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SpineSmith at the 5th Annual Stem Cell Summit
All the leading medical, scientific and financial pioneers in the regenerative science applications will meet at the 5th Annual Stem Cell Summit that is going to be held in New York on February 16, 2010. The Summit meeting has become a prominent forum on the advances in stem cell science and technology with aim to develop effective and safe stem cell therapies both for prevention and treatment of series of diseases.
SpineSmith Partners, LP has been sponsoring and attending the Summit meeting for many years and has become one of the leading companies in the field of regenerative science and medicine. The company is best known for its innovations in the treatment of spinal disorders with a focus on medical devices and biologic therapies offering implants and technology for surgical attachment, alignment and spinal tissue regeneration. SpineSmith has also founded the company Celling Technologies focusing on study and development of stem cell therapies in close collaboration with scientists and health care providers such as Dr. Robert Johnson of Neurosurgical Associates of San Antonio. At the Summit, Dr. Johnson will present new newest results concerning application of stem cell therapy for spinal treatment and showing the potentials of regenerative science with emphasis on the application of autologous cells in spinal treatment.
Celling Technologies is focused on development of new technologies in the field of regenerative science and medicine which has advanced tremendously in recent years. Dr. James Poser who is vice president of regenerative medicine at the company has emphasized the potentials of the regenerative medicine, stem cell therapy, application of autologous cells as well as the importance of close collaboration with experts in the field of regenerative science. He also said he is looking forward to participate the 5th Annual Stem Cell Summit as well as the future meetings. Celling’s research and products encompass devices and autologous cell therapies for many conditions including spine, injury, cardiovascular disease and orthopedics.
Subscribe to the comments for this postVitro Announces Co-Sponsoring of Keystone Symposium on Stem Cells
Vitro Diagnostics, Inc. (dba Vitro Biopharma) announced co-sponsoring of the Keystone Symposium on cell stems that is going to be held at the Keystone Resort Conference Center from February 15- February 20, 2010. The company is best known for adult stem cell applications, US patents for adult stem cells production and pending US patents for iPS cell generation. At the meeting, Vitro Biopharma will present more information about the research concerning its pending patent for alternative technology for iPS cell generation.
The iPS cells are believed to have the same abilities as human embryonic stem cells including development into any type of cells in the body. Scientists all over the world intensively work on the technology for iPS cell generation with aim to develop an effective generation of stem cells without the use of controversial human embryonic stem cells.
The first technology for production of iPS cells was reported to be developed in 2007 and involved genetic engineering of fibroblast cells and increased expression of four genes. Vitro’s patent pending technology is notable for increased expression of one gene (POU5-F1) only which is believed to be the main regulator of pluripotency. Thus iPS cell generation would not require genetic engineering which is the main obstacle for the use of iPS cells for commercial and therapeutic purposes.
Vitro’s chief executive officer Dr. Jim Musick has stated that his company is proud to be the co-sponsor of the symposium on stem cells where scientists from all over the world will present the progress that was made in the research of iPS cells. He also said that Vitro has completed its first studies concerning the technology for generation of iPS cells involving expression of the gene known as POU5-F1 and that the results will be presented at the Keystone Symposium.
Vitamin C and Generation of Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell
The exciting news that scientists developed stem cells from the human adult cells in 2007 was followed by frustrating reality that the scientists are they are still trying to increase its efficiency. Typically, only 0,01 percent of fibroblast cells are successfully transformed into induced pluripotent stem cells. The iPS cells can develop into any kind of cell type promising the repair or replacement of damaged tissues and organs as well as treatment of various diseases in the future.
The researchers at the Guangzhou Institutes of Biomedicine and Health in China have managed to increase the efficiency of iPS cell production by using vitamin C. Generation of iPS cells is triggered by introduction of genes or proteins to adult cells commonly involving a virus. The Chinese researchers led by Duanqing Pei have discovered that the same factors that are used for transformation of non-pluripotent cells into pluripotent ones also create the free radicals or reactive oxygen species which are known to increase cell death. In order to block the free radicals Pei and his team added different antioxidants including vitamin C to the medium used for growth of mouse cells. They discovered that the medium containing vitamin C had 30% more cells than the one that did not. In addition, vitamin C increased the pluripotency of the cell population. 10 to 20 percent of cells grown with vitamin C expressed pluripotency genes after 14 days, while only 0,1 to 0,2 of cell population grown without vitamin C expressed pluripotency genes in the same period of time.
Pei and his team also tried with other types of antioxidants but they were less efficient in compare to vitamin C. The results of the study which were published in Cell Stem Cell in December 2009 imply that a yet unidentified factor may play an important role in the development of pluripotency.
