Archive for the ‘Bone Marrow Stem Cells’ Category

May 15, 2014 This shows C57BL/6 mice, the common strain of laboratory mouse, in a Cambridge animal house. This breed of animal was used in the 'heavy mouse' study. Credit: University of Cambridge

Scientists have created a 'heavy' mouse, the world's first animal enriched with heavy but non-radioactive isotopes - enabling them to capture in unprecedented detail the molecular structure of natural tissue by reading the magnetism inherent in the isotopes.

This data has been used to grow biological tissue in the lab practically identical to native tissue, which can be manipulated and analysed in ways impossible for natural samples. Researchers say the approach has huge potential for scientific and medical breakthroughs: lab-grown tissue could be used to replace heart valves, for example.

In fact, with their earliest research on the new in vitro tissue, the team have discovered that poly(ADP ribose) (PAR) a molecule believed to only exist inside a cell for the purpose of repairing DNA not only travels outside cells but may trigger bone mineralisation.

"It was crazy to see PAR behaving in this way; it took six months of detailed analysis and many more experiments to convince ourselves," said Dr Melinda Duer from Cambridge's Department of Chemistry, who led the study, published today in the journal Science.

"I think this is just the first of many discoveries that will stem from the heavy mouse. Isotope-enriched proteins and cells are fairly commonplace now, but the leap to a whole animal is a big one.

"The heavier nuclei in the carbon isotopes changes the rate of chemical reactions, and many people myself initially included didn't believe you could enrich a whole animal with them. But it worked beautifully," she said.

The research, funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council and British Heart Foundation, could lead to improved success rates for medical implants and reduce the need for animals in research, as well as opening up an entirely new approach for biochemical investigation.

The team used a technique called Nuclear Magnetic Resonance spectroscopy (NMR) that can read the magnetic nuclei found in certain isotopes, such as carbon-13 which has one neutron more than most carbon.

But carbon-13 makes up only 1% of the carbon in our bodies, nowhere near enough to do useful NMR. However, the researchers managed to get the carbon of a mouse up to 20% carbon-13.

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First 'heavy mouse' leads to first lab-grown tissue mapped from atomic life

Bone Marrow Stem Cells

Dr. Steenblock performing a bone marrow stem cell treatment

The latest discovery in the world of natural medical therapies is STEM CELLS!

You have within you a powerful set of tools to repair your body and keep you healthy. The future of medicine is NOT better drugs but better use and application of your bodys own stem cells. As of now stem cell-rich tissue can be extracted from your hip with virtually no discomfort and used to help restore your body. This opens up an exciting new horizon in terms of preventing and treating disease and tackling the symptoms of aging if not aging itself. Already, patients are returning to Dr. Steenblock for additional bone marrow treatments because they are seeing that their gray or white hair is turning back to its original color. Their skin not infrequently looks younger too and they report having more energy and less arthritic aches and pains!

Over the past six years, Dr. Steenblock and his medical team have done over 2,000 bone marrow procedures with much success. Contrary to the conventional painful methods used, he and his colleagues have developed an almost painless approach to extract bone marrow and the hidden trove of stem cells contained within. Using the patients own bone marrow rather than someone elses has totally eliminated the risk of graft versus host disease and the need for toxic chemotherapy to suppress the immune system. Since Dr. Steenblock is merely transferring stem cells from a persons bones into their blood stream there is never an allergic or rejection type of reaction since these are the patients own cells. The results have at times been phenomenal especially for those under 40 and for those who are really physically fit and walk or run a lot every day. The stronger an individuals bones are the better the bone marrow stem cells are. Even children that are paralyzed and who do not put weight on their legs are generally not going to have good results unless add another facet is added to their treatment. For those people who do not walk much, are not physically fit and who are older than 40, Dr. Steenblock generally recommends that they undergo five successive daily injections of a natural bone marrow mobilizer called Neupogen (Filgrastim) beginning 19 days before they come to his office for their bone marrow treatment(s). The ideal treatment for anyone with a complicated health issue is to first have certain tests done to determine if they have any problems that could interfere with the treatments success. These tests include standard blood tests for anemia, hormones, metabolism, infections, autoimmunity, inflammation and special tests for heavy metal poisons and intestinal infections and infestations. If problems are discovered with these tests then the underlying problem should be corrected before beginning the process of using the Neupogen and the scheduling of the bone marrow treatment(s). The word marrows is pleural intentionally because a person in general has a better result if more stem cells are given. By having two bone marrow procedures on successive days an individual will double the number of stem cells they receive. For example, if a 60 year old sedentary person comes in and does only one bone marrow treatment Dr. Steenblock will generally extract about 400 milliliters of stem cell-rich bone marrow (buffy coat after centrifugation) which is put directly back into the blood stream by intravenous means. The number of active, healthy stem cells in this simple procedure may only be 100 million and these in general will not be as healthy or as active as they will be if the patient first has any known or potential impediments to their post-infusion activity eliminated and they are given the 5 daily injections of Neupogen. When a person comes to the clinic 14 days after their last Neupogen injection, that same 400 ml of bone marrow will have somewhere between 500 and 1000 million stem cells and then if they repeat the process the next day they will get another 500-1000 million stem cells. By this combination of eradicating infections, correcting other problems discovered using our testing, and then using Neupogen followed by two bone marrow treatments patients will be receiving well over a billion stem cells.

