various initiatives taking place for the event was the awarding of the Rita Levi Montalcini 2009 prize to Roberto Furlan for his research in the neuro-immunology and genetic therapy fields. Lori Schneider was also recognized at the event for being the first woman with multiple sclerosis to reach the top of Mount Everest where she planted the flag of the First World Multiple Sclerosis Day on Friday May 22.

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Scientists at the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute (OHRI) and the University of Ottawa have discovered a powerful new way to stimulate muscle regeneration, paving the way for new treatments for debilitating conditions such as muscular dystrophy.

The research, to be published in the June 5 issue of Cell Stem Cell, shows for the first time that a protein called Wnt7a increases the number of stem cells in muscle tissue, leading to accelerated growth and repair of skeletal muscle.

“This discovery shows us that by targeting stem cells to boost their numbers, we can improve the body’s ability to repair muscle tissue,” said senior author Dr. Michael Rudnicki. Dr. Rudnicki is the Scientific Director of Canada’s Stem Cell Network and a Senior Scientist at OHRI and Director of OHRI’s Sprott Centre for Stem Cell Research, as well as a Professor of Medicine at the University of Ottawa.

Stem cells give rise to every tissue and organ in the body. Satellite stem cells are specialized muscle stem cells that live in adult skeletal muscle tissue and have the ability to both replicate and differentiate into various types of muscle cells. Dr. Rudnicki’s team found that the Wnt7a protein, when introduced into mouse muscle tissue, significantly increased the population of these satellite stem cells and fueled the regeneration process, creating bigger and stronger muscles. Muscle tissue mass was increased by nearly 20 per cent in the study.

“Our findings point the way to the development of new therapeutic treatment for muscular diseases such as muscular dystrophy, sarcopenia and muscle wasting conditions resulting from extended hospital stays and surgeries,” said Dr. Rudnicki.

from physorg

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Summit at Lake Como with 100 European stem cell experts.
At the summit, 16 research teams part of the Neurostemcell consortium that have been working for months on finding treatments for Parkinson’s and Huntington’s disease met. The network, coordinated by Elena Cattaneo, Director of Unistem, the interdepartmental stem cell research centre of the University of Milan, met on April 1 in Bellagio, on the shores of Lake Como for their first annual meeting.

“The meeting is an opportunity to discuss the results obtained until now and to refine our methods,” explained Cattaneo, who pointed out the objective of the project, which is financed by the EU with 12 million euros: “Compares all stem cells and evaluates them as a potential tool for treatments for Huntington’s and Parkinson’s diseases.” The researchers, from various European laboratories, continued the specialist, “must work to institute stem cells to develop into neurons that die in individuals with Parkinson’s and Huntington’s. The strategy is to take immature stem cells and to push them in a specific direction, rebuilding the codes, or transcription factors of genes and proteins in the laboratory.

The stock of stem cells that we have available today is ample, observed Cattaneo. There are reprogrammed pluripotent stem cells (Ips), adult stem cells, and embryonic stem cells “which particularly fascinate me”. In Cattaneo’s view, for the two neurodegenerative diseases that are the focus of the project, “embryonic stem cells have a strong ability to produce neurons. We are not talking about treatment. These cells are exceptional because they mainly have the ability to receive messages that you send them. With adult stem cells, it does not exactly work in the same way, it seems that they do not have the same abilities to be manipulated.” Embryonic stem cells, concluded a smiling Cattaneo, “are wide awake. It is more satisfying working with them”.

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Not all stem cells are ‘good’ at aiding the heart in repairing itself after a heart attack. Apparently, ‘baby cells’ present in human fat are the best equipped to perform this task and could be used in human testing by the end of 2009. “ We have seen that a simple stem cell transplant into a heart after a heart-attack is not sufficient. There are different types of stem cells that are better adapted to aiding the heart in the healing process. Instead of hematopoietic stem cells used in initial studies, mesenchymal stem cells are now being used.

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Stem cells could be responsible for some forms of aggressive thyroid tumors (ATC, anaplastic thyroid carcinoma). The discovery was made by a young group of biotechnologists, biologists, and doctors from the Endocrinology department of the General Hospital of the University of Palermo. In the study, published in Plos One, the researchers described a subset of tumor stem cells that were able to proliferate continuously and may be responsible for uncontrolled tumor growth. These cells are resistant to chemotherapy and explain why ATC is so highly fatal in such a short period of time. The authors of the study also discovered which specific markers thyroid stem cells express. With these observations it will soon be possible to identify tumors and target them in new therapeutic approaches. Carla Giordano, the head of the Molecular Endocrinology lab where the study was conducted said, “This discovery creates possibilities for treating not only anaplastic thyroid tumors, but also neoplastic thyroid tumors considered incurable due to their resistance to conventional therapies.”

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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.
Director Giancarlo Comi, the head of the Department of Neurology at San Raffaele said, “Until now, when trying to induce nerves to grow back we were using veins that had the defect of being empty internally.”

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