Archive for the ‘Bone Marrow Stem Cells’ Category

The pioneering treatment involves cells taken from a patients own body Theseare then reinjected into their heart to repair damaged muscle Could improve quality of life for patients suffering from heart failure This is caused by heart failing to pump enough blood around the body at the right pressure

By Roger Dobson and Katherine Keogh For The Mail On Sunday

Published: 17:16 EST, 21 March 2015 | Updated: 18:15 EST, 21 March 2015

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A pioneering treatment that uses stem cells to repair a broken heart could transform the lives of people with a potentially fatal cardiac condition.

The 15-minute procedure involves cells taken from a patients own body, which are then reinjected into their heart to repair damaged muscle.

It is hoped that the procedure could improve the quality of life for patients suffering from heart failure, which affects 900,000 people in the UK.

The condition is caused by the heart failing to pump enough blood around the body at the right pressure, because the muscle has become too weak or stiff to work properly. It causes breathlessness and extreme tiredness, and can even lead to sudden death.

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How stem cells can fix a broken heart with just one jab

A student who gave the gift of life today urged more people to become bone marrow donors.

Matthew Bowker thought nothing about donating his bone marrow when it turned out he was a match to a patient desperately in need of help.

Matthew, a second year medical student at Newcastle University, agreed to undergo the donation procedure, and has never looked back since.

He said: It was all incredibly simple and I cant speak highly enough about the staff at Anthony Nolan who supported me throughout.

Anthony Nolan is the blood cancer charity behind the worlds first bone marrow donor register.

The organisation has now signed-up to support this summers British Transplant Games, which will take place at venues across the North East between July 30 and August 2.

Matthew, 23, said: For four days in a row, I had a nurse come round and give me a simple injection and then I went to London where I was attached to a machine which then took some stem cells. And that was it.

Matthew believes more people should sign the register in order to help.

Anthony Nolan has launched the Marrow year this academic year, announcing that one in five donors are recruited at universities.

This is because the students are perfect recruitment age and in general are young, fit, healthy people.

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Newcastle student helps save a life through becoming a donor

The birth and engraftment of a blood stem cell | Boston Children's Hospital

When a patient receives a bone marrow transplant, the transplanted blood stem cells find their home, begin dividing and establish themselves in the body much like natural blood stem cells do. This zebrafish animation illustrates findings from the Stem Cell Research Program at Boston Children's Hospital that reveal this natural process for the first time, providing clues that will help scientists improve bone marrow transplants. Leonard Zon, MD, and colleagues published their full findings in the January 15, 2015 issue of Cell. Learn more: January 15, 2015 issue of Cell:

Happy Birthday Song Oh my genius brings u the most exciting and enjoyable birthday song for children.

Palmistry is also used to provide some important information about children. If you don't have your Janma Kundali, palmistry can help you to know whether you...

Subscribe to the KidsAnimations Youtube Channel - https://www.youtube.com/user/kidsanimations Click here to Watch our other God's & Goddess Of India Stories - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aXBZmFggZew&list=PLfv3tA5AoEjAWJlpkbjSfB2zt_nc9-1jn Become a KidsAnimations Fan on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/superaudiomadras?ref=hl Playlists Hitopadesha Tales - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=10dFGfFMXTg&list=PLfv3tA5AoEjBcrtyQ6iD3nSWPdUE1-UEz Prithviraj Chauhan Stories - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HgoFdV7l2mM&list=PLfv3tA5AoEjAjRUeOB_QH7Fq0-v56_MXm Akbar and Birbal Stories - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8RRgThKVvqY&list=PLfv3tA5AoEjDWDxKMXVCAdZY1P0irtNTf GIVE YOUR KIDS A BEST START IN LIFE.. THANKS FOR WATCHING FOR ONLINE PURCHASE VISIT US AT http://www.musicandchants.com/ Connect with us: google+: https://plus.google.com/111059833508006709219/posts facebook: https://www.facebook.com/superaudiomadras?ref=hl twitter: https://twitter.com/musicandchants Find us on http://www.pinterest.com/navindaswani5/ Hanuman (IPA: /hnmn/) is a Hindu god, who was an ardent devotee of Rama according to the Hindu legends. He is a central character in the Indian epic Ramayana and its various versions. He also finds mentions in several other texts, including Mahabharata, the various Puranas and some Jain texts. A vanara (monkey-like humanoid), Hanuman participated in Rama's war against the demon king Ravana. Several texts also present him as an incarnation of Lord Shiva. He is the son of Vayu, who according to several stories, played a role in his birth.

This is a reading and brief explanation of the poem by Anne Bradstreet and is intended for educational use only.

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Share on Facebook - http://goo.gl/xvlMfo Tweet about this - http://goo.gl/VyFzby Share on g+ - http://goo.gl/BSCS5g The Bible is one continuous story made up of smaller, pivotal stories. Our collection of Bible stories highlight the simple yet intense truths found in the Bible. Each story is animated in a simple style to help the children understand the Bible better. These inspiring stories are narrated in a beautiful manner which will provide good moral values and lessons to children. Subscribe to this channel and stay tuned: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=rajshrikids Like our Facebook Page: http://www.facebook.com/rajshrikids Follow us on g+: https://plus.google.com/+rajshrikids

This talk was given at a local TEDx event, produced independently of the TED Conferences. Anita Collins shares how learning music influences our brain development, and what this means for musical education. Anita Collins was handed a clarinet at the age of 9, and it changed her life. This single event dictated her future career as a musician, music educator and academic. About TEDx, x = independently organized event In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized.* (*Subject to certain rules and regulations)

Join us as Grand Old Holy teaches lessons and stories from The Bible. Learn more about us at: http://fawesome.ifood.tv/. A carpenter named Joseph was soon to...