Benefits of Bone Marrow Stem Cells

What is the secret behind the successes Dr. Steenblock has seen with the bone marrow treatments? While bone marrow transplants have been done for the past 50 years for cancer patients and those with blood disorders, the whole bone marrow procedure done by Dr. Steenblock is different because it is so SIMPLE! He uses a persons own bone marrow and instead of isolating one type of stem cell, he takes and uses the whole raw bone marrow which contains a rich variety of stem and progenitor cells. In fact, bone marrow is rich in two different types of stem cells: One type turns into blood cells, blood vessels, and cells of the immune system and are called hematopoietic stem cells (heme meaning blood-related). The other type of stem cell is the support (stromal or mesenchymal) stem cell that produces bone, fat, tendons, skin, muscles and connective tissue. Recent research shows that these hematopoietic and the support stem cells are also able to divide into all types of brain cells, including glial cells (white matter) and neurons (gray matter). The bone marrow also contains retinal progenitor cells and several patients have actually commented on how their vision improved as a side benefit of their bone marrow procedure. These two type of stem cells work better together in a ratio of one hematopoietic to 4 to 8 support (stromal or mesenchymal) stem cells which is the ratio found normally in most peoples bone marrow.

In regard to its anti-aging effects, the bone marrow contains primitive progenitor cells that are associated with the early development of the fetus. These primitive cells reside dormant deep inside each of our bones and sport a virginal profile from early development in that these stem cells are generally resting and not active. This inactivity protects them from chemicals or stresses that induce mutations such as occurs in those bone marrow stem cells that are located in the more superficial areas of the bone which are constantly making red and white blood cells. When these primitive, more pure cells are released into a persons system, there can be a revitalization of the body that physiologically sets the clock back in-a-way since these stem cells get into all parts of the body and produce more growth factors than would otherwise be possible. It is this increase in growth factors that induces the regenerative processes. For those that can afford it Dr. Steenblock uses growth factors oriented toward improving the organs that are diseased. For example, if a patients chief problem is their lungs then he may suggest some lung growth factors to be taken right along with the Neupogen and then continued for 6 weeks to help push the stem cells into becoming more like lung tissue cells.

Bottom line: Bone marrow stem cells have the potential to repair damaged tissues and organs. Whether a person wants an anti-aging treatment or needs the procedure to repair damage in joints, liver, kidneys, heart or brain, bone marrow transplants is an efficient and sure way to flood their body with stem cells.

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Bone Marrow Stem Cells - Dr. Steenblock- Regenerative Medicine

CBS Pittsburgh (con't)

Affordable Care Act Updates: CBSPittsburgh.com/ACA

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PITTSBURGH (KDKA) How about re-growing your own cartilage and tissue with your own stem cells?

More and more doctors are offering this to patients with damaged joints.

Bob Teagarden was used to running up to 40 miles a week, but he was in pain.

I had a tightness in the middle of my foot, he said.

He thought he had a stress fracture. But, he actually needed surgery for worn away cartilage in his ankle.

I was mad. I was mad and frustrated because I thought I was going to run a fast half-marathon, he said. At that point, I thought I was pretty much done running. I thought that was the end of my running career.

His doctor proposed taking stem cells from bone marrow in his hip, and putting them into the hole, or defect, in the cartilage. The idea is to grow new tissue there. One of the biggest challenges is keeping those cells in place so that tissue has a chance to grow.

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Could Stem Cells Be Used To Treat Cartilage Damage?

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) --

"Grace is what's carried me through this," Minch told Ivanhoe.

Ten years ago, at just 49, the choir singer and her husband were told she would need a quadruple bypass.

"Now we are at the point where my heart is severely damaged and nothing is really helping," Minch said.

