Stem Cell Research

New Method Of Directing Stem Cells To Increase Bone Formation And Strength Developed

Directing stem cells to travel and adhere to the surface of bone for bone formation has been among the elusive goals in regenerative medicine. 

This new method enhances bone growth by using a unique hybrid molecule, LLP2A-alendronate. When injected into the bloodstream LLP2A-alendronate directs the body's stem cells to travel to the surface of bones. Once there the stem cells differentiate into bone-forming cells and synthesize proteins to enhance bone growth.

"There are many stem cells, even in elderly people, but they do not readily migrate to bone," said Wei Yao M.D., Assistant Professor, Center for Aging, UC Davis. "Finding a molecule that attaches to stem cells and guides them to the targets we need is a real breakthrough."

From Stem Cell Research To Genetics, Oxford And Harvard Lead In Data-Sharing Effort

In a move sorely needed in the new and fast growing field of stem cell research and regenerative medicine, more than 50 collaborators at over 30 scientific organizations around the globe have agreed on a common standard that will make possible the consistent description of enormous and very different databases compiled in fields ranging from genetics to stem cell research and therapies.

The new standard provides a way for scientists in widely disparate fields to co-ordinate each other's findings by allowing behind-the-scenes combination of the mountains of data produced by modern, technology driven science.

Molecules That Stimulate Stem Cells to Develop Into Beating Heart Muscle Cells Identified

To search for new molecules involved in heart development, the researchers developed a robust small molecule screen using a zebrafish system. The zebrafish is an excellent model organism to study heart growth and development because there are established genetic approaches that permit visualization of fluorescent beating hearts within the transparent embryos of zebrafish.

"Despite advances in modern medicine, management of myocardial infarction and heart failure remains a major challenge," Dr. Tao P. Zhong of Fudan University in Shanghai, China. "There is intense interest in developing agents that can influence stem cells to differentiate into cardiac cells as well as enhance the inherent regenerative capacities of the heart. Developing therapies that can stimulate heart muscle regeneration in areas of infarction would have enormous medical impact."

New Research Unlocks Origins of Blood Stem Cells

Because hematopoietic (blood) stem cells (HSCs), found in the bone marrow of adult mammals, generate all of the blood cell types of the body, unlocking the secrets of their origin may help researchers to better manipulate embryonic stem cells to generate new blood cells for therapy.

Previous studies have indicated that HSCs originated from a small population of cells lining blood vessels, called endothelial cells. But, it has been unclear precisely which endothelial cells transitioned to blood stem cells during early development.

“The ultimate goal for stem-cell therapies is to take precursor stem cells and push them down a particular lineage to replace diseased or dead cells in human adults or children,” said Nancy Speck, PhD, professor of Cell and Developmental Biology at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. First things first, she says: “You have to understand how this happens in the embryo.”

Novel Way Found To Improve Outcomes Of Cord Blood Stem Cell Transplants

A new method to boost the number of immune cells in umbilical cord blood prior to cord blood stem cell transplants for cancer patients appears to lead to a quicker rebuilding of a new immune system in the patient’s body than with a conventional cord blood transplant procedure.

Though cord blood has a larger number of stem cells by volume than blood or marrow from living donors, the actual amount of blood available per cord is smaller – containing about one tenth the number of cells collected from living donors.

That deficit typically leads to a slower rebuilding of a sick patient’s new immune system following transplant, leaving patients vulnerable to severe, even life-threatening infections. On the other hand, because immune cells in cord blood are less developed and have not been fully “educated” to attack perceived invaders in the body, patients who undergo cord blood transplants are less likely to suffer graft-versus-host disease (GVHD).

UCSF, GE Healthcare Team Up To Expand Stem Cells Available For Transplant From Cord Blood

UCSF and the Cell Technologies business of GE Healthcare Life Sciences have begun a unique collaboration aimed at overcoming the lack of blood-forming stem cells available to patients.

The goal of the $841,000, three-year project is to make better use of a rich source of routinely discarded stem cells: umbilical cord blood gathered at the birth of a baby.

Every year, more than 14,000 patients in the U.S. are diagnosed with diseases that have the potential to be treated with a transplant of blood-forming stem cells. These patients need a way to replace their diseased blood cells with healthy ones that can grow and flourish.

For many patients, the best option would be a transplant of stem cells from the bone marrow or blood of a closely matched sibling or family member. But, for at least 70 percent of these patients, no matching family donor is available. Finding unrelated donors whose tissue types match isn’t easy.

Video Presentation by Dr. Stephen Badylak: Regenerative Medicine: Possibilities and Potential

Regenerative medicine in the form of autologous tissue or organ construction or reconstruction presented by a pioneer in the field.

Dr. Stephen Badylak is currently a Research Professor in the Department of Surgery and director of Tissue Engineering at the McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh.

He is a Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering and a charter member and one of three United States member governors of the Tissue Engineering Society International. He is also a member of the Society for Biomaterials and the Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Biology Society.

This talk on the status and future of regenerative medicine and the transition from current to regenerative medicine was delivered at the Singularity Summit in October of 2011.

 

Recipient's Immune System Governs Stem Cell Regeneration

New research describes how different types of immune system T-cells alternately discourage and encourage stem cells to regrow bone and tissue, bringing into sharp focus the importance of the transplant recipient's immune system in stem cell regeneration.

Stem Cell Research Advanced As Key To Cell Specialization Is Discovered

New research has uncovered a mechanism that governs how cells become specialized during development.

In an attempt to determine how a fertilized egg gives rise to many different cells in the body, researchers studied cell differentiation in the fruit fly, Drosophila Melanogaster. They found that cell specialization depends on a pair of proteins that act as super regulators of proteins that were already known—one super-regulating protein encouraging a cell to differentiate and the other trying to hold back the process.