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Watching over birth rates

With a little help from my friends fundraising concert | Frankston TV
We would like to thank all the artists who performed at the fundraising concert for Wayne Higgins on Sunday the 15th of March. EVERYONE, including Glenn Shorrock, Mike Rudd, Andrew Wishart,...

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With a little help from my friends fundraising concert | Frankston TV - Video

Measuring the concentration of leukemia cells in patient bone marrow during the first 46 days of chemotherapy should help boost survival of young leukemia patients by better matching patients with the right intensity of chemotherapy. St. Jude Children's Research Hospital investigators led the research, which appears in the March 20 edition of the journal Lancet Oncology.

The findings stem from a study of 498 children and adolescents with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) enrolled in a St. Jude-led protocol between 2000 and 2007. The clinical trial was the first to use measurement of residual leukemia cells -- or minimal residual disease (MRD) -- in bone marrow to help guide therapy. St. Jude pioneered MRD measurement as a tool to guide leukemia treatment.

"This analysis shows that MRD-directed therapy clearly contributed to the unprecedented high rates of long-term survival that patients in this study achieved," said first and corresponding author Ching-Hon Pui, M.D., chair of the St.Jude Department of Oncology. Overall, 93.5 percent of patients were alive five years after their cancer was diagnosed. "MRD proved to be a powerful way to identify high-risk patients who needed more intensive therapy and helped us avoid over-treatment of low-risk patients by reducing their exposure to chemotherapy," Pui said.

Researchers hope the findings will expand use of MRD measurements to guide leukemia treatment in children and adults.

The technique might also help identify patients who could be cured with less intensive chemotherapy, Pui said. Overall long-term survival was 97.9 percent or better for 244 patients in this study classified as low risk based on a variety of factors including their age at diagnosis and MRD of less than 1 percent on day 19 of treatment. "Given the excellent outcome, it will be important to determine if treatment can be further reduced in this subgroup of patients," Pui said.

In countries with limited resources, Pui said the findings suggest that results of MRD on day 19 can be used to reduce treatment-related deaths by identifying patients who will likely be cured with low-intensity chemotherapy. "This study demonstrates these patients have an extremely low risk of relapse," he said.

The study showed that measuring MRD just twice during remission induction therapy -- at day 19 and day 46 -- rather than multiple times during the more than two years of treatment was sufficient to guide treatment of most pediatric ALL patients. That will help save money and protect patients from the discomfort and risks associated with bone marrow aspiration for MRD testing. MRD measurements should continue, however, to guide treatment of patients with detectable MRD on day 46 of treatment. That is a level of 0.01 percent or more, which translates into one leukemia cell in 10,000 normal cells.

MRD was not a perfect predictor of relapse risk. Cancer returned in 26 of the 430 patients with undetectable MRD when treatment ended after 120 weeks. Researchers are working to develop even more sensitive methods for tracking treatment response in order to identify those at risk for having their cancer return.

Overall, researchers showed that regardless of other risk factors, including age at diagnosis or the initial white blood cell count, patients with an MRD level of 1 percent or more on day 19 of therapy were far less likely than other young leukemia patients to be alive and cancer-free 10 years later. Having detectable leukemia cells on day 46 of treatment was also associated with lower survival.

MRD levels on days 19 and 46 led to the reclassification of 50 patients from low risk to a higher risk leukemia that warranted more intensive therapy. Researchers credited the change with boosting survival.

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Measuring treatment response proves to be a powerful tool for guiding leukemia treatment

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Newswise A bone marrow transplant can mean the difference between life and death for people with blood cancers and related disorders. But many patients in India cant afford the high treatment costs, and for them a transplant is not an option. This is changing thanks to a newly launched bone marrow transplant unit at M.S. Ramaiah Medical College in Bangalore.

The five-bed unit, which opened last month, was established by local physicians and hospital administrators working with Dr. Damiano Rondelli, director of the blood and marrow transplant program at the University of Illinois Hospital & Health Sciences System.

Bone marrow transplants in India are done mainly at nonacademic institutions and can be prohibitively expensive. Clinical standards, including infection control, can vary at these unaccredited transplant programs.

Ramaiah aims to become the first internationally accredited bone marrow transplant program in India. It will provide transplantation under high standards of care and at a significantly lower cost. The service will be subsidized by revenues from the for-profit hospital associated with the medical college.

Its a very nice model -- sustainable, and every patient gets the same treatment, regardless of what they can pay, said Rondelli.

Rondelli first visited Ramaiah in October at the invitation of his colleague Bellur S. Prabhakar, professor and head of microbiology and immunology and associate dean for technological innovation and training at the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine. Prabhakar had been meeting with leaders at Ramaiah to discuss working together through UICs Center for Global Health.

One of the things they wanted to do was to establish a world-class bone marrow transplantation unit, said Prabhakar.

The need for bone marrow transplantation is high in India, a country of more than a billion people. Southeast Asians have a higher genetic risk for thalassemia, a disorder of hemoglobin, the molecule in red blood cells that carries oxygen and carbon dioxide to and from the tissues. Bone marrow transplantation is the only cure.

