“Latest Stem Cells News”

Sir Martin Evans

Stem cells could aid in treating muscular sclerosis. Animal experiments have demonstrated that it is possible to stop the aggressive, chronic inflammatory response against the myelin sheath that covers nerve cells, whose destruction leads to the devastating effects of the disease, said Giancarlo Comi, the head of the Experimental Neurology Institute of the Vita-Salute San Raffaele University. A three-day meeting, which began in Stresa, on the most recent progress regarding stem cells was opened by Nobel Prize winner Martin Evans and also included some of the most important experts on the subject in the country.

Comi specified that these cells are able to act against multiple sclerosis in two ways: not only are they able to stop inflammation, but they are also aggregate in the locations in which they are acting, keeping the entire area under control.

“It was thought that stem cells were only able to repair tissues, but it has been observed that they also act on the immune system.” The neurologist also cited work by Milan researcher Gianvito Martino, which “has completed the preliminary phase and is now ready for the first clinical study on the applications of stem cells against multiple sclerosis. A study will also be done to establish the doses that can guarantee successful treatment without causing any damage on patients with serious spinal injuries. This study will provide us with information on efficiency, which will be the focus of another study that will begin at the end of the year.”

The conference in Stresa gathered the top researchers in Italy in the stem cell field, with experts on neurodegenerative diseases, cardiovascular diseases, assisted reproduction, leukemia, and lymphoma.

Stem cell injections may be able to cure the crippling effects of multiple sclerosis, according to a study published today. Four out of five adults in the early stages of Muscular Sclerosis who were injected with stem cells taken from their own bone marrow experienced improvements in their conditions after three years, and the rest of the patients experienced a stabilization of their conditions. Dr. Doug Brown of the Muscular Sclerosis Society said that encouraging results have been obtained, and that it is exciting to see not only that the progression of the disability was stopped in this attempt, but it also appears to cure the damaging effects of the disorder; stem cells are increasingly demonstrating more potential to treat Muscular Sclerosis .

The challenge that must now be faced involves attempting their efficiency in studies with many people. Previous studies have shown that stem cell treatments stabilize Muscular Sclerosis , but have never suggested that it could cure its conditions. Muscular Sclerosis is the most common debilitating neurological condition, damaging myelin, the protective membrane that surrounds nervous fibers, making it difficult to control muscles.

Transplanting stem cells from one’s own bone marrow (autologous stem cell transplants) improves the symptoms of muscular sclerosis (MS), and in some cases the neurological disease actually regressed. These are the encouraging results obtained from a small study performed on 21 remittent MS patients by a group from the Northwestern University School of Medicine in Chicago and published in Lancet Neurology. “All of the patients,” said the neurologists, “witnessed an improvement in their conditions three years after the stem cell transplants were performed. Of these, 81pct benefited from visible progress, measured in terms of the scale of their disability.”

With these “encouraging” results, the researchers decided to perform another study involving more patients, and compared their results with traditional treatments. The experiment involved the removal and freezing of bone marrow after treating the marrow with drugs to remove the lymphocytes of the immune system which are responsible for attacking nerve system fibers in MS patients.

Transplanting stem cells from one’s own bone marrow (autologous stem cell transplants) improves the symptoms of muscular sclerosis (MS), and in some cases the neurological disease actually regressed. These are the encouraging results obtained from a small study performed on 21 remittent MS patients by a group from the Northwestern University School of Medicine in Chicago and published in Lancet Neurology. “All of the patients,” said the neurologists, “witnessed an improvement in their conditions three years after the stem cell transplants were performed. Of these, 81pct benefited from visible progress, measured in terms of the scale of their disability.”

Adult stem cells are the future of the battle against multiple sclerosis, according to the Italian Multiple Sclerosis Association (AISM) in the latest edition of ‘Una mela per la vita’ (‘An Apple for Life’) over the past two days, aiming to collect funds for scientific research.   The AISM has invested a part of the proceeds from the past years into the possible use of undifferentiated cells, today as a legitimate part of future therapies.

Experimenting on the use of mesechymal stem cells on animal tissue is a research group of the Neurological Clinic of the University of Genoa, led by Antonio Uccelli.  According to Uccelli, this therapy can “immunomodulate and provide neuroprotection against autoimmune attacks and favor cell trophism during sickness.”  The neurologist warned:  “Despite expectations from the sick and the secular community for both regenerative medicine and adult stem cells, they have not shown to be effective against nerve damage.” Professor Uccelli spoke about the future regarding experimentation of cellular therapy on humans:  “Perhaps within a year,” he responded.

New hope in treating Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) or Lou Gehrig’s Disease, an incurable neurological disease, which is particularly frequent in former soccer players, may come from stem cells. Nicholas Maragakis and his colleagues from the Johns Hopkins University of Medicine in Baltimore in the United States, have successfully conducted an important experiment in mice. In a study published in the online edition of ‘Nature Neuroscience’, the American researchers transplanted precursor cells called astrocytes, which function as support cells for neurons, into the mice with ALS. This allow the mice to survive for much longer.

ALS, pointed out the authors, is caused by the degeneration and death of so-called motor neurons, which are nervous cells that send signals to muscles to move. Recent research has demonstrated that astrocytes, belonging to the family of glial support cells, could be struck by the disease. Based on this concept, Maragakis’ team tried to treat an animal with ALS by transplanting early astrocytes.

The cells managed to survive in the spinal cord and the mice, although they did not heal completely, were able to survive much longer than normal. The beneficial effects, specified the scientists, require the presence of a particular transport protein in the precursor astrocytes: a scavenger protein able to remove excess glutamated neurotransmitters, a substance that is involved in the development of ALS, from motor neurons tied to astrocytes.