Software Program Foresees Stem Cell Behavior
Stem cells are crucial for human development and play an essential role in tissue and organ repair due to injury or disease. The progress in stem cell science has achieved a tremendous progress but the scientists and biologists still do not have all the necessary means to control the differentiation of stem cells that is required for the use of stem cell therapies for therapeutic purposes. Andrew Cohen who is an assistant professor of electrical engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee has developed a software program foretelling which specialized cells will be developed by a stem cell and their future behavior even before the division of stem cell takes place. The software program bases on analyzing of time-lapse behavior of live stem cells.
Cohen’s software will help the scientists in search for methods to control the specialization of stem cells which is the leading obstacle in furthering the use of stem cells for treatment of diseases. His software predicts the production of specialized cells with 87% accuracy and foresees when self-renewal will result in specialization with 99% accuracy which may make the software very useful for research of cancer cells characterized by continuous self-renewal.
The problem of unpredictability of the outcome of cell division is perhaps best best expressed in stem cell treatment of age related macular degeneration. In order to treat the eye disease with stem cells these would need to develop a larger amount of photoreceptive cells. However, once implanted into the retina they can produce other types of cells and potentially worsen the patient’s vision. The Cohen’s software which was designed for isolation of the genes, proteins and other factors that are responsible for control of cell specialization could enable both identification and manipulation of stem cell differentiation.
Anorexics Have Excess Fat in Bone Marrow
Excess fat and anorexia may be an oxymoron but the researchers at Children’s Hospital Boston have discovered that people who suffer from anorexia nervosa have excess fat in their bone marrow. The study which was published in the Journal of Bone and Mineral Research in February 2010 bases on MRI scans of the knees in 20 healthy girls and 20 girls with anorexia, while the images were evaluated by radiologists not knowing which scans came from girls with anorexia and which from the healthy ones.
The results of the study have shown that girls with anorexia had significantly elevated levels of fat in their knees. In comparison with healthy girls they had less than one half of the healthy marrow confirming the earlier findings in mice with symptoms similar to those in anorexia. The results of the newest study, animal researches and some previous researches shed more light on loss of bone mass in anorexics sometimes leading to development of osteoporosis and even fracture. Improper nutrition activates differentiation of stem cells in bone marrow into fat cells instead osteoblasts, cells which are responsible for bone formation. This is particularly problematic because the majority of anorexics are young women in adolescence who experience loss of bone density at the time when the bone formation should be at its height.
The research group led by Catherine Gordon MD, MSc and director of the Bone Health Program at the Children’s Hospital Boston has announced further studies to determine why stem cells differentiate into fat cell instead osteoblasts in anorexics. One theory that may explain such process is the attempt of the body to store energy and warmth. Gordon’s team also wants to determine the link between excess fat in bone marrow and bone density, and is currently testing whether MRI scans can be used to evaluate the efficacy of treatments for improvement of bone mass.
FDA Approves Clinical Study Involving Stem Cells for Cerebral Palsy in Children
Cerebral palsy is a serious condition affecting up to 3 children in 1,000. It is caused by a injury of the brain or inadequate oxygenation of the brain before, during or after birth in the first years of life. The condition can affect movement, cognitive skills, vision and hearing. At the time of writing there is no cure for cerebral palsy but the FDA has approved the first clinical study to determine the potential benefits of stem cells for children with cerebral palsy.
The study will be conducted by at Medical College of Georgia and will research the potential benefits of stem cell therapy for children will cerebral palsy. 40 children from 2 to 12 years will participate in the trial after being neurologically examined. Children that can participate in the study must meet the following conditions: inability to sit without assistance by 12 months of age or inability to walk by 18 months of age, not having seizures or having seizures that can be controlled. One half of the participants will receive a stem cell infusion from their own cord blood, while the other 20 children will receive a placebo. Both groups will be examined by physicians not knowing which children received stem cell infusion and placebo after three months. Then the children that received a placebo will be given the infusion. All will be re-examined after three and six months later.
The purpose of the study is not use of stem cells as a potential cure for cerebral palsy but the evaluation of the potential benefits of stem cell therapy for children who have cerebral palsy. The results of the animal studies are encouraging as well as the therapy involving core blood that has been used for two decades. However, the research that will be conducted at Medical College of Georgia is going to be the first controlled clinical study involving stem cells.
Study Showing Stem Cells Destroying Their Own DNA
All cells contain DNA made of 46 chromosomes which break into pieces when exposed to ultraviolet light and some chemicals. The process has been traditionally considered harmful, and to be the cause of cell death and series of diseases such as cancer if the damage was not repaired in a short period of time. However, the new research that was conducted by Dr. Lynn Megeney and his team at the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute and the University of Ottawa turned the widely accepted theory on its head. The study that was published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Science recently will probably dramatically change the view of the scientists on tissue formation, role of stem cells and development of diseases such as cancer.
Megeney and his group were researching the role of stem cells in the process of muscle fiber formation in 2002 when they discovered that formation of new muscles was closely tied to cell death. They proved the connection by removing or blocking the caspase 3, a protein which promotes cell death. Absence of the protein resulted in cessation of production of muscle fibers by the stem cells. The results of the 2002 study were very controversial when published but many researchers reported about the link between cell death and formation of new muscle fibers since then. However, the ability of proteins responsible for cell death to induce muscle fiber formation remained a mystery.