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Chicago Physician Helps Launch Bone Marrow Unit in Bangalore

Written by Lidia Dinkova on March 18, 2015

University of Miami stem cell research on generating healthy heart tissue in heart attack survivors is on track to be tested across the US.

The National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, part of federal medical research arm the National Institutes of Health, is to fund the $8 million cost if the trial wins necessary approvals.

The trial, the first of this research in humans, is a step toward restoring full heart function in heart attack survivors.

The research developed at the UM Miller School of Medicines Interdisciplinary Stem Cell Institute is on combining two types of stem cells to generate healthy heart tissue in heart attack survivors. Scientists have in the past studied using one type of stem cell at a time, a method thats worked OK, said Dr. Joshua Hare, founding director of the UM stem cell institute.

But UM research shows that combining two types of stem cells expedites healing and regeneration of healthy heart muscle.

We could remove twice the scar tissue than with either cell alone, Dr. Hare said. We had some scientific information that they actually interacted and worked together, so we tested that. It worked.

Researchers combined mesenchymal stem cells, usually generated from human bone marrow, and cardiac stem cells, isolated from a mammals heart.

Stem cells are cells that havent matured to specialize to work in a particular part of the body, such as the heart. Because these cells are in a way nascent, they have the potential to become specialized for a particular body function.

Doctors have been using stem cells to regenerate lost tissue from bones to heart muscle. The mesenchymal and cardiac stem cells each work well in generating healthy heart tissue in heart attack survivors, Dr. Hare said. Combining them expedites the process, according to the UM research.

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UM stem cell research on heart may go national

A TEENAGER'S quest to find a bone marrow match and beat his leukaemia has inspired school friends to go on to save the lives of two perfect strangers.

Jack Coen and Joe Rowbottom, both 18, were at Bradford Grammar School when fellow pupil Alex Anstess, now 16, was first diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukaemia in 2012.

After hearing a talk in school about registering on the Anthony Nolan Bone Marrow register, they - and others - signed up and both of them have gone on to successfully donate stem cells.

Jack, from Ilkley, who donated in October last year after being found to be a perfect match for a patient needing a bone marrow transplant, said: I just thought if you have the opportunity to save someones life then why not? If I was in that position, Id want someone to do it for me.

"On the day, I thought about the other person receiving my stem cells and hoped I could give them more Christmases with their family. If I never make another good decision for the rest of my life, I have at least made one good and worthwhile decision by donating."

And Joe, from Yeadon, who donated his stem cells last month, said: It was so easy to spit in a tube and sign up. It was weird to think a stranger was dependent on me and yet its such a small thing to do. It was actually surprising something so simple could save someones life. Knowing Alex spurred me on to donate because I knew what the person was going through. Its great to see Alex back at school and proves the donor register does work.

Although Alex, of Cullingworth, had gone into remission after his 2012 diagnosis, the cancer returned in July last year and doctors broke the news that his life depended on a bone marrow transplant. It was The Anthony Nolan Trust that found him a perfect match and he had the procedure in September last year, helping him on the road to recovery.

His mum, Sue, said: I cannot describe the feeling of seeing that little bag of stem cells come in for Alex. We waited a long time for that moment and Ill never forget the relief we felt. Were so thankful to the donor who literally saved his life. Its absolutely brilliant that Jack and Joe have gone on to donate and help another family like ours."

Bradford Grammar headteacher Kevin Riley said: The school motto is Hoc Age which we usually translate as Just do it. What a wonderful example Jack and Joe are of that determination to help others. Im proud of them and the other students who have responded to the appeal.

If you are aged 16-30 and in good health you too can sign up to the Anthony Nolan register at anthonynolan.org. To find out more about the Register & Be a Lifesaver programme, email registerandbe@AnthonyNolan.org or call 0207 284 8213.

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Teenager's quest to beat leukaemia inspires school friends to donate stem cells to help people in need

A little boy with an extremely rare condition is in desperate need of a transplant to save his life.

Finn McEwen, seven, from Litherland has bone marrow failure and now his family are facing a race against time to find a stem cell match.

His condition, myelodysplastic syndrome, is extremely rare in children and cannot be treated with chemotherapy, so a transplant is Finns only hope.

His family, including dad Neil, 46, baby sister Seren, 18 months, and brother Lucas, 6, have all been ruled out as matches and Finn needs to have the transplant within the next six to eight weeks to have the best chance of recovery.

His mum Carole, 43, told the Liverpool Echo Finn has always been well and active, and it was a massive shock when doctors said he had the condition.

The family had to endure weeks of waiting after Finn suffered a serious nosebleed in January before doctors could find out what was wrong with him, as it is extremely difficult to diagnose.

Cry for help: A transplant is the only cure for the condition, which is caused by bone marrow not making enough healthy red blood cells

Carole said: Its been this massive rollercoaster, up and down. We couldnt believe it, it came from nowhere. We thought it was nothing and then thought it could be leukaemia, and then we had that couple of weeks where we thought it was going to be OK.

This is a hundred times worse than before. Every time we go in there seems to be an extra bit of bad news. It just feels like its your worst nightmare.

A transplant is the only cure for the condition, which is caused by bone marrow not making enough healthy red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets.

