Stem Cell Research

On The Horizon: The Holy Grail Of Stem Cell Research?

We are in the early and rapidly changing stage in Induced Pluripotent Stem (iPS) cell development.  Until now, most research effort has been directed toward finding a way to introduce genes into an adult cell in order to return it to an embryonic stem cell state.

The step that isn't talked about much is the next one: after the cell is returned to an embryonic state it must then be coaxed or directed to become the type of cell needed in the therapeutic process or application.  The holy grail of Induced pluripotent stem cell development would be to change an abundant adult cell into the type of cell needed in the patient's body.  And the holiest of all grails would be to do it without removing the cell from the patient. 

Advanced Cell Technology, BioTime Inc., Play Out Stem Cell Sector Drama Starring Dr. Michael West

BioTime Inc. is paying a total of $450,000 in up front fees, plus royalties that cap at relatively low amounts, for the use of a broad range of Advanced Cell Technology’s intellectual property, a direct result of ACT's operating cash issues.  And BioTime has its own operational cash issues.  From BioTime's latest 10Q: "BioTime’s continued operations are dependent on its ability to raise additional capital, obtain additional financing, reduce its operating costs, and succeed in generating more revenue from its operations”

So far the one sure thing in stem cell research has been this: It is taking longer to turn basic research into clinically testable potential therapies than anyone putting up money thought it would.  Stem cell research in embryonic possibilities has been around for ten years; induced pluripotent possibilities for less than one.  This doesn’t seem like a long time in the big scheme of things you say? Especially with the ethical issues and political inhibitions surrounding the embryonic arena?  True, unless you’ve put up millions of dollars and are looking at the opportunity costs as time passes.

We recently posted concerning Advanced Cell Technology's (one of our Sector Companies) 10Q acknowledgment that additional capital would be needed to continue operations by July 31, 2008, a reflection on how difficult it is to raise money in this market. As recently as a few months ago ACT was considered a prime contender to be among the first to bring a stem cell therapy to clinical trials. 

University of Wisconsin Establishes Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell Bank

The University of Wisconsin and stem cell pioneer James Thomson have started the first induced pluripotent stem cell bank, thus cementing - yet another time - their position as a leader in stem cell research and regenerative medicine.

"We are establishing the WiCell Bank to grow, test, store and distribute cell lines that the National Stem Cell Bank currently is unable to offer since it is limited to the 21 human embryonic stem cell lines approved for federal funding," stated Erik Forsberg, executive director of the WiCell Research Institute, a not-for-profit U of W support organization which already hosts the National Stem Cell Bank for the National Institutes of Health under a federal contract.

Menstrual Blood Stem Cells: A Solution For Critical Limb Ischemia?

In 2007, a team of researchers at the Bio-Communications Research Institute in Wichita identified a potentially rich source of stem cells in the uterine endometrial lining. They demonstrated that these ‘Endometrial Regenerative Cells’ (ERC) can be grown into at least 9 different types of cell lines, including cardiac, hepatic, pleural, respiratory epithelial, adipocytic, osteogenic, pancreatic, and neurocytic cells.

Medistem Inc. (MEDS.OB), one of our Sector companies, has a business plan that is constructed around the eventual economic viability of applications derived from these cells the source of which is menstrual blood.

Now, in a study published in BioMed Central's open access Journal of Translational Medicine and partially funded by Medistem, researchers have demonstrated that when circulation-blocked mice are treated with ERC injections, circulation and functionality are restored.

Protein Substitute Advances Reprogramming Of Adult Cells Into Induced Pluripotent Cells

Whitehead Institute researchers have replaced the gene c-Myc and its retrovirus with a naturally occurring signaling molecule called Wnt3a. When added to the fluid surrounding the cells being reprogrammed, Wnt3a promotes the conversion of adult cells into Induced Pluripotent Stem cells.

Currently, IPS cells can be created by reprogramming adult cells through the use of viruses to reintroduce four genes (Oct4, Sox2, c-Myc and Klf4) into an adult cell's DNA.  These four genes were employed by Yamanka's team to reprogram human skin cells last November.  Thomson's team at Wisconsin, in independently creating the same result, used NANOG and LIN28 instead of c-Myc and Klf4.  Later, Dr. Thomas Zwaka at the Baylor College of Medicine found that another gene, Ronin, could substitute for Oct4 and perhaps some of the other genes as well. Oct4, Sox2 and Nanog have been thought to be the major regulators of embryonic stem cells.  According to Zwaka, Ronin may be as important as these three.