In particular, researchers studied Helix-Loop-Helix proteins, “master-regulating” proteins that were known to play a role in the differentiation of fruit fly cells such as muscle, fat and nervous-system cells. By examining eye

First Ever Approval Of Allogeneic Hematopoietic Stem Cell Product for Transplantation Granted By FDA

HEMACORD for allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration, the first such approval of a stem cell product in the world. Hemacord was developed by the New York Blood Center, a major customer of Thermogenesis Corp., one of our Stem Cell Sector companies.

According to the Food and Drug Administration's notification to New York Blood Center, HEMACORD is "indicated for use in unrelated donor hematopoietic progenitor cell transplantation procedures... in patients with disorders affecting the hematopoietic system that are inherited, acquired, or

Novel Surface Triples Stem Cell Numbers Grown In Culture

Irradiating polystyrene lab plates with ultraviolet (UV) waves creates a surface capable of tripling the number of human embryonic stem (ES) and induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells grown in culture by current methods. Use of this novel surface also eliminates the need for layers of mouse “feeder cells” to support ES- and iPS-cell growth.

“Polystyrene is the most common cell culture surface used in labs, and to be able to do a simple treatment and get something that works better than the mouse feeder layers is great and potentially has a lot of utility,” said Daniel Anderson, Associate Professor Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences & Technology.

Programming Stem Cells to Home to Specific Tissues Should Enable More Effective Cell-based Therapies

The inability to target stem cells to tissues of interest poses a significant barrier to effective cell therapy.

New research has developed a platform approach to chemically incorporate homing receptors onto the surface of stem cells. This approach has the potential to improve the efficacy of many types of stem cell therapies by increasing the concentrations of cells at target locations in the body.

To accomplish this, researchers engineered the surface of cells to include receptors that act as a homing device.

Cord Blood Stem Cells May Help Repair Damaged Heart Muscle

Researchers have found heart muscle-like cells grown using human umbilical cord blood stem cells could help repair heart muscle cells damaged by a heart attack.

The researchers found it possible to expand up to seven-fold -- in vitro -- rare stem cells (called CD133+) from human cord blood and then grow them into cardiac muscle cells.

“We believe our study represents a significant advancement and overcomes the technical hurdle of deriving cardiac muscle-type cells from human cord blood," said Professor Raimondo Ascione, Chair of Cardiac Surgery & Translational Research in the School of Clinical Sciences at the University of Bristol. The method we've found has the attributes of simplicity and consistency. This will permit more robust manipulation of these cells towards better cell homing and cardiac repair in patients with myocardial infarction.

Dr. Gary Steinberg: Video Presentation Of Stem Cell Therapy For Stroke

Gary Steinberg, Stanford University, is a pioneer in stem cell research for stroke. This is a CIRM presentation that took place August 19 of 2010. Steinberg presents the subject broadly, touching on most of what has taken place and suggesting ideas of where we're headed in the stem cell therapy for stroke arena.

 

Researchers Discover Method Of Removing Potential Tumor-Causing Stem Cells From Cells Developed For Use In Medical Treatments

Effective tricks for separating stem cells from other types are essential for many emerging medical treatments. These treatment approaches begin with researchers inducing stem cells to take specific forms, or differentiate, for instance into nerve cells. These differentiated cells might then be used to repair a spinal cord injury. Other cells might enable a diabetic's body to produce adequate insulin.

A key problem is that in the differentiation process, at least some stem cells inevitably remain in their undifferentiated, or pluripotent, state. These cells can grow to form tumors in patients if injected along with differentiated cells, a concern that has already led the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to delay clinical trials for promising stem cell-based therapies.

Technique Boosts Efficiency Of Blood Cell Production From Human Stem Cells

An improved technique for generating large numbers of blood cells from a patient's own cells has been developed at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies. Researchers suggest the new technique will be immediately useful in further stem cell studies.  When perfected, it could be used in stem cell therapies for a wide variety of conditions. Other techniques are also being developed by other researchers, including the University of Glasgow which we posted about recently.

"There are further improvements that we need to make, but this takes us a significant step closer to the ultimate goal, which is to be able to take ordinary cells from a patient, induce them to become stem cells, and then use those stem cells to rebuild lost or diseased tissues, for example the patient's bone marrow," said Inder M. Verma, PhD, Professor of Molecular Biology at the Salk Institute Laboratory of Genetics.

Nanoscale Plastic Easily Solves Laboratory Stem Cell Expansion For Therapeutic Purposes Issue According To New Research

A newly developed nanopatterned surface is designed to offer a method of stem cell expansion which is much easier to manufacture and use than anything currently available. Created by an injection-molding process similar to that which is used to manufacture Blu-ray discs, the new process covers a surface with 120-nanometre pits which researchers have found much more effective in allowing stem cells to grow and spread while retaining their stem cell characteristics.

Mesenchymal Stem Cells: Potent Therapy For Growing List Of Maladies

According to new research, a stem cell that can morph into a number of different tissues is proving a natural protector, healer and maker of antibiotics.

Mesenchymal Stem Cells (MSCs), "are a drugstore that functions at the local site of injury to provide all the medicine that site requires for its successful regeneration," said Arnold Caplan, professor of biology at Case Western Reserve.

Newly Patented Device May Improve Harvest Of Cord Blood Stem Cells

Johns Hopkins graduate students have invented a system to significantly boost the number of stem cells collected from a newborn's umbilical cord and placenta. The prototype is still in the testing stage, but initial results are apparently promising. The student inventors have obtained a provisional patent covering the technology and have formed a company.

"Cord blood, collected from the umbilical cord and placenta after live birth, is the most viable source of stem cells, yet over 90 percent is uncollected and discarded," the team members wrote in a presentation of their project at the university's recent Biomedical Engineering Design Day. "One of the main reasons valuable cord blood is so frequently discarded is because no adequate collection method exists."

Stem Cell Versatility Controlled By Protein Alliances And Competition

Like people with a big choice to make, stem cells have a process to "decide" whether to transform into a specific cell type or to stay flexible, a state that biologists call "pluripotency.