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Finn McEwen: Family's bone marrow appeal to help save seven-year-old with rare condition

Former Homeland Star David Harewood Has Written An Online Article Urging Black U.k. Residents To Sign Up To The Stem Cell Donor Register.

The actor has teamed up with stem cell charity Anthony Nolan and the African-Caribbean Leukaemia Trust (ACLT) to launch an appeal encouraging young, black Brits to donate bone marrow so leukaemia sufferers in ethnic minorities have a better chance of receiving pioneering stem cell treatment.

Harewood has written an online article for Independent.co.uk in which he details the stem cell donation process for the African-Caribbean community, and encourages them to take part.

He writes, "The black population is badly underrepresented on the bone marrow register compiled by the blood cancer charity Anthony Nolan. In fact, there are 30 times more white people than African-Caribbean people willing to donate their stem cells in this country.

"The result of this? If you're black and have leukaemia then you have less than a 20 per cent chance of finding the best possible match when your last hope of survival is a lifesaving transplant from a stranger. We are literally dying, not because a matching donor isn't out there somewhere - but because that person never joined the register.

"This isn't right, and it urgently needs to change. It's horrible to think that if my daughters needed a transplant they would be at a disadvantage because there aren't enough black and mixed race donors on the register."

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David Harewood Launches Appeal For Black Stem Cell Donors

Orlando, Florida (PRWEB) March 12, 2015

The Miami Stem Cell Treatment Center announces a series of free public seminars on the use of adult stem cells for various degenerative and inflammatory conditions. They will be provided by Dr. Thomas A. Gionis, Surgeon-in-Chief and Dr. Nia Smyrniotis, Medical Director and Surgeon.

The seminars will be held on Tuesday, March 17, 2015, at 12:30 pm, 2:30 pm and 4:30 pm at Seasons 52, 7700 Sand Lake Road, Orlando, FL 32819. Please RSVP at (561) 331-2999.

The Miami Stem Cell Treatment Center (Miami; Boca Raton; Orlando; The Villages, FL), along with sister affiliates, the Irvine Stem Cell Treatment Center (Irvine; Westlake Villages, CA) and the Manhattan Regenerative Medicine Medical Group (Manhattan, NY), abide by approved investigational protocols using adult adipose derived stem cells (ADSCs) which can be deployed to improve patients quality of life for a number of chronic, degenerative and inflammatory conditions and diseases. ADSCs are taken from the patients own adipose (fat) tissue (found within a cellular mixture called stromal vascular fraction (SVF)). ADSCs are exceptionally abundant in adipose tissue. The adipose tissue is obtained from the patient during a 15 minute mini-liposuction performed under local anesthesia in the doctors office. SVF is a protein-rich solution containing mononuclear cell lines (predominantly adult autologous mesenchymal stem cells), macrophage cells, endothelial cells, red blood cells, and important Growth Factors that facilitate the stem cell process and promote their activity.

ADSCs are the body's natural healing cells - they are recruited by chemical signals emitted by damaged tissues to repair and regenerate the bodys injured cells. The Miami Stem Cell Treatment Center only uses Adult Autologous Stem Cells from a persons own fat No embryonic stem cells are used; and No bone marrow stem cells are used. Current areas of study include: Emphysema, COPD, Asthma, Heart Failure, Heart Attack, Parkinsons Disease, Stroke, Traumatic Brain Injury, Lou Gehrigs Disease, Multiple Sclerosis, Lupus, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Crohns Disease, Muscular Dystrophy, Inflammatory Myopathies, and degenerative orthopedic joint conditions (Knee, Shoulder, Hip, Spine). For more information, or if someone thinks they may be a candidate for one of the adult stem cell protocols offered by the Miami Stem Cell Treatment Center, they may contact Dr. Gionis or Dr. Smyrniotis directly at (561) 331-2999, or see a complete list of the Centers study areas at: http://www.MiamiStemCellsUSA.com.

About the Miami Stem Cell Treatment Center: The Miami Stem Cell Treatment Center, along with sister affiliates, the Irvine Stem Cell Treatment Center and the Manhattan Regenerative Medicine Medical Group, is an affiliate of the California Stem Cell Treatment Center / Cell Surgical Network (CSN); we are located in Boca Raton, Orlando, Miami and The Villages, Florida. We provide care for people suffering from diseases that may be alleviated by access to adult stem cell based regenerative treatment. We utilize a fat transfer surgical technology to isolate and implant the patients own stem cells from a small quantity of fat harvested by a mini-liposuction on the same day. The investigational protocols utilized by the Miami Stem Cell Treatment Center have been reviewed and approved by an IRB (Institutional Review Board) which is registered with the U.S. Department of Health, Office of Human Research Protection (OHRP); and our studies are registered with Clinicaltrials.gov, a service of the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH). For more information, visit our websites: http://www.MiamiStemCellsUSA.com, http://www.IrvineStemCellsUSA.com , or http://www.NYStemCellsUSA.com.

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The Miami Stem Cell Treatment Center Announces Adult Stem Cell Public Seminars in Orlando, Florida

IMAGE:The success of the new technique suggests the possibility of implanting these tweaked cells back into a patient so they can generate an immune system. Though the new work, published... view more

LA JOLLA--For infants with severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID), something as simple as a common cold or ear infection can be fatal. Born with an incomplete immune system, kids who have SCID--also known as "bubble boy" or "bubble baby" disease--can't fight off even the mildest of germs. They often have to live in sterile, isolated environments to avoid infections and, even then, most patients don't live past a year or two. This happens because stem cells in SCID patients' bone marrow have a genetic mutation that prevents them from developing critical immune cells, called T and Natural Killer (NK) cells.

