“Latest Stem Cells News”

U.S. researchers have found that a supplemental protein may help restore impaired mobility of people who suffer from a stroke.
Naturally occurring in humans, the protein has proved to work well in restoring motor function in rats after a stroke, according to two new studies by researchers at the University of California, Irvine (UCI).
The researchers hope that the protein will also help humans.

Administered directly to the brain, the protein restores 99 percent of lost movement; if it’s given through the nose, 70 percent of lost movement is regained. Untreated rats improve by only 30 percent.

Report of the Brain Tumor Progress Review Group (SuDoc HE 20.3502:B 73/10)

Stroke-damaged brains could be repaired within 5-10 years using adult stem cells from teeth, according to one of Australia’s leading stroke physicians who is pioneering new research in this field.

Associate Professor Simon Koblar from the University of Adelaide and The Queen Elizabeth Hospital is leading a research project that shows dental pulp stem cells extracted from teeth may prove far more beneficial for brain repair than other types of stem cells.

His research involving adult stem cells is the first of its kind in Australia and will be explained at a free public lecture at the University of Adelaide tomorrow night as part of the University’s highly successful Research Tuesdays monthly seminar series.

Stroke is the leading cause of disability in Australia, with 60,000 people suffering a stroke every year and approximately 30% of them losing their lives.

Assoc. Prof. Koblar says dental pulp stem cells have a natural ability to produce and repair neurones (nerve cells). Because they are in teeth, they can also be easily extracted and don’t pose rejection issues for patients.

In 2007 Assoc. Prof. Koblar was awarded $100,000 by the Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney for a collaborative pilot study on adult stem cells with Associate Professor Stan Gronthos from SA Pathology. Stroke SA also provided additional financial support for this project in 2009.

The two scientists are senior members of the University of Adelaide’s Centre for Stem Cell Research at the Robinson Institute.

“We have some very promising data from trials involving stroke-affected rats, who have shown an improvement in mobility when transplanted with dental pulp stem cells,” he says.

Assoc. Prof. Koblar says more research needs to be done to prove the benefit in animal models before it can be trialled in humans.

The Robinson Institute is currently working with University of Adelaide graduate and stroke victim Peter Couche to set up a Stem Cell for Stroke Foundation in his name.

“Like all research, what we can achieve will depend on how much money can be raised,” Assoc. Prof. Koblar says.

“Stem cell research has great potential to affect stroke patients and benefit the Australian community as a whole, because its impact in this country is enormous. Even if all we can do is to get someone’s hand function to improve, that would be a magnificent advance.”

An inaugural $75,000 collaborative research grant from the Centre for Stem Cell Research has been awarded to Associate Professors Koblar and Gronthos to continue their research into adult stem cell therapy for stroke patients.

from http://www.adelaide.edu.au/news/news37182.html

Progress has been made against strokes thanks to stem cells. British researchers, thanks to these cells, have managed to repair brain tissue damaged by a stroke. The study, financed by the research council on biological and biotechnological sciences of the United Kingdom, was published in Nature Biomaterials. The team from the Institute of Psychiatry at the University of Nottingham, used a biodegradable polymer called Plga to build a scaffold for neural cells.

Using these they filled the cavity left by a stroke. This allows, explained Mike Modo, psychiatrist at King’s College in London and coordinator of the study, “stem cells to create connections with the other cells, contributing to the re-stabilization of the damaged tissue”. One of the main obstacles for scientists has been overcome in this way: normally, stem cells do not find any support in the cerebral area affected

Stem Cell Research Study Reveals Stroke Patients Helped by Own Stem Cells

A new stem cell research study/trial recently completed shows that implanting a person’s own Adult Stem Cells helps stroke patients overcome partial paralysis. Dr. Kameshwar Prasad of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) will present his stem cell study at the European Stroke Research Conference in May, 2009.

Stroke Victims Own Adult Stem Cells Used

In the stem cell study that took place in New Delhi, India, 12 stroke victims had their own stem cells implanted within 1 month after a stroke. Also, 3 stroke patients were used as a control group and were not given any stem cells.

Process of Stem Cells for Stroke

1. Adult Stem Cells extracted from patient’s bone marrow
2. Stem Cells are then purified
3. Patient’s own stem cells are then reintroduced intravenously into the antecubital vein (in the forearms, near the elbow)
4. Stem Cells migrate to area of injury (in this case- the brain)
5. Adult Stem Cells enhance repair process and reduce brain damage

Roland "Bud" Henrich, 61, was the first stroke patient to be enrolled in a Phase I trial using his own stem cells.

For the first time in the United States, a stroke patient has been intravenously injected with his own bone marrow stem cells as part of a research trial at The University of Texas Medical School at Houston.
Sean Savitz, M.D., assistant professor of neurology at The University of Texas Medical School at Houston, leads a first-of-its-kind bone marrow stem cell therapy study for stroke patients.

Roland “Bud” Henrich, 61, was transferred to Memorial Hermann – Texas Medical Center on March 25 after suffering a stroke while working on his farm in Liberty. He arrived too late to receive tissue plasminogen activator (tPA), the only treatment for ischemic strokes. He became the first patient in the trial.

The Phase I safety trial, funded with a pilot grant from The National Institutes of Health and support from the Notsew Orm Sands Foundation, will enroll nine more patients who have suffered a stroke and can be treated with the stem cell procedure within 24 to 72 hours of initial symptoms.

Apparently it looks like a simple tea bag but in reality it’s a genetically engineered concentrate able to completely revolutionize treatments for stroke patients. A special little bag called ‘CellBeads’ contains tiny capsules, each containing about 1 million stem cells. Thanks to genetic engineering techniques, stem cells taken from the bone marrow are transformed into a drug that protects brain cells from dying. This allows the cells to be rejuvenated and repair damage caused by the stroke. The stem cells are encapsulated to ‘fool’ the immune system, avoiding a rejection by the body. ‘CellBeads’ were developed by a group of British scientists from the Biocompatibles International Company, and are about 2cm, which allows them to be easily removed.