Doctors said a heart transplant was her only option, but she'll soon find out if she'll be accepted into a new trial that could use her own stem cells to help repair the once thought irreversible damage, "or even create new blood vessels within areas of the heart that have been damaged," Jon George, MD, Interventional Cardiologist, Temple University School of Medicine, told Ivanhoe.

First, stem cells are taken from a patient's bone marrow. Then using a special catheter and 3D mapping tool, the cells are injected directly into the damaged tissue.

"We have results from animal data that show blood vessels regrow in the patients that actually get stem cell therapy," Dr. George said.

It's a possible answer to Debbie's prayers.

Temple University Hospital is currently pre-screening patients for the trial. For more information, call 215-707-5340.

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Stem Cells to The Rescue: Repairing The Hearts

Vancouver, British Columbia (PRWEB) May 12, 2014

STEMCELL Technologies Inc. has just released NEW MesenCult Proliferation Kit with MesenPure (Mouse), a novel cell culture medium to advance research on mouse mesenchymal stem and progenitor cells (MSCs).

When added to MesenCult medium, MesenPure supplement enriches mouse bone marrow- or compact bone-derived MSC cultures by reducing the number of hematopoietic cells. Culturing with MesenPure eliminates the time-intensive serial passaging steps and frequent cell culture medium changes normally required to decrease the unwanted hematopoietic cell population typically present in MSC cultures. Cultures treated with MesenPure appear homogeneous and mostly devoid of hematopoietic cells as early as passage zero and also contain increased numbers of mesenchymal stem cells that display more robust differentiation.

This easy-to-use and versatile kit, may save researchers from having to wait several weeks for homogeneous MSC cultures, explains Dr. Arthur Sampaio, Senior Scientist at STEMCELL Technologies. But, I think the greatest advantage to using MesenPure may be the ability to use lower-passage cultures. It has been shown that over time, extended passaging can bring about detrimental changes to MSCs, such as a loss of phenotype, senescence, and a decrease in the homing ability and differentiation potential of the cells. By using the MesenCult Proliferation Kit with MesenPure, researchers will be able to study lower passage mouse MSCs, increasing their ability to evaluate the true potential of these cells.

For more information or to request a free sample, please visit http://www.stemcell.com/freemesenpure.

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STEMCELL Technologies Inc. Launches Novel Cell Culture Medium to Advance Research on Mouse Mesenchymal Stem and ...

Neurosurgeon and stem cell researcher, Joseph Ciacci M.D. will soon start a clinical trial of stem cells to treat paralysis from spinal cord injury.

After many years of waiting, a flood of new regenerative-cell therapies is finally reaching patients. Hundreds of clinical trials for these experimental treatments are under way across the world.

In the United States, 774 trials with stem or other regenerative cells are open to patients or soon will be, according to clinicaltrials.gov, which lists government-approved clinical testing in this country and abroad. Of that total, 147 are taking place in California.

One of the most difficult tests involving stem cells repairing spinal-cord damage that has caused complete loss of movement and sensation below the injury site is set to begin soon at UC San Diego.

Patients in that study will get injections of fetal-derived neural stem cells in and around the injury site, along with physical therapy and immune-system drugs in case theres a reaction to the stem cells. The trial will use a device that delivers precisely targeted micro-injections of cells to the targeted areas.

The clinical trial will test safety and look for early signs of efficacy, said Dr. Joseph Ciacci, a UC San Diego neurosurgeon leading the testing.

A study published a year ago found that in rats with spinal-cord injuries, the neural stem cells significantly improved movement in the hind paws. Ciacci, who co-authored that study, saw the cells proliferate and fill in a spinal-cord cavity that had resulted from the injuries. Such results supported testing the therapy in people, he said, but he declined to say whether he expected to see any improvement in those patients.

I really dont know, because its not been done, Ciacci said.

The clinical trial is expected to start in June. Its intended for adults 18 to 65 years old who suffered their injury at least one year ago but no more than two years ago. For more information, visit utsandiego.com/ucsdspinal or call Amber Faulise at (858) 657-5175.

Another type of stem cells, mesenchymal stromal, might be described as the duct tape of regenerative cells. Generally derived from bone marrow, they are being tested for treatment of pulmonary fibrosis, multiple sclerosis, kidney transplants, liver cirrhosis, osteoarthritis of the knee, stroke and many other conditions. Worldwide, 226 trials are being conducted with these cells, including 45 in the U.S. and 12 in California, according to clinicaltrials.gov.

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Stem cell treatments reaching patients

Standing next to each other, Kayla Saikaly and Adi Versano looked like sisters. Their families marveled at the similarities both with dark hair and wearing peach-colored dresses. But not only are they unrelated, they live half a world apart.