Now, Salk researchers have found a way to, for the first time, convert cells from x-linked SCID patients to a stem cell-like state, fix the genetic mutation and prompt the corrected cells to successfully generate NK cells in the laboratory.

The success of the new technique suggests the possibility of implanting these tweaked cells back into a patient so they can generate an immune system. Though the new work, published March 12, 2015 in Cell Stem Cell, is preliminary, it could offer a potentially less invasive and more effective approach than current options.

"This work demonstrates a new method that could lead to a more effective and less invasive treatment for this devastating disease," says senior author Inder Verma, Salk professor and American Cancer Society Professor of Molecular Biology. "It also has the potential to lay the foundation to cure other deadly and rare blood disorders."

Previous attempts to treat SCID involved bone marrow transplants or gene therapy, with mixed results. In what began as promising clinical trials in the 1990s, researchers hijacked virus machinery to go in and deliver the needed genes to newly growing cells in the patient's bone marrow. While this gene therapy did cure the disease at first, the artificial addition of genes ended up causing leukemia in a few of the patients. Since then, other gene therapy methods have been developed, but these are generally suited for less mild forms of the disease and require bone marrow transplants, a difficult procedure to perform on critically sick infants.

To achieve the new method, the Salk team secured a sample of bone marrow from a deceased patient in Australia. Using that small sample, the team developed the new method in three steps. First, they reverted the patient cells into induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs)--cells that, like embryonic stem cells, have the ability to turn into any type of tissue and hold vast promise for regenerative medicine.

"Once we had patient-derived stem cells, we could remove the genetic mutation, essentially fixing the cells," explains one of the first authors and Salk postdoctoral researcher Amy Firth.

The second innovation was to use new gene editing technology to correct the SCID-related genetic deficiency in these iPSCs. To remove the mutation, the researchers used a technology called TALEN (similar to the better known CRISPR method). This set of enzymes act as molecular scissors on genes, letting researchers snip away at a gene and replace the base pairs that make up DNA with other base pairs.

"Unlike traditional gene therapy methods, we aren't putting a whole new gene into a patient, which can cause unwanted side effects," says Tushar Menon, first author and Salk postdoctoral researcher. "We use TALEN-based genome editing to change just one nucleotide in one gene to correct the deficiency. The technique is literally that precise."

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Immune system-in-a-dish offers hope for 'bubble boy' disease

Durham, NC (PRWEB) March 11, 2015

Scientists report in the current issue of STEM CELLS Translational Medicine that they have been able to clone a line of defective stem cells behind a rare, but devastating disease called Fanconi Anemia (FA). Their achievement opens the door to drug screening and the potential for a new, safe treatment for this often fatal disease.

FA is a hereditary blood disorder that leads to bone marrow failure (FA-BMF) and cancer. Patients who suffer from FA have a life expectancy of 33 years. Currently, a bone marrow transplant offers the only possibility for a cure. However, this treatment has many risks associated with it, especially for FA patients due to their extreme sensitivity to radiation and chemotherapy.

Although various consequences in hematopoietic stem cells (the cells that give rise to all the other blood cells) have been attributed to FA-BMF, its cause is still unknown, said Megumu K. Saito, M.D., Ph.D., of Kyoto Universitys Center for iPS Cell and Application, and a lead investigator on the study. His laboratory specializes in studying the kinds of pediatric diseases in which a thorough analysis using mouse models or cultured cell lines is not feasible, so they apply disease-specific induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) instead.

To address the FA issue, he explained, our team (including colleagues from Tokai University School of Medicine) established iPSCs from two FA patients who have the FANCA gene mutation that is typical in FA. We were then able to obtain fetal type immature blood cells from these iPSCs.

When observing the iPSCs, the researchers found that the characteristics of immature blood cells from FA-iPSCs were different from control cells. The FA-iPSCs showed an increased DNA double-strand break rate, as well as a sharp reduction of hematopoietic stem cells compared to the control group of non-FA iPSCs.

These data indicate that the hematopoietic consequences in FA patients originate from the earliest hematopoietic stage and highlight the potential usefulness of iPSC technology for explaining how FA-BMF occurs, said Dr. Saito. Since conducting a comprehensive analysis of patient-derived affected stem cells is not feasible without iPSC technology, the technology provides an unprecedented opportunity to gain further insight into this disease.

This work shows promise for identifying the initial pathological event that causes the disease, which would be a first step in working toward a cure, said Anthony Atala, M.D., Editor-in-Chief of STEM CELLS Translational Medicine and director of the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine.

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The full article, Pluripotent cell models of Fanconi anemia identify the early pathological defect in human hemoangiogenic progenitors, can be accessed at http://www.stemcellstm.com.

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Stem Cell Clones Could Yield New Drug Treatment for Deadly Blood Disease

Since ancient times, humankind has been aware of how important blood is to life. Naturalists speculated for thousands of years on the source of the body's blood supply. For several centuries, the liver was believed to be the site where blood forms. In 1868, however, the German pathologist Ernst Neumann discovered immature precursor cells in bone marrow, which turned out to be the actual site of blood cell formation, also known as hematopoiesis. Blood formation was the first process for which scientists formulated and proved the theory that stem cells are the common origin that gives rise to various types of mature cells.