Dr. Megeney and his group said they have managed to solve the mysterious role of proteins that promote cell death in the process of formation of new muscle fibers. They have shown that caspase 3 activates a protein responsible for cutting of DNA which in turn stimulates the gene that is crucial for the formation of new muscle fibers. Thus the results of the study have shown that the stem cells actually destroy their own DNA in order to induce production of new tissues.
Differentiation of iPS Cells in Comparison with Human Embryonic Stem Cells
The controversy of human embryonic stem cell research forced the regenerative science into further research of the iPS cells which are thought to have the same potentials as embryonic stem cells derived from the unused human embryos. However, a study that was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on February 15 in 2010 has shown otherwise. The professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Medicine and Public health and senior author of the study, Su-Chun Zhang said that differentiation of the iPS cells was less efficient than of human embryonic stem cells and that the iPS cells are less predictable than the controversial embryonic stem cells which can differentiate into all 220 human cell types.
Su-Chin Zhang and his team led by Baoyang Hu have conducted a comparison study using five embryonic cell lines and twelve iPS cell lines to determine the capability of differentiation of both cell lines into the brain cells. The team has discovered that the differentiation of iPS cells was less efficient than embryonic cell differentiation due to unknown factors which might limit the use of iPS cells for both the study of human diseases and therapeutic purposes such as transplantation of the cells. However, the researchers have also discovered that genes do not affect the ability of the iPS cells to differentiate as it was expected. Presence and absence of genetic factors have been shown not to affect the differentiation ability of the iPS cells. For that reason Zhang’s team believes that the technology used for generation of iPS cells requires further improvements.
The study has shown that further research is necessary to determine why differentiation of iPS cells is different and unpredictable. But the iPS cells remain very useful for many applications including testing of potential treatments and new drugs.
Stem Cell Science and Fat Transplantation
Cytori Therapeutics, Inc, a regenerative medicine company has developed an effective procedure of breast implantation in women by using the stem cell science in combination with the company’s procedure known as Celution 800. Latter is used in Europe and other parts of the world since year 2007 but the procedure is still waiting to be approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the United States.
The company has successfully combined stem cell science and fat grafting which may significantly improve the outcome of breast implantations in women both for therapeutic and aesthetic purposes. The procedure which has also great potentials in cosmetic and reconstruction surgery is still being developed and bases on enlargement of fat cell density before being implanted. The fat stem cells may be used by the surgeon to stimulate the fat tissue that is a part of the operation and is believed to induce growth of blood vessels and enrichment of transplanted fat cells. In addition, the structure of the cells within the transplanted fat tissues becomes sturdier which reduces the risk of complications and improves the overall success rate of re-growth of the missing tissue.
Intermediate results of the procedure were presented at the 32nd Annual San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium in December 2009 and have shown that over 70% of women and over 80% of physicians were satisfied with the results of the procedure involving stem cells 6 month later. The company also underlined that the procedure involving stem cells may not result in improvement of fat transplantation in patients with breast cancer that underwent radiation therapy after mastectomy (partial or complete breast removal) and lumpectomy (surgical removal of the tumor). Lesser success rate of the procedure in patients with breast cancer that underwent radiation therapy can be assigned to the breast tissue damage that was caused by the radiation therapy and difficulties in grafting.
New Bill Against the Ban of Embryonic Stem Cell Use for Research
The supporters of the use of human embryonic stem cells for research, the South Dakotans for Lifesaving Cures have announced to seek a repeal of the South Dakota’s ban on the research at the Legislature. Similar attempt has failed in year 2009 because it was rejected by the state Senate with 20 to 14 against the repeal. The main problem seems to be the compare of embryonic stem cell use with destruction of human life and inadequate evidence about potential benefits of the research. In addition, the use of embryonic stem cell for scientific research is often closely tied with fear that it will lead to cloning although the supporters of the research have clearly stated themselves against cloning and oppose any change of the law that prohibits cloning. The bill that is going to be introduced to the Senate will contain clearer statements about the support to the prohibition of cloning as well as restriction of use of embryonic stem cells for research.
The co-chairman of the South Dakotans for Lifesaving Cures, David Volk is very optimistic and believes that the Senate will accept their bill although Dave Knudson from the Republican Party expressed his doubts about the group’s success. The supporters of the use of embryonic stem cells for scientific research can count on Scott Heideprien from the Democratic Party who has voted for the repeal that failed in 2009 and has announced his support to the new bill with an argument that restriction of embryonic stem cell for research does not protect life because unused embryos are discarded.
Both parties support the use of mature stem cells derived from bone marrow in adults and children for research on diabetes and other medical conditions but they disagree when it comes to human embryonic stem cells. Latter come from an egg that was fertilized in a laboratory to help the couples with conception difficulties.