New research has shown that different proteins called transcription factors compete and cooperate in stem cells to produce complex bindings along crucial sequences of DNA. This game of molecular "capture the flag," played in teams and amid shifting alliances, appears to be a necessary part of what determines whether stem cells retain their pluripotency and whether specialized, or differentiated, cells can regain it.

Enhanced Cord Blood Stem Cell Transplants Safe In Long-Term Studies

Analysis of long-term safety testing in nonhuman primates revealed that after one year following transplant umbilical cord blood units treated with a signaling molecule called 16,16-dimethyl PGE2 reconstituted all the normal types of blood cells and none of the animals receiving treated cord blood units developed cancer.

One of the limitations of cord blood as a transplant source is the cells engraft, or "take," in the recipient's bone marrow more slowly than matched donor cells form bone marrow. In addition, there is a higher failure rate for cord blood transplants. Thus there is a need for ways to improve the speed and quality of cord blood transplantation.

Umbilical Cord Blood Derived Stem Cells Studied For Lupus Therapy

Human umbilical cord blood-derived mensenchymal stem cells (uMSCs) have been found to offer benefits for treating lupus nephritis (LN) when transplanted into mouse models of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). SLE is an autoimmune disease with "myriad immune system aberrations"

According to Dr. Oscar K. Lee, Department of Orthopedics and Traumatology at the National Yang-Ming University, School of Medicine in Taiwan, MSCs have been shown to possess immune-modulatory capabilities and can alleviate immune responses by inhibiting inflammation as well as the function of mature and immature immune system T cells. Seeking to explore the therapeutic effects of uMSCs in treating Lupus Nephritis, their study transplanted umbilical cord blood-derived stem cells into mice modeled with systemic immune diseases closely resembling SLE in humans.

GE Healthcare To Collaborate In Research Seeking To Expand Cord Blood Stem Cells In The Laboratory As Cord Blood Transplants Move Toward Regenerative Medicine Mainstream

Cord blood stem cells are a growing substitute for bone marrow stem cell transplants in a number of diseases of the blood and are increasingly considered to have therapeutic poential for other diseases.

Writing in Politics.co.uk, a british political web journal, David Burrowes, a conservative member of parlaiment, said, "A further advantage is the readiness of the stem cells retrieved from umbilical cords. They are collected, tissue-typed and frozen after the birth of the child and then are made available as soon as a patient requires them. This radically reduces the waiting time before a patient can access a transplant. Currently the average time it takes for a patient to receive their transplant is 160 days. Over those 160 days, many patients become progressively weaker, as do the chances of a successful transplant."

Speaking of the British Medical System he added, "For an investment of £50 million, spread over five years, Britain can have that 50,000 unit cord blood bank. A 50,000 unit blood bank would provide economies of scale that would reduce the cost to the NHS for every treatment as well as radically reducing the need to import stem cell units from abroad, which is a common and expensive practice today. We often talk about investing to save but in this case it would save not just £6 million but 200 lives a year. In a parliament that will be characterised by the difficult decisions it makes, this is one decision I believe we can't afford not to take."

In the stem cell theraply biotech arena, where so much is expected while so much remains unproven, cord blood stem cells are defining a stem cell therapy that not only works but may be more cost effective than the method being used now. In another act of stem cell therapy recognition via both cord blood stem cells and bone marrow, Nordstrom's has offered up to $75,000 to raise awareness in the African American community of the need for umbilical cord blood collection and bone marrow doners.

Erg Gene Key To Blood Stem Cell Self Renewal

In an attempt to understand how blood stem cells are made, researchers have begun to unravel how blood stem cells regenerate themselves, identifying a key gene required for the process.

Blood stem cells are required to produce and maintain the blood system throughout an organism's lifetime. They are multipotent cells, meaning they are able to form any cell of the blood system (but not other cells), and they self-renew, so they are a source of endless supply. However, one major barrier to their therapeutic use is that the cells can only be isolated in numbers too low for practical use and efforts to expand the number of cells often causes them to turn into more mature cells.

"At the moment, if you take stem cells from a person and try to expand them, many of the stem cells lose their ability to regenerate," said Dr. Samir Taoudi of the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute's Molecular Medicine and Cancer and Haematology division. "The practical aim of our research is to find ways in which you could take stem cells collected from bone marrow or cord blood and 'switch on' expression of particular sets of genes, encouraging the stem cells to expand, essentially creating your own endless supply of blood stem cells."

Genetic Sequencing As Diagnostic Tool; Cord Blood Stem Cells As Therapeutic Cure

At the age of 3, Nicholas Volker of Monona, Wisconsin, had already endured more than 100 surgeries, but was progressively getting sicker. His intestines continued to swell and more abscesses formed, and doctors concluded they were dealing with an unknown cause of disease.

A collaborative team of scientists and physicians, lead by Dr. Alan D. Mayer, assistant professor of Pediatrics at the Medical College, and pediatric gastroenterologist with Children's Hospital, decided to use genetic sequencing to identify and treat an unknown disease.

"Exhaustive efforts to reach a diagnosis revealed numerous abnormalities in Nick's immune system, but none pointed to a specific disease," Dr. Mayer explained. "So we decided the next logical step was to sequence his entire exome."

Researchers examined all 20,000 of his genes looking for the cause of this rare disease. After three months poring over data, the researchers identified a unique mutation in one gene. They confirmed that mutation to be responsible for Nick's previously-undocumented form of bowel disease.

The team then performed a blood cord stem cell transplant in June using stem cells from a matched, healthy donor. Five months later, Nick is home and eating a healthy diet for the first time.

Placental Stem Cells Successfully Treat Peripheral Artery Disease In Duke University Patient

We wouldn't post this individual success if it had taken place in some distant part of the world with researchers that aren't well known.  It didn't. It took place at Duke University where some exceptional work has been done with cord and other blood related stem cells. Here is the story as reported by television news in West Palm Beach, Florida.