"However, a problem with almost all research on hematopoiesis in past decades is that it has been restricted to experiments in culture or using transplantation into mice," says Professor Hans-Reimer Rodewald from the German Cancer Research Center (Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum, DKFZ). "We have now developed the first model where we can observe the development of a stem cell into a mature blood cell in a living organism."

Dr. Katrin Busch from Rodewald's team developed genetically modified mice by introducing a protein into their blood stem cells that sends out a yellow fluorescent signal. This fluorescent marker can be turned on at any time by administering a specific reagent to the animal. Correspondingly, all daughter cells that arise from a cell containing the marker also send out a light signal.

When Busch turned on the marker in adult animals, it became visible that at least one third (approximately 5000 cells) of a mouse's hematopoietic stem cells produce differentiated progenitor cells. "This was the first surprise," says Busch. "Until now, scientists had believed that in the normal state, very few stem cells - only about ten - are actively involved in blood formation."

However, it takes a very long time for the fluorescent marker to spread evenly into peripheral blood cells, an amount of time that even exceeds the lifespan of a mouse. Systems biologist Prof. Thomas Hfer and colleagues (also of the DKFZ) performed mathematical analysis of these experimental data to provide additional insight into blood stem cell dynamics. Their analysis showed that, surprisingly, under normal conditions, the replenishment of blood cells is not accomplished by the stem cells themselves. Instead, they are actually supplied by first progenitor cells that develop during the following differentiation step. These cells are able to regenerate themselves for a long time - though not quite as long as stem cells do. To make sure that the population of this cell type never runs out, blood stem cells must occasionally produce a couple of new first progenitors.

During embryonic development of mice, however, the situation is different: To build up the system, all mature blood and immune cells develop much more rapidly and almost completely from stem cells.

The investigators were also able to accelerate this process in adult animals by artificially depleting their white blood cells. Under these conditions, blood stem cells increase the formation of first progenitor cells, which then immediately start supplying new, mature blood cells. In this process, several hundred times more cells of the so-called myeloid lineage (thrombocytes, erythrocytes, granulocytes, monocytes) form than long-lived lymphocytes (T cells, B cells, natural killer cells) do.

"When we transplanted our labeled blood stem cells from the bone marrow into other mice, only a few stem cells were active in the recipients, and many stem cells were lost," Rodewald explains. "Our new data therefore show that the findings obtained up until now using transplanted stem cells can surely not be reflective of normal hematopoiesis. On the contrary, transplantation is an exception [to the rule]. This shows how important it is that we actually follow hematopoiesis under normal conditions in a living organism."

The scientists in Rodewald's department, working together with Thomas Hfer, now also plan to use the new model to investigate the impact of pathogenic challenges to blood formation: for example, in cancer, cachexia or infection. This method would also enable them to follow potential aging processes that occur in blood stem cells in detail as they occur naturally in a living organism.

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Live assessment of blood formation

Severe hypophosphatasia generally fatal during infancy, bone marrow transplant along with mensenchymal stem cell transplants offers hope

Putnam Valley, NY. (Feb 9, 2015) - Recent research carried out by a team of researchers in Japan has investigated the use of bone marrow transplants (BMTs) to treat hypophosphatasia (HPP). In this study, the researchers carried out BMT for two infants with HPP in combination with allogenic (other-donated) mesenchymal stem cell transplants (MSCTs). The allogenic MSC donors were a parent of the infant.

The study will be published in a future issue of Cell Transplantation and is currently freely available on-line as an unedited early e-pub at: http://ingentaconnect.com/content/cog/ct/pre-prints/content-CT-1337_Taketani_et_al

"Hypophosphatasia" (HPP) is a rare and most often fatal genetic bone disease affecting infants that has no current treatment. The disease is caused by mutations in the ALPL gene, which encodes alkaline phosphatase (ALP). Patients with severe HPP develop bone impairment and have extremely low levels of ALP activity, an enzyme necessary for bone mineralization.

Although there are mild and more severe forms, severe hypophosphatasia prevents proper bone mineralization during perinatal development. When the disease develops perinatally, many infants are still-born, with little evidence of bone mineralization. HPP can also appear in later infancy, generally before an infant reaches the age of six months, with the result that most afflicted infants do not live past the age of six months. Milder forms of HPP can present in later youth or in adulthood.

"Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) reside in bone marrow and other tissues and have a self-renewal capacity so that after transplantation they can differentiate into various cell lineages, including bone and cartilage," said Dr. Takeshi Taketani of the Division of Blood Transfusion at Shimane University Hospital in Shimane, Japan. "We performed multiple infusions of MSCs for two infant patients with severe HPP who had already undergone BMT. The adverse events from the BMT were managed and there were no adverse events from the MSC infusions."

After each infant had undergone BMT, one infant received four MSCTs and a second infant received nine MSCTs. Previous research had revealed that MSCT without a prior BMT was ineffective.

The researchers reported that the two infants receiving both BMT and MSCTs improved not only in terms of bone mineralization, but also saw improvements in muscle mass, respiratory function and mental development. Both children continue to survive at age three.