"They are sisters, genetically," said Saikaly's mother, Samar.

Saikaly, 17, and Versano, 27, met for the first time Friday at City of Hope hospital in Duarte. Saikaly, who lives in Cerritos, suffers from aplastic anemia, a condition in which the bone marrow doesn't produce enough blood cells and cripples the immune system. Two years ago, her doctors told her that she needed a bone marrow transplant.

When neither her parents nor her brother were a match, a search in the international bone marrow registry found a donor in Israel Versano. The transplant was successful, and Saikaly is healthy and back in school.

Recipients in the United States aren't allowed to learn their donor's identity or communicate with them for a year. And even when they can talk to them, they often are separated by distance and don't meet. A tearful Saikaly said she was thrilled that Versano had come from Israel to meet her.

"I think it's important because you can at least say thank you, because it's the least you can do because there's no way you'll ever be able to repay them for what they did for you," Saikaly said.

Versano said that being a donor is "the most important thing you can do." Versano is an assistant kindergarten teacher who is studying to be a special education teacher. The hospital paid for her to come to California.

City of Hope has been hosting yearly reunions for bone marrow, stem cell and cord blood transplant recipients, donors and their families. About 4,000 people attended Friday's event, which featured music, face painting, a comedy show, a moon bounce, a popcorn stand and cartoonists drawing people's portraits.

The hundreds of transplant recipients who attended wore large buttons that displayed the time that has elapsed since their successful transplants. Volunteers cheered as they registered the patients and wrote the numbers on the buttons: "20 years! 100 days! 6 months!" People at the event noted the times on others' buttons, looking for people who have survived longer than themselves or their loved ones.

Some transplant recipients attended the event with their donors; others came with their family and have never met their "genetic twin."

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City of Hope hosts reunion of bone marrow donors, recipients

Siblings matches traveled from Ethiopia

Behaylu Barry of Stratham, left, poses with his biological sister, Eden, 9, and brother Rediat, 16, both from Ethiopia, at his home in New Hampshire. Eden and Rediat are matches for Behaylus life-saving bone marrow transplant and they will be tested at Boston Childrens Hospital.Deb Cram/dcram@seacoastonline.com

STRATHAM After weeks of anticipation and a roller coaster of emotions, the countdown is on for 13-year-old Behaylu Barry, who is scheduled to undergo a potentially life-saving bone marrow transplant on Monday.

Behaylu was admitted to Boston Children's Hospital last Monday to prepare for the transplant doctors hope will cure his severe aplastic anemia a disease that struck in February and forced his adoptive family from Stratham to scramble to find a bone marrow donor back in his native Ethiopia.

"He's doing very well. He keeps a very strong, positive attitude," said his adoptive father, Aidan Barry.

Behaylu's 16-year-old brother, Rediat Getachew, was a perfect match and will be the donor for the transplant.

Their sister, Eden, 9, was also a match.

Rediat and Eden arrived in New Hampshire on April 22 in anticipation of the transplant. Both live in Ethiopia and had never left their village until word of Behaylu's illness reached them and they provided cheek swabs to see if they were a match for their brother, who was the only child of six to be put up for adoption by his birth parents.

Rediat and Eden were brought to the United States knowing that only one would be selected as the donor.

After an evaluation, Aidan Barry said doctors decided Rediat should be the donor because of his age and size.

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Behaylu Barry's brother to donate bone marrow for transplant

Behaylu Barry's procedure is Monday

Behaylu Barry of Stratham, left, poses with his biological sister, Eden, 9, and brother Rediat, 16, both from Ethiopia, at his home in New Hampshire. Eden and Rediat are matches for Behaylus life-saving bone marrow transplant and they will be tested at Boston Childrens Hospital.Deb Cram/dcram@seacoastonline.com

STRATHAM After weeks of anticipation and a roller coaster of emotions, the countdown is on for 13-year-old Behaylu Barry, who is scheduled to undergo a potentially life-saving bone marrow transplant on Monday.

Behaylu was admitted to Boston Children's Hospital last Monday to prepare for the transplant doctors hope will cure his severe aplastic anemia a disease that struck in February and forced his adoptive family from Stratham to scramble to find a bone marrow donor back in his native Ethiopia.

"He's doing very well. He keeps a very strong, positive attitude," said his adoptive father, Aidan Barry.

Behaylu's 16-year-old brother, Rediat Getachew, was a perfect match and will be the donor for the transplant.

Their sister, Eden, 9, was also a match.