Ronald Davis can move again after seven long years. Plaque clogged the artery carrying blood to his leg, which cut off oxygen flow. It's called Peripheral Artery Disease. Left alone, it can cause ulcers, gangrene and even lead to amputation.

Ronald began a last-ditch stem cell therapy at Duke University. His leg was marked for 30 injections, totaling millions of stem cells. For him, there was no other choice.

Cells are taken from the placentas of Israeli women who've given birth. Once injected, they secrete proteins, which boost additional cell growth. Then, it's believed those cells may contribute to the growth of additional vessels around the plaque, circumventing the blockage.

Three days after injections, Ronald was walking, and doctors say the oxygen level in his leg tissue jumped from 43 percent to 67 percent. This specific type of stem-cell therapy is currently involved in a phase-one clinical trial. P-A-D affects up to 20-percent of people over the age of 65.

Patent Granted For Umbilical Cord Blood Stem Cell Technology To Improve Treatment For Neurodegenerative Diseases

The new technology administers the neuroprotective effect of human umbilical cord blood (HUCB) stem cells along with mannitol (a sugar-alcohol compound) to permeabilize the blood-brain barrier and allow for the increased entry of therapeutic growth factors.

While transplanted HUCB containing stem cells may benefit several neurological diseases, getting them past the blood-brain-barrier has presented a problem. The blood-brain barrier separates circulating blood and cerebral spinal fluid in the central nervous system. The newly patented technology is based on mannitol acting as a blood-brain barrier permeabilizer to help get the therapeutic substances secreted by HUCB cells and stem cells past the blood-brain barrier and into the central nervous system. Mannitol, which temporarily shrinks the tight cells that make up the barrier, allows HUCB cells, via their secreted factors, to reach the site of injury or disease.

"Human umbilical cord blood contains a high percentage of stem cells that when intravenously administered can survive and differentiate into neurons in the damaged brain. Equally appealing is their ability to secrete beneficial molecules that potentially promote behavioral recovery," said Dr. Cesar Borlongan, co-inventor and a University of South Florida neuroscientist and professor and consultant for Saneron CCEL Therapeutics, Inc., a biotechnology R&D USF spin-out company which has licensed the technology. "Because the blood-brain barrier regulates the entry of many blood-borne substances into the brain, it may exclude potentially therapeutic substances."

Adapted from the University of South Florida announcement.

Cord Blood: The Market For Cord Blood Stem Cell Therapies, Public And Private Banking Trends

Literally dozens of approaches are being explored by public and non-public companies in the attempt to link cost efficient stem cell therapies with specific medical uses. These vary from companies that develop and sell stem cell lines for use in research, and companies exploring molecular approaches to stimulating stem cells already available in the body, to medical device companies supplying equipment for the extraction, processing and either reintroduction or storage of stem cells for therapeutic use. 

The one area that is not only established, but is enjoying increasing acceptance as the basis for stem cell therapy, is that of cord blood collection, storage, and use in an increasing number of diseases.

Recent studies have shown that cord blood has unique advantages over traditional bone marrow transplantation, particularly in children, and can be life-saving in rare cases where a suitable bone-marrow donor cannot be found. Approximately 50% of patients requiring a bone marrow transplant will not find a suitable donor within a critical period. In certain instances, there may be some medical issues around using one's own cord blood cells, as well as availability of cells, which will require treatments done using cells from another donor, with the vast majority being unrelated donors. However, studies have shown that cord blood stem cells can also be used for siblings and other members of your family who have a matching tissue type. Siblings have up to a 75% chance of compatibility, and the cord blood may even be a match for parents (50%) and grandparents.

Regenerative medicine is a field of medical research developing treatments to repair or re-grow specific tissue in the body. Because a person’s own (autologous) cord blood stem cells can be safely infused back into that individual without being rejected by the body’s immune system - and because they have unique characteristics compared to other sources of stem cells - they are an increasing focus of regenerative medicine research.

That said, using one's own (autologous) cord blood cells might not be wise or effective, especially in cases of childhood cancers and leukemia.  Children who develop an immunological disorder often are unable to use their own cord blood for transplant because the blood also contains the same genetic defect. Nearly all of the transplants using privately banked cord blood have gone to relatives with pre-existing conditions, not to the donors. For this reason primarily, the policy of the American Academy of Pediatrics states that "private storage of cord blood as 'biological insurance' is unwise" unless there is a family member with a current or potential need to undergo a stem cell transplantation. Similarly, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists does not recommend private cord blood banking. The emphasis here is on private.  Virtually everyone in the medical world recommends donation of cord blood to public storage banks.

Thus it was particularly interesting to note an event that took place under the media radar. A group of world renown cord blood researchers are forming a PRIVATE cord blood bank under the auspices of their own public cord blood bank called CORD:USE. Apparently these prominent members of the research and academic communities are ahead of the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists on the potential value of cord blood to the individual who donated it. And since the two medical groups are bureaucracies run by committee, it would be expected that researchers in the field would be more advanced in their thinking. Cord:Use is a non profit public bank that according to its website provides its cord blood storage services as follows:

CORD:USE operations consist of the collection, processing, storage and subsequent delivery of hematopoietic (blood-forming) stem cells found in cord blood to transplant centers worldwide for their patients' needs. CORD:USE collects donated umbilical cord blood, customarily discarded as medical waste following the delivery of an infant, to help treat anyone in need of a potentially lifesaving stem cell transplant. CORD:USE processes these cord blood units at Duke University Medical Center under the supervision of Dr. Joanne Kurtzberg, a pioneer and a world leader in cord blood stem cell transplantation.  Dr. Kurtzberg is the Medical Director of the CORD:USE Cord Blood Bank at Duke University. CORD:USE stores its cord blood units in the BioArchive® state-of-the-art, cryogenic freezer distributed by GE Healthcare, until they are needed for use in a transplant. 

Our note: The BioArchive is a product of our sector company Thermogenesis Corp.

