“Latest Stem Cells News”

The Pisa University Hospital has become part of the international network of hematopoietic stem cell transplant facilities (meaning they produce various blood components). The hospital was recently accredited by the Italian registry of bone marrow donors, which is part of the international network.

Pisa has become an important center for bone marrow collection for all potential donors in northwestern Italy.
On 20 April 2009, the first donation was carried out for a patient at the Udine University Hospital, and a second donation is being organized for a patient being treated at the Montpellier Hospital (France).

The hospital in Pisa received the prestigious recognition thanks to the positive results they have obtained over the past years in the hematology and oncology- hematology units.

‘Yet again the Lazio region risks missing a chance to be at the cutting edge in the country for the therapeutic use of hematopoietic stem cells, a technique that is scientifically tested and proven in terms of its efficiency,’ said Luigi Canai, the President of the Lazio Health Commission, in a statement.

‘For days the media has been reporting important progress achieved in this field of research both abroad and in Italy. Regarding this subject, a year ago on February 19 2009, the commission chaired by me approved a unified text for a law that was later approved by the budget commission to promote the use in our region of this revolutionary therapeutic tool, which is particularly important in treating various rare infant diseases. The proposal, which calls for the creation of a regional bank to preserve hematopoietic stem cells taken from the placenta and umbilical cord of women in labour, was unanimously approved, but from that time on, we are awaiting the final vote of the council, a step that is necessary to implement the plan in the interest of the health of the citizens of our region.’

‘I must firmly ask the presidents of the council groups and the president of the assembly to honor this debt as soon as possible, which we all have towards our constituents, and we must hold a debate immediately. I do not want to believe,’ concluded Canali, ‘that the unanimity that was witnessed earlier has already dissolved for other considerations, such as the permanent electoral campaign in our country.’

Italy is the top country in the world for hematopoietic stem cell transplants per million inhabitants, said Alessandro Nanni Costa, the director of the National Transplant Center (CNT), presenting data today in Rome from a study by the Welfare Minister on umbilical cord stem cells.

Italy boasts a registry of 370,000 healthy adults available to donate blood stem cells.

The units of umbilical cord blood preserved in Italian biobanks number 17,503, while in 2008, only 141 were used in Italy or abroad.

The objective is to reach 80,000-90,000 units of umbilical cords preserved from which blood stem cells can be removed for transplants. In Italy there are 18 biobanks for the conservation of umbilical cords that must be reorganize and expanded to reach areas where there are no centers, such as Sardinia.

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.

Gerhard Bauer, an American researcher and expert on ‘mother’ stem cells, during the 50th congress of the American Society of Hematology (ASH) in San Francisco, announced that human testing for an AIDS treatment based on genetically modified stem cells could begin within 5 years. Bauer has been working for the past 10 years on modified stem cells that could repair strongly compromised immune systems in HIV patients. “For this reason the apparent success obtained by German researchers on an American patient with AIDS and leukemia reinforces the idea that we are on the right path.”

Last month the German researchers announced that their patient underwent a bone marrow transplant, introducing stem cells taken from a donor with a natural immunity to HIV, and after the operation he lived for 20 months with no sign of the AIDS virus. “The result does not surprise me,” added Bauer, the next director of the UC Davis Institute for Regenerative Cures in Sacramento while presenting preliminary results obtained from mice at the American Society of Hematology announcing that ‘the first tests on human beings could begin within five years.’

Gerhard Bauer & Jan A. Nolta

A new experimental technique in the future will remove skin cells from HIV patients, manipulate the cells bringing them to a state similar to that of stem cells, and then re-implant them in the same patient to eliminate the virus. The technique is still in the experimental phase in mice, but according to Gerhard Bauer, presenting the initial results of his study today at the 50th American Society of Hematology Congress in San Francisco, it’s a possibility. Bauer has been working for more than 10 years on this technique together with colleague Joseph Anderson.

The objective is to identify anti-HIV genes and insert them into stem cells produced by the skin. His UC Davis-Sacramento research team will also be present at the conference, and together they will present their study, which will lead to clinical genetic experimentation to demonstrate the safety of their method. Bauer hopes to be able perform clinical experimentation on human beings within five years. “The transformed cells, called pluripotent stem cells, are able to differentiate into different types of cells, which include hematopoietic stem cells found in the bone marrow, which produce various types of immune cells. “The next step is a test on human beings,” said Bauer.