"Our data suggest that allogenic MSCT combined with BMT might be one of the safer and more effective remedies for patients with severe HPP, although long-term effectiveness remains unknown and warrants further study," concluded the researchers. "We need to establish curative, MSC-based treatment strategies that can maintain the long-term survival and differentiation capabilities of transplanted allo-MSCs."

"This study highlights the promise of stem cells in presenting a new frontier for regenerative medicine, with an improvement of HPP-associated symptoms and survival following BMT and MSCT." said Dr. David Eve, Cell Transplantation associate editor, and Instructor of neurosurgery and brain repair at the University of South Florida School of Medicine. "In order to elucidate the mechanisms behind recovery and further extrapolate the study to all HPP patients, a larger cohort and more long term follow-up are needed."

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Infants with rare bone disease improve bone formation after cell transplantation

Scientists at Tuft University in Massachusetts grew bone marrow on silk They were able to generate functioning platelet cells that form blood clots The cells could be used to stop bleeding in injured patients in ER rooms It has raised hopes that man-made blood can be created for transfusions However some say it could be up to 15 years before stem cells can be used to create blood that can be safely used for transfusions during surgery

By Richard Gray for MailOnline

Published: 11:46 EST, 19 February 2015 | Updated: 12:50 EST, 23 February 2015

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A major component of blood has been grown in the laboratory by scientists, bringing man-made blood transfusions a step closer.

Biomedical engineers have for the first time produced functional blood platelets - the cells that cause clots to form - from human bone marrow grown in the laboratory.

The achievement raises hopes that it will soon be possible to produce fully functional blood in a similar way.

Scientists have managed to grow fully functioning platelets like the one above surrounded by red blood cells

See the original post:
Could we soon have man-made blood?

Black South Africans make up about 47 percent of all cancer patients but only 5 percent of donors in the nations bone marrow registry. The gap between those who may need bone marrow or stem cell transplants, and those able to provide them has deadly consequences for cancer patients.

Black South Africans make up about 47 percent of all cancer patients but only 5 percent of donors in the nations bone marrow registry

Maphoko Nthane, 50, had experienced mysterious and severe backaches for months. Doctors ran test after test, but could find nothing wrong with Nthane.

I had a severe back ache for months, she told Health-e News. Whenever I would have that pain, I couldnt sit down I had to walk or stand up.

Doctors eventually diagnosed Nthane with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia, a severe form of cancer affecting a patients blood and bone marrow.

After I was diagnosed I thought I was going to die I didnt know that people with leukaemia could live, Nthane said. My husband was just as traumatised and as a result he didnt know how to support me.

Nthanes cancer failed to respond to standard chemotherapy and ultimately a stem cell transplant saved her life.

As part of stem cell transplants, stem cells are removed from the tissue of donors or, where possible, patients. These cells are usually from human tissues including bone marrow or fat.

Once removed, the stem cells are given high doses of chemotherapy higher than what could be administered to patients before being transplanted into patients in the hope that they will kill other cancerous cells.

Nthane was lucky to find a stem cell donor.

Continued here:
Deadly shortage of black stem cell donors

DEAR DOCTOR K: I have leukemia. Thankfully, a family member was a bone marrow match. Can you tell me what to expect during my bone marrow transplant procedure?

DEAR READER: A bone marrow transplant can be a life-saving treatment. To understand how it works, you need to understand how blood cells are created. And what leukemia is.

Your blood contains red and white blood cells. There are several types of white blood cells, which are a key part of your immune system. All your blood cells are made by blood stem cells, which live primarily in the spongy center of your big bones.

In the years before you got leukemia, each of your blood cells was programmed to live for a while, and then to die only to be replaced by new, young cells.

When you developed leukemia, genetic changes in some white blood cells suddenly kept them from dying. As a result, the number of that type of white blood cell kept growing. An ideal treatment would kill just the cancerous white blood cells, and allow noncancerous new cells to replace them. The ideal treatment has not been discovered. Bone marrow transplant, while less than ideal, is such an important advance that it was honored with the Nobel Prize.

In a bone marrow transplant, all of your white blood cells healthy and cancerous are killed by drugs, radiation or both. Then healthy blood stem cells are infused into your blood. Those cells find their way to your bone marrow, and start to make healthy new red and white blood cells. The new cells will multiply. Ive put an illustration of the transplant process on my website, AskDoctorK.com.

The healthy blood stem cells may be collected from your blood, before the main radiation or chemotherapy begins. The cells are treated to remove any cancer cells, and then stored until the transplant. In your case, the healthy blood stem cells will come from another person (a donor). The donors cells must be a good match for you this means certain markers on their cells and your cells are as similar as possible. This reduces the risk that the cells will be rejected by your body.

Bone marrow transplants are usually used to treat leukemia, lymphomas, Hodgkins disease and multiple myeloma, because these cancers affect the bone marrow directly. The procedure is also used for some noncancerous conditions, such as sickle cell anemia.

You will stay in the hospital for several weeks after the transplant. Until your bone marrow cells multiply to a certain level, you will be at increased risk of infection. Other serious risks include severe bleeding, liver problems and increased risk of developing another cancer.

Another possible problem is that cells from a donor might not match your cells well enough and the new donor cells will begin attacking the cells of your body. This is called graft-versus-host disease. You will take medications to reduce the risk of this happening. Despite the dangers, bone marrow transplantation is usually successful.

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The ins and outs of bone marrow transplantation

Bone marrow transplants have become routine in the West for blood cancers, such as leukemia, and similar diseases.But experts say theres no reason why the therapy should not be available in the developing world.There is need, but a shortage of resources, donors and expertise.

