“Latest Stem Cells News”

In a world first in children, British and Italian doctors have transplanted a new airway (trachea) into a child and used the child’s own stem cells, in the body, to rebuild it.

The donated trachea was stripped of the donor’s old cells, down to the inert collagen. The child recipient’s bone marrow stem cells were collected, and applied to the graft in situ in the body, to rebuild the cellular component of the trachea. Thus the child’s own cells will be used to make the new airway sealed and effective.

This is the first time that this has been performed in a child. It is also the first time the entire length of the trachea has been transplanted.

The application of this technology should reduce greatly the risk of rejection of the new trachea, as the child’s stem cells will not generate any immune response.

Researchers at UTHealth have demonstrated in rats that transplanting genetically modified adult stem cells into an injured spinal cord can help restore the electrical pathways associated with movement. The results are published in today’s issue of the Journal of Neuroscience.

In spinal cord injury, demyelination, or the destruction of the myelin sheath in the central nervous system, occurs. The myelin sheath, produced by cells called oligodendrocytes, wraps around the axons of nerves and helps speed activity and insulate electrical conduction. Without it, the nerves cannot send messages to make muscles move.

The research team, led by Qilin Cao, M.D., principal investigator and associate professor of neurosurgery at UTHealth (The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston), discovered that transplanted adult stem cells (oligodendrocyte precursor cells or OPC) from the spinal cord could become oligodendrocytes. The new cells helped restore electrical pathways of the spinal cord and therefore, function, in a process called remyelination.

Scientists have developed a new tool that illuminates connections between stem cells and cancer.
Researchers have been successful in breaking apart human prostate tissue, extract the stem cells in the tissue, and alter those cells genetically so that they spur cancer.

Many tissues contain pools of stem cells that replenish the tissue when it’s damaged or when changes take place. For example, stem cells in the skin produce new cells to replace those irreparably damaged by the sun, and stem cells in the breast create milk-producing cells when a woman is pregnant.

A characteristic of these stem cells is that they self-renew. This means that in addition to making cells with a specific function, they also make many new stem cells.

Dr. Robert Johnson, MD, of Neurosurgical Associates of San Antonio, is presenting at the 5th Annual Stem Cell Summit in New York on February 16, 2010. Dr. Johnson will be presenting his most recent data proving the efficacy of point of care adult stem cell therapies in spine surgery. Point of care technology utilizes the patient’s own cells derived from bone marrow to inhibit bone growth in spinal fusion procedures. Dr. Johnson believes promoting cell therapy utilizing the patient’s own cells will change the future landscape of medicine.

“The use of autologous stem cells is revolutionizing medical care in both the prevention and treatment of spinal disorders,” said Johnson.

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.

Health Counselor Board, Javier Alvarez Guisasola, launched on Wednesday a clinical trial coordinated by Professor Margarita Calonge, IOBA’s on cell therapy applied to treat corneal blindness.
This study was coordinated by the IOBA and IBGM to demonstrate the long-term effectiveness of the epithelial stem cell transplantation of the cornea, previously cultivated to restore corneal blindness. Stem cells come from a healthy eye of the patient or family support.