Advanced Cell Technology's Cash Problem Changes Embryome License Deal

Both Biotime Inc. (BTIM.OB) and Advanced Cell Technology (ACTC.PK) are included in Stem Cell Digest's Sector Companies.  On July 18, we posted concerning Advanced Cell Technology's filing of a 10K that warned the company may not have sufficient cash to operate after July 31st.

On July 16, Advanced Cell Technology agreed to grant Embryome Sciences, a wholly owned subsidiary of Biotime Inc., an exclusive liscense to use "ACTCellerate."  Today, the same announcement was repeated, but with one apparent difference: This time Embryome Sciences has agreed to an up front payment of $250,000.  Presumably the deal change came as a band aid for Advanced Cell's cash squeeze.

MicroRNAs And Stem Cell Research: The Next Step Forward

As our knowledge of stem cells grows, the mysteries of embryonic stem cells and those posed by the process of creating Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells seem to be focusing on the same set of basic questions, ones revolving around the regulation of gene expression. Scientists are peeling away layers in the mystery of how stem cells work.  In the process of doing so they are beginning to learn how genes are expressed or repressed, in what combinations, and why.

Stem Cell Sector Market Performance: First Half 2008

Both the Stem Cell Sector Individual Market Values and the Month To Month Sector Market Values have been updated on our company pages for July 31, 2008. 

Through the first six months of 2008 ended June 30, Sector Market Value declined from $1,575,724,000 to $1,322,861,000, a decrease of 16%.  During the same period, the Nasdaq Composite declined from 2,652 to 2,293, a decrease of 13.50%.

July saw a turnaround for both our Stem Cell Sector Market Value and the Nasdaq Composite, with the Stem Cell Sector increasing by a substantial percentage which approached 17%.  The Nasdaq experienced a much quieter increase of  just under 1.5%.

July’s increase in Sector Market Value brought the total market value of our Sector Companies to $1,545,854,000, still slightly below the December 31, 2007 total of $1,575,724,000.

Do Some Adult Cells Revert To An Embryonic State Of Their Own Accord?

Fruit flies, or Drosophila, have a long and illustrious history as laboratory guinea pigs. Now it turns out these lowly lab creatures are challenging one of the basic paradigms of stem cell research, that being the belief that the ability to form new cell types or tissues diminishes as a cell becomes more specialized.

Researcher Molly Weaver was simply investigating how the respiratory system of the fly is remodeled when the animal transforms from a tiny, grub-like larva into a full-fledged, winged fly lusting after bananas and apples.  What she found was a surprise: Specialized cells, she determined, naturally regress to serve as a kind of de facto stem cell during the fruit-fly life cycle.

Thomson Team Will Attempt To Answer A Fundamental Mystery Of Stem Cell Biology

Scientists have had access to human embryonic stem cells for a decade. But precisely how this all-purpose cell gives rise to all other cells in the body remains a fundamental mystery of biology.

Now, an $8.9 million grant from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) will allow a team of researchers from the University of Wisconsin-Madison to embark on a five year quest to find the secrets of a stem cells' ability to morph into all of the cell types that make up the body.

GlaxoSmithKline - Harvard Stem Cell Institute Announce Collaboration Agreement

GlaxoSmithKline and the Harvard Stem Cell Institute today announced that they have entered into a five-year, $25 million-plus collaborative agreement to build a unique alliance in stem cell science, leading to the development of treatments and cures for a range of diseases.

GSK’s investment, one of the largest by a pharmaceutical company in stem cell science, will support innovative research at Harvard University and in at least four Harvard-affiliated hospitals in the areas of neuroscience, heart disease, cancer, diabetes, musculoskeletal diseases and obesity. In addition, GSK will fund an annual grant, which supports early stage research in stem cell biology, as part of Harvard Stem Cell Institute’s seed grant program.

Motor Neurons Produced From Skin Cells Of Elderly Patients With Lou Gherig's Disease

Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells (iPS) came into being for the first time in November 2007, opening the metaphorical flood gates on a large and potentially fertile valley of stem cell research and regenerative medicine.  Stem cell pioneer, James Thomson, head of one of the two teams that independently produced human iPS cells, predicted the primary use of the reprogrammed cells would be for laboratory research on human disease.

Now, eight months after the initial proof of concept for human iPS cells, three major steps have been taken toward Thomson's predicted use: First, researchers from the Harvard Stem Cell Institute and Columbia University have turned human skin cells from patients with Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS - Lou Gherig's disease) into induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells.  Second, they then directed the differentiation of these created iPS cells into the type of motor neurons (nerve cells) destroyed by (ALS). Third, they did steps one and two using the cells of elderly patients.