The world renowned team of researchers includes Drs. Hal Broxmeyer, Joanne Kurtzberg, John Wagner, Eliane Gluckman and Alan Levine. You can read about a short summary of their qualifications here.

As far as we know, this is the first researcher prompted private cord blood bank.

Global cord blood stem cells market for 2010 is estimated at about US$4.5 billion. The market is further projected to register a robust Compounded Annual Growth Rate of 27.3% during the period 2006-2015 to reach US$15 billion by 2015.

Today China Cord Blood Corporation (NYSE: CO), China's leading provider of cord blood collection, laboratory testing, stem cell processing, and storage services reported a fiscal year 2010 increase in revenue of 34.4% and a 30.5% increase in subscribers.

Adapted from various sources including the PR Newswire announcement.

Global Study Shows Majority of Transplants Use Patients’ Own Stem Cells

In the fast changing world of stem cell science and potential therapies we often forget that the only time proven therapeutic use of stem cells  is in the field of immune system restoration. 

Recently, a study initiated by the World Health Organization showed that stem cell transplantation has become an accepted therapy worldwide. It also shows that the source of stem cells in the majority of transplant patients was their own, autologous, stem cells.

The global study evaluated the more than 50,000 stem cell transplants performed in the calendar year 2006. In 57% of the cases studied  the transplants used autologous stem cells for certain cancers and blood disorders.  The authors also found that a matched sibling represents the most efficient source of therapeutic stem cells for a patient with a genetic disorder such as aplastic anemia, thalassemia or severe combined immunodeficiency.

This is the first time that the current state of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation has been documented on a global level, say the authors, led by Alois Gratwohl, MD, from the University Hospital Basel in Switzerland.  This information “has become a necessity for correct patient counseling and healthcare planning,” they add.

Hematopoietic stem cells collected from a newborn’s cord blood have been used successfully for more than 20 years in transplant medicine.   They are recognized as having distinct advantages compared to other sources of stem cells, because they are younger, more adaptable and have limited exposure to viruses and other environmental factors that can alter cell function. 

Adapted from the Stem Cell Source at Cord Blood Registry.

Stem Cell Therapy Advance: Growth Factor Found To Dramatically Increase Cord Blood Stem Cells

One of the most frustrating barriers to stem cell therapy is the fact that stem cells are so few in number and so stubbornly resistant to expansion.  Now researchers have identified a new growth factor that stimulates the expansion and regeneration of hematopoietic (blood-forming) stem cells in culture and in laboratory animals.

Umbilical cord blood has long been believed to hold promise as a universal source of stem cells for all patients who need a stem cell transplant, but the numbers of stem cells in cord blood units are limited, so there is a clinical need to develop a method to expand cord blood stem cells for transplantation purposes.

Now, John Chute M.D, stem cell transplant physician and cell biologist at Duke University, working with Heather Himburg, a post-doctoral fellow in his laboratory, has discovered that adding pleiotrophin, a naturally-occurring growth factor, stimulated a ten-fold expansion of stem cells taken from the bone marrow of a mouse.

Stem Cell Therapy And Scalable Stem Cell Solutions

Blood-forming stem cells in adult humans produce billions of red and white cells each day and are critical components of bone marrow transplantation procedures used in the treatment of some cancers and blood cell deficiencies. Amy Wagers at the Harvard Stem Cell Institute adds that for patients undergoing bone marrow transplant, the success of the procedure requires (1) collection of sufficient numbers of stem cells for transplant, (2) efficient migration of these cells after transplant to their proper locations within the bone marrow, and (3) proliferation of these cells in the body to rapidly reproduce mature red and white blood cells. Inefficiency at any of these steps can limit patient access to transplant or result in transplant failure.

Several of our Stem Cell Sector companies produce scalable stem cell mixtures combined with growth factors.  Athersys and Osiris, to cite two examples, have scalable stem cell products. We note these two products because they are examples of hoped for off-the-shelf mesenchymal stem cell therapies in which major pharma has taken an interest.  Athersys recently entered a development agreement with Pfizer for Multistem.  Osiris sold foreign commercialization rights for Prochymal to Genzyme in late 2008..

Athersys Inc.'s product is called Multistem which the company describes partially as follows:

MultiStem is a patented and proprietary cell therapy product consisting of a special class of stem cells that are obtained from the bone marrow of healthy, consenting adult donors, and which have the demonstrated ability to produce a range of factors, as well as form multiple cell types. MultiStem appears to promote tissue repair and healing through the production of multiple therapeutic factors produced in response to signals of inflammation and tissue damage.

Multistem exhibits each of the following characteristics based on research and development to date: (1) it may be produced on an industrial scale, in a well validated and reproducible manner; (2) it may be administered without tissue matching or the need for immune suppressive drugs, making it analogous to type O blood; (3) it exhibits a consistent safety profile; and (4) it appears capable of delivering a therapeutic benefit through more than one mechanism of action. Factors expressed by MultiStem are believed to reduce inflammation and regulate immune system function, protect damaged or injured cells and tissue, promote formation of new blood vessels, and augment tissue repair and healing in other ways.

Here is what Osiris Therapeutics says about its stem cell therapeutic product: Prochymal:

Prochymal is a highly purified formulation of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) that are grown in culture, permitting large-scale production. The MSCs utilized in Prochymal(TM) are isolated from the bone marrow of healthy adult donors. Because the cells can be expanded, thousands of doses can be produced from a single donation. Numerous studies have demonstrated that the stem cells in Prochymal(TM) are able to safely facilitate tissue repair through a number of mechanisms. Specifically, MSCs are able to down-regulate severe inflammation.

It is easy to see how similar these products appear to be.  While Athersys doesn't specifically say so, the source and characteristics they provide for Multistem suggests it also consists primarily of mesenchymal stem cells.  We note that there has been limited success only, so far, in clinical  trials for GVhD and Chron's Disease with Osiris' Prochymal. In both cases prohymal was intravenously administered.  Both Athersys' Multistem and Osiris' Prochymal are also being tested for Acute Myocardial Infarction.  In both cases the stem cell therapy is intravenously administered.

