“Latest Stem Cells News”

Advanced Cell Technology, a leader in the field of regenerative medicine, today announced treatment of the first patient in its Phase 1/2 clinical trial for Stargardt’s macular dystrophy (SMD) using retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells derived from human embryonic stem cells (hESCs). The surgery was performed on Friday, Jan. 20, at the Moorfields Eye Hospital in London by a team of surgeons led by Professor James Bainbridge, consultant surgeon at Moorfields and Chair of Retinal Studies at University College London. The patient successfully underwent the procedure without any complications. ACT and Moorfields Eye Hospital received clearance in September from the U.K.’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) to begin this trial in Europe.

“Our clinical trial program for hESC-derived RPE cells has taken another critical step as we move forward with treating patients at Moorfields Eye Hospital,” said Gary Rabin, chairman and chief executive officer of ACT. “The treatment of the first patient in Europe is tangible evidence that stem cell research and development of cell therapies is making progress. It is a milestone for scientists, stem cell advocates and patients hoping for cures as well as much as it is one for ACT. Stargardt’s macular dystrophy affects up to 100,000 patients in Europe and North America, and causes progressive vision loss often ending with blindness. We are honored to be working with Professor Bainbridge at Moorfields Eye Hospital, and are very pleased with the smooth progress of the trial thus far.”

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Madison, Wisconsin – Soon, some treatments for blinding eye diseases might be developed and tested using retina-like tissues produced from the patient’s own skin, thanks to a series of discoveries reported by a team of University of Wisconsin-Madison stem cell researchers.

The team, led by stem cell scientist and ophthalmologist Dr. David Gamm of the UW School of Medicine and Public Health and former UW scientist Dr. Jason Meyer, used human embryonic stem (ES) cells and induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells to generate three-dimensional structures that are similar to those present at the earliest stages of retinal development.

The Gamm laboratory, based at UW-Madison’s Waisman Center, isolated these early retinal structures from other cell groups and grew them in batches in the laboratory, where they produced major retinal cell types, including photoreceptors and retinal pigment epithelium (RPE).

Importantly, cells from these structures matured and responded appropriately to signals involved in normal retinal function, making them potentially valuable not only for studying how the human retina develops, but also how to keep it working in the face of disease.

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Deep in the brain, buried in the hippocampus and subventricular zone, reside adult neural stem cells, cells that retain the ability to become other types of neural cells and could serve as possible treatments for ailments ranging from vision impairment to Parkinson’s to spinal cord injuries. Doctors, scientists and patients, however, are understandably hesitant to go digging around for them, their location being “a great deterrent,” Sally Temple, founder of the New York Neural Stem Cell Institute, said at the 2009 World Stem Cell Summit here on Wednesday.

Researchers, therefore, are anxious to uncover other, more accessible neural stem cell candidates. Temple and her team have turned their sights to the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE), a layer of tissue at the base of the retina that comes into being within 30 to 50 days of conception, before many other parts of the neural system differentiate. Cells from this area of the eye can be easily harvested from retinal fluid that is usually discarded during retinal surgery, she explained (…)

from http://www.scientificamerican.com/blog/60-second-science/post.cfm?id=stem-cells-bring-new-insights-to-fu-2009-09-24

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