More than one million bone marrow transplants have been performed in 75 countries since the first one was performed in the U.S. 50 years ago.

Thats not very many for a treatment that can be lifesaving, according to Dietger Niederwieser, a professor of hematology and oncology at the University of Leipzig in Germany.

We have situations where we have an identical [bone marrow] donor, and we have a disease which if treated early, the survival can go up to 90-95 percent even.So, its depending on the disease, its depending on the donor and its depending also on the age of the patients and so on," said Niederwieser.

Red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets are produced in the marrow, or spongy tissue inside bones, by stem or master cells.

Transplants either from a closely-matched donor or using cleansed marrow from the patients themselves are a way of replacing tissue thats diseased by leukemia, a blood cancer, and lymphoma, a cancer of the lymphatic system.

For some patients, it is a last ditch effort at a cure.

Analyzing data collected by the Worldwide Network for Blood and Marrow Transplantation, Niederwieser and colleagues looked at the distribution of these transplants around the world.

Predictably, their study found that the bulk of the complex transplants have been performed in Europe, followed by the United States.

The remaining 15 percent or so have been carried out in South East Asia, the Mediterranean, Western Pacific and Africa.

Originally posted here:
Bone Marrow Transplants Scarce in Many Countries

WATERTOWN, Conn. (AP) A year ago, Nancy Demers, 71, was diagnosed with myelodysplastic syndrome, a deficiency in the bone marrow. The disease can eventually become leukemia.

Its treated as if it were cancer but there is no cure for it, said her son, Scott Demers.

Now Nancy Demers has a new chance at life, thanks to advances in bone marrow stem cell transplants.

If I didnt do this, once I went out of remission its not if, its when I would go into acute leukemia and there will be nothing there to help me, Nancy Demers said. This will save my life and give me time.

Demers is one of a rapidly growing number of people looking to depend on strangers to donate marrow since she doesnt have a match within her family.

The rising number of patients seeking bone marrow has created new demands on registries that seek to match patient needs with willing donors.

Each sibling has a 25 percent chance of being a transplant match, according to Dr. Joseph Antin, chief and program director of the adult stem cell transplantation program at Dana Farber Brigham and Womens Hospital in Boston.

In the United States, about 30 percent of patients find a donor within their family, according to Be the Match. Those who dont must turn to international registries to find an unrelated donor.

Around 15 years ago, doctors couldnt do a transplant on anyone over the age of 50, according to Dr. Leslie Lehmann, clinical director of the Stem Cell Transplant Center at Dana Farber.

Its a big stress on the body, Lehmann said.

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CHICAGO (CBS) More than four years after she was close to dying from leukemia, an 8-year-old girl from Mount Prospect is healthy again, and will meet the German man who helped save her life by supplying a stem cell donation.

Sabrina Chahir was diagnosed with leukemia in 2009, and 80 percent of her blood was filled with cancer cells. To survive, she needed a stem cell/bone marrow transplant, but finding a donor was going to be very difficult.

At the beginning, it was we didnt know if we were able to find one, because Sabrina is half Arabic and half Hispanic, and that is not a usual combination, Sabrinas mother, Natalia Wehr said.

Sabrinas DNA match turned out to be 30-year-old Maximilian Eule, a German supermarket manager living in Austria. He quickly agreed to donate

For me, I was close to crying, because it was like a little girl who was almost close to dying, and has no chance without my blood, he said. You give the girl another chance to stay alive.

Sabrinas mother said, thanks to Eules bone marrow donation, her daughter is healthy again, and like any other 2nd grade girl.

This whole thing is like a dream, she said.

Eule said its awesome Sabrina is now happy, healthy, and taking ballet classes and piano lessons. The two will meet for the first time Thursday night.

Continued here:
Girl With Leukemia To Meet Stem Cell Donor Who Helped Save Her Life

Stem Cell Therapy for Achilles Tendon Repair - Dr. Wade McKenna
Dr. McKenna discusses non-surgical treatment of acute and chronic tendon problems using bone marrow stem cells augmented with amniotic tissue. He cites an ex...

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Anthony L. Komaroff M.D.

DEAR DOCTOR K: I have leukemia. Thankfully, a family member was a bone marrow match. Can you tell me what to expect during my bone marrow transplantprocedure?

DEAR READER: A bone marrow transplant can be a life-saving treatment. To understand how it works, you need to understand how blood cells are created. And what leukemiais.

Your blood contains red and white blood cells. There are several types of white blood cells, which are a key part of your immune system. All your blood cells are made by blood stem cells, which live primarily in the spongy center of

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DEAR DOCTOR K: I have leukemia. Thankfully, a family member was a bone marrow match. Can you tell me what to expect during my bone marrow transplantprocedure?

DEAR READER: A bone marrow transplant can be a life-saving treatment. To understand how it works, you need to understand how blood cells are created. And what leukemiais.

Your blood contains red and white blood cells. There are several types of white blood cells, which are a key part of your immune system. All your blood cells are made by blood stem cells, which live primarily in the spongy center of your bigbones.

In the years before you got leukemia, each of your blood cells was programmed to live for a while, and then to die only to be replaced by new, youngcells.

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Ask Dr. K: Bone marrow can save a life - Tue, 03 Mar 2015 PST