To review Amy Wagers summary above, in order to be therapeutically effective stem cell therapies must accomplish three things: (1) collection of sufficient numbers of stem cells for transplant, (2) efficient migration of these cells after transplant to their proper locations within the bone marrow, and (3) proliferation of these cells in the body to rapidly reproduce mature red and white blood cells.

While Ms. Wagers was speaking of bone marrow transplants specifically, her summary of what stem cells must do can be expanded to any stem cell therapy. Both Athersys and Osiris have solved number one, at least apparently so.  Number two seems to take place by some bodily indication communicated to the stem cells.  That said, there are several ongoing studies that inject stem cells, for example, directly into the heart at the point of damage.  This suggests that it isn't clear at this point which method of supplying the stem cells is superior.  To the Wagers summary can be added that, (4) the stem cells must make only the cells required for regeneration (in other words, no tumor cells for example) and (5) the stem cells must stop creating regenerative tissue exactly at the point the job is done.

China's Star Rising Despite World Skepticism Of Its Past Stem Cell Research Approaches

Despite world skepticism of China's research approach to stem cell therapies, Medical Tourism continues to grow as China's government pours generous dollars into research on regenerative medicine and aggressively recruits high-caliber scientists trained abroad in pursuit of its ambition to become a world leader in the field.  This According to a study by the Canadian-based McLaughlin-Rotman Centre for Global Health (MRC).  As a result of its expanded investment, Chinese contributions to scientific journals on RM topics leapt from 37 in year 2000 to 1,116 in 2008, exceeded only by the contributions of experts in the USA, Germany, Japan and the UK.

The accomplishment is all the more interesting given that China's international credibility has been and still is severely hindered by global concerns surrounding Chinese clinics, where unproven therapies continue to be administered to thousands of patients, including an increasing number of desperate Westerners fueling Medical Tourism which has become a growth industry.

"When you look at the issue of stem cells in China, you see the Yin-Yang of a scientific powerhouse mixed with controversial clinical application of stem cell therapies," said Dr. Peter Singer, MRC's Director. "The overall picture at the moment is ambiguous but in the future, given the measures that have been put in place, the science can be expected to rise and the controversy to fall."

Until May 2009, clinical trials to determine the effectiveness of stem cell therapies were not required in China. Now proof of safety and efficacy through clinical trials is required by China's Ministry of Health for all stem cell and gene therapies.

The change was made after international experts, joined by top Chinese researchers, protested that treatment centers were acting "against commonly accepted principles of modern scientific research" and successfully called on China to regulate new treatments and ensure patient safety.

Despite the new rules, however, stem cell treatments are still available at over 200 hospitals across China to patients of diseases such as ataxia, Lou Gehrig's disease, traumatic brain and spinal cord injury, diabetes, Parkinson's, multiple sclerosis, autism, cerebral palsy, stroke, optic nerve hypoplasia and many others.

"To our knowledge, Chinese policy makers and ethicists are working out the regulation details,” says Ms. McMahon, the study's lead author. "Once that is accomplished, we still expect a delay, during which the therapies currently administered by clinics and hospitals will be evaluated individually to determine whether they meet the criteria of China's Ministry of Health."

Umbilical Cord May Be Source Of Far Greater Number Of Stem Cells Than Previously Thought

Just as the blood that goes through the umbilical cord provides precursor cells to treat blood disorders, the tissue of the umbilical can easily supply stem cells that could one day provide therapeutic options for muscle and bone disorders according to a new study.

In the study, Umbilical cord tissue cells were obtained from the gelatinous material in the cord known as Wharton's jelly and from blood vessel walls. These cells can be expanded to greater number, are remarkably stable and might not trigger strong immune responses, according to senior investigator Bridget M. Deasy, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Pitt School of Medicine.

"Our experiments indicate also that at least 21 million stem cells, and possibly as many as 500 million, could be banked from a single umbilical cord after the birth of a baby," said Deasy. "So, the cord could become an accessible source of a multitude of stem cells that overcome many of the restrictions, such as limited quantity as well as donor age and donor sex issues, that come with other adult stem cell populations."

Magnetism And Nanotubes May Be Means Of Directing Stem Cells To Specific Point Where Treatment Is Needed

In August, University College London researchers demonstrated a technique whereby endothelial progenitor cells – a type of stem cell shown to be important in vascular healing processes – were magnetically tagged with a tiny iron-containing clinical agent, then successfully targeted to a site of arterial injury using a magnet positioned outside the body.

The result was a five-fold increase in cells at a site of vascular injury in rats. The team also demonstrated a six-fold increase in cell capture in an in vitro flow system (where microscopic particles are suspended in a stream of fluid and examined to see how they behave).

Dr Mark Lythgoe, UCL Centre for Advanced Biomedical Imaging and lead researcher said, "Because the material we used in this method is already FDA approved we could see this technology being applied in human clinical trials within 3-5 years. It’s feasible that heart attacks and other vascular injuries could eventually be treated using regular injections of magnetized stem cells. The technology could be adapted to localize cells in other organs and provide a useful tool for the systemic injection of all manner of cell therapies. And it’s not just limited to cells – by focusing tagged antibodies or viruses using this method, cancerous tumors could be much more specifically targeted.”

Panagiotis Kyrtatos, also from the UCL Centre for Advanced Biomedical Imaging and lead researcher of the study, added: “This research tackles one of the most critical challenges in the biomedical sciences today: ensuring the effective delivery and retention of cellular therapies to specific targets within the body."

Now, Rice University and the Texas Heart Institute have received a two-year $1 million Challenge Grant to develop an advanced stem-cell-tracking technology based on an ultrasensitive class of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) contrast agents invented at Rice in 2005.

The grant's purpose is the refinement of cell-tracking nanotube technology that could make magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) up to 40 times more sensitive than existing MRIs and help guide adult stem cells within the human body to repair damaged hearts.

NHLBI Awards $170 Million To Create The Progenitor Cell Biology Consortium And Fund Related Stem Cell Research

The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), one of the National Institutes of Health, has awarded $170 million to be paid over seven years to 18 teams of research scientists to develop the high-potential field of stem and progenitor cell tools and therapies.

The awards create the NHLBI Progenitor Cell Biology Consortium, which will bring together researchers from the heart, lung, blood, and technology research fields. A seven-year project, the consortium assembles nine research hubs with multidisciplinary teams of principal investigators and an administrative coordinating center to focus on progenitor cell biology.

“This is a grand experiment,” said Irving Weissman, MD, director of Stanford’s Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine. “By forming this consortium, the NHLBI is encouraging a dialogue between scientific groups that would otherwise be competing with one another. I am very excited, and have high hopes that this will accelerate the understanding of stem and progenitor cells to the point of medical therapies.”

Cytori Therapeutics, Tissue Genesis, Thermogenesis, Stem Cell Therapies, Branding, And Joining Forces

Stem cell therapy is quietly entering areas where it provides improved or alternative therapeutic results. Cytori is showing continually improved study and anecdotal results in breast reconstruction with adipose stem cells, a result which implicitly includes the creation of new blood vessels. If positive results continue, breast reconstruction is going to be an excellent market for Cytori, one already generating the lion's share of its current revenues, and one in which it is clearly establishing a leadership position.

One of the things that has impressed us about Cytori is its reasonably successful drive to brand itself and its Celution machine as THE source of adipose stem cells.  Cytori is trying to identify itself with adipose stem cell solutions, whatever they might be and wherever they might be found.  While research and tests with adipose cells have had favorable results in a variety of areas, there are not yet any broadly accepted clinical applications -- breast reconstruction being the closest.

Cytori's is a broad brush approach to branding and is probably the result of the early partnership with Olympus. which company should soon be the sole manufacturer of the Celution device through their joint venture. Whatever the motivation, the company is to be congratulated for doing an excellent job of identifying itself with potential adipose stem cell therapeutic applications, at least in the eyes of investors, even if occasionally management's eye on branding results in press releases that are a bit of a stretch as to the potential significance of the results.

Because regenerative medicine is an entirely new field of research and therapeutic application, companies are following many different avenues to get from the laboratory to the doctor's office or operating room.

Some go the FDA clinical trial route.  Others go after the easier to obtain CE Mark in Europe.  Still others affiliate with Asian companies for therapuetic application in Asia.  Some culture cells with a variety of growth factors to create scalable products. Others manufacture equipment that extracts, processes, places, or preserves stem cells.  The only point of care products which remove stem cells, process and make them available for immediate therapeutic placement back in the body, whether in a doctor's office or the operating room, are the equipment makers or distributors. Within our Stem Cell Sector, this includes Cytori Therapeutics, Thermogenesis Corp., and BioHeart Inc., all of which distribute and sell a point of care therapeutic device.

A Salute To Joanne Kurtzberg And The Duke University Division of Blood & Bone Marrow Stem Cell Transplantation

For the most part, stem cell research is still directed at finding basic understanding. Clinical trials continue to attempt to establish safety first and efficacy second. Meanwhile, Dr. Joanne Kurtzberg at Duke University is a standout medical scientist providing real solutions pioneered through the use of unrelated donor umbilical cord blood stem cells in patients who do not have a fully matched donor.  Her efforts and creativity have extended this life-saving therapy to many patients, most of them small children.

Under Kurtzberg's direction the program has performed over 1,400 autologous and allogeneic stem cell transplants in children with cancer or genetic diseases since 1990.

Hematopoietic stem cell transplant is provided as a treatment option for a variety of acquired and congenital disorders of children and young adults including hematopoietic malignancies and solid tumors including neuroblastoma and brain tumors, inherited immune deficiency syndromes, bone marrow failure syndromes, hemoglobinopathies, and inherited metabolic diseases.

how blood cells 'talk': Progress Toward Expanding Blood Stem Cells In Vitro

Blood stem cell transplantation is used to treat and cure genetic blood diseases. The more blood stem cells there are to transplant, the better the outcome. But while there is great demand, there is not a large supply, primarily because it is so hard to grow blood stem cells in vitro.

For years, researchers have worked to find a robust and reliable way to expand blood stem cells. So far the answer has evaded everyone. Now, a University of Toronto team, lead by Stem Cell Bioengineering Professor Peter Zandstra, has revealed a mathematical model that links functional cellular assays to specific model outputs, defines cell-level kinetic parameters such as cell cycle rates and self-renewal probabilities as functions of culture variables, and simulates feedback regulation using cell-cell interaction networks.

Our goal "was to understand what regulates human blood stem cell growth outside of the body," said Daniel Kirouac, lead author of the study.

Fate Therapeutics: A Further Look At Academic Stem Cell Researchers And The Private Sector That Will Market Their Results

Academic stem cell research pioneer entree into the world of markets and profit is always a trend worth watching. Today we're taking a quick look at Fate Therapeutics.

Among our Sector Companies, all of which are publicly traded, typically someone has suggested a possibility that business people see as a probability.  From there the emphasis is on obtaining approvals from public agencies, gaining market position, branding, and developing scalability, all toward the end of profitable sales. 

Examples range from companies that raise and spend public investor money primarily on research and development (such as Advanced Cell Technologies, Geron, Osiris and others) to those companies formed to market an already existing product or discovery (Neostem comes to mind here; the company has signed numerous partnership and license agreements, particularly in foreign markets, but has yet to spend money on research).

As research into regenerative medicine and stem cells progresses, capital will continue to seek knowledge, or vice versa, and new companies will enter the potential market place.  Academic researchers will be involved through actual participation in the formation and ongoing policy of the new entity or in an advisory capacity that most probably includes an ownership interest. 

Company Founded By James Thomson Reprograms Blood Cells into Stem Cells

Cellular Dynamics international (CDI), founded by Jamie Thomson and colleagues from the U. of Wisconsin, recently reported generating pluripotent stem cells from very small volumes of ordinary human blood samples. CDI is privately held.  Its stated mission is to "provide drug screening and toxicity testing products based on breakthrough induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cell technology,"

Once the difficulty of current approaches to inducing pluripotency is overcome (reducing time and cost while producing high quality scalability and safety), this development suggests the possibility of a readily obtainable source of pluripotent stem cells from the millions of blood samples in storage at repositories and healthcare institutions worldwide.

Genzyme's Mozobil And Results Of British Study Suggest Bone Marrow Stem Cell Numbers Might Be Increased Prior To Extraction

Bone marrow transplants have been used successfully for many years with the result that bone marrow derived stem cells are still the most clinically studied of all non-embryonic stem cells.  A continuing problem in therapeutic application has been the number of cells that could be collected.  This has been an issue with blood-derived stem cells in general.  Thermogenesis, one of our sector companies, and a producer of medical devices involved in blood stem cell retrieval and storage, has introduced (mid year 2006) a product that captures a high percentage of cord blood derived stem cells.  Thermogenesis describes the product as follows:

"The newly developed AutoXpress (AXP) is designed to provide cord blood banks a semi automated means of collecting mono-nuclear cells (a stem cell rich population) from cord blood into a fixed volume (20 ml) within a closed sterile bag set in approximately 30 minutes. Recent Alpha testing demonstrates a recovery of viable mono-nuclear cells of  greater than ninety-five percent."

The stem cell numbers collection problem is the reason Thermogenesis advertises the high collection rate for the AXP.  Very recently bone marrow stem cells have been added to those that can be collected with Thermogenesis products through a modification of the AXP. The new MarrowXpress has recently received CE-Mark and FDA approval and is apparently just now being introduced to the market place.

Genzyme's Mozobil For Enhanced Mobilization of Bone Marrow Stem Cells Approved for Autologous Transplants

The big problem with bone marrow transplants has always been the number of stem cells that can be extracted.  To complete the transplant, approximately 2 million stem cells per kilogram of body weight must be collected. For many patients, this process can take three or four hours over multiple days to complete. Even then, some patients are not able to mobilize enough cells, and a transplant is not possible.

Genzyme's Mozobil™, a drug intended to be used to mobilize hematopoietic stem cells to the bloodstream for collection and subsequent autologous transplantation may be the solution and has been approved for certain uses by the FDA. 

Clinical Trial Demonstrates Safety of Pre-transplant Expansion of Umbilical Cord Blood Stem Cells

Taking blood stem cells collected from an umbilical cord into the lab and expanding their number before transplanting them to replace a patient's blood supply is as safe as a standard cord blood transplant, researchers reported today at the 50th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology.

In a first-of-its-kind randomized clinical trial, researchers at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center are addressing the critical challenge to successful "standard" cord blood transplants for adult patients - low doses of stem cells that lead to longer recovery times, leaving patients more vulnerable to bleeding, infection and transplant failure.

UCLA Researchers Prove Endothelial Cells Give Rise to Blood Stem Cells

Blood stem cells currently cannot be grown outside of the body without losing their “stemness,” meaning they then differentiate into the different cells that make up blood, including red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets. If blood stem cells can be gown outside the body from endothelial cells and only self-renew, or make more of their own kind, researchers may one day be able to reprogram blood vessel cells to produce blood stem cells to replace the bone marrow in transplants or the mutated blood cells that result in diseases like leukemia.

Osiris And The First Stem Cell Research FDA Breakthrough

The day one of our stem cell sector companies gains FDA approval for a directly applied therapy the result may well be the same for stem cells as that famous day in 1906 was for football. Saint Louis University's Bradbury Robinson tossed the first forward pass to teammate Jack Schneider and created the modern game. For stem cells that day may not be far away.  Our money is on Osiris Therapeutics to be the first to gain FDA approval. Osiris's Prochymal has a good chance to be the stem cell arena's first forward pass.

Cord Blood Stem Cells Grown Into Heart Valves

According to the March of Dimes, heart defects are among the most common birth defects and are the leading cause of birth-related deaths. In the United States alone, about 35,000 infants (1 out of every 125) are born each year with heart defects. Among the most common congenital heart problems are heart valve defects, where the heart valve either does not close normally or is narrowed or blocked, so blood can’t flow smoothly.

Now, German scientists are hopeful that within five to seven years, they will be able to fashion a new heart valve for children born with heart valve defects that would grow as the child develops using stem cells collected at birth from the child’s own umbilical cord blood. 

Stem Cell Research Progress: New Bone That Blends Into Softer Tissue

“Every organ in our body is made up of complex, heterogeneous structures, so the ability to engineer tissues that more closely mimic these natural architectures is a critical challenge for the next wave of tissue engineering,” said Jennifer Phillips, now a postdoctoral research fellow in developmental biology at Emory University.

Ms. Phillips is talking about regenerative medicine. One regenerative challenge has been to keep stem cells positioned so as to create or repair injured organs or tissue in the right place and with the correct orientation. This requires some sort of 'scaffold.' Another challenge is to build the regenerated tissue in a way that causes the transition between heterogeneous organ or tissue parts to exactly mimic that of the 'natural' organ or tissue. The new Georgia Tech developments address this issue.

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.

Blood Vessels Grown From Bone Marrow Progenitor Cells

In an important step toward developing clinical strategies to grow human tissue, Children's Hospital Boston researchers have successfully grown functional human blood vessels in mice using cells from adult human donors.

"What's really significant about our study is that we are using human cells that can be obtained from blood or bone marrow rather than removing and using fully developed blood vessels," said Joyce Bischoff, PhD, a researcher in the Vascular Biology Program at Children's Hospital Boston.