Rediat and Eden arrived in New Hampshire on April 22 in anticipation of the transplant. Both live in Ethiopia and had never left their village until word of Behaylu's illness reached them and they provided cheek swabs to see if they were a match for their brother, who was the only child of six to be put up for adoption by his birth parents.

Rediat and Eden were brought to the United States knowing that only one would be selected as the donor.

After an evaluation, Aidan Barry said doctors decided Rediat should be the donor because of his age and size.

Link:
Boy to receive bone marrow transplant

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

7-May-2014

Contact: Nick Miller nicholas.miller@cchmc.org 513-803-6035 Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center

CINCINNATI A new study in Nature challenges research data that form the scientific basis of clinical trials in which heart attack patients are injected with stem cells to try and regenerate damaged heart tissue.

Researchers at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI), report May 7 that cardiac stem cells used in ongoing clinical trials which express a protein marker called c-kit do not regenerate contractile heart muscle cells at high enough rates to justify their use for treatment.

Including collaboration from researchers at Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute in Los Angeles and the University of Minnesota's Lillehei Heart Institute, the study uncovers new evidence in what has become a contentious debate in the field of cardiac regeneration, according to Jeffery Molkentin, PhD, study principal investigator and a cardiovascular molecular biologist and HHMI investigator at the Cincinnati Children's Heart Institute.

"Our data suggest any potential benefit from injecting c-kit-positive cells into the hearts of patients is not because they generate new contractile cells called cardiomyocytes," Molkentin said. "Caution is warranted in further clinical testing of this method until the mechanisms in play here are better defined or we are able to dramatically enhance the potential of these cells to generate cardiomyocytes."

Numerous heart attack patients have already been treated with c-kit-positive stem cells that are removed from healthy regions of a damaged heart then processed in a laboratory, Molkentin explained. After processing, the cells are then injected into these patients' hearts. The experimental treatment is based largely on preclinical studies in rats and mice suggesting that c-kit-positive stem cells completely regenerate myocardial cells and heart muscle. Thousands of patients have also previously undergone a similar procedure for their hearts but with bone marrow stem cells.

Molkentin and his colleagues report those previous preclinical studies in rodents do not reflect what really occurs within the heart after injury, where internal regenerative capacity is almost non-existent. Molkentin also said that combined data from multiple clinical trials testing this type of treatment show most patients experienced a roughly 3-5 percent improvement in heart ejection fraction a measurement of how forcefully the heart pumps blood. Data in the current Nature study suggest this small benefit may come from the ability of c-kit-positive stem cells in heart to cause the growth of capillaries, which improves circulation within the organ, but not by generating new cardiomyocytes.

"What we show in our study is that c-kit-positive stem cells from the heart like to make endothelial cells that form capillaries. But in their natural environment in the heart, these c-kit positive cells do not like to make cardiomyocytes," Molkentin said. "They will produce cardiomyocytes, but at rates so low roughly one in every 3,000 cells it becomes meaningless."

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Study urges caution in stem cell clinical trials for heart attack patients

Bone marrow stem cells are special cells within the bone marrow that can form into any type of blood cell when triggered. This allows the bone marrow to supply blood cells to the body as they are needed. The bone marrow acts as a sort of factory or manufacturing station for blood cells, using these undifferentiated stem cells as raw material for white blood cells, red blood cells, and platelets.

Doctors and scientists have known that bone marrow stem cells can grow into any type of blood cell. Research has shown, however, that these cells also can develop into other types of cells such as cardiac cells, skin cells, and even muscle cells. This research indicates that bone marrow stem cells might be able to be used to treat a number of diseases that are not necessarily related to blood.

Bone marrow stem cells are used to treat several blood-based diseases. Perhaps the best known of these treatments is the bone marrow transplant, commonly used to treat leukemia and lymphoma. In these forms of cancer, intense radiation therapy or chemotherapy destroys the bone marrow cells, which in this case have begun to malfunction. The malfunctioning bone marrow is then replaced with cells from a bone marrow donor. In some cases, a patient may donate blood cells but the cells must be cancer-free for the treatment to be effective; this process is referred to as autologous bone marrow.

For a bone marrow donation to be effective, the blood type of the donor and other factors typically must be evaluated and matched to that of the patient. The more similar characteristics that exist between patient and donor, the more likely the transplant is to be successful. Because of this, close relatives of the patient are more likely to be able to provide a compatible donation. Donations also can come from non-related people, as well.

It is possible to be tested for these important factors ahead of time and be placed on a list of possible donors. In cases where bone marrow stem cells are needed for a transplant, individuals on the list will be evaluated to look for a match with the patient. Like blood banks, bone marrow donations lists are a vital tool to help those afflicted with certain types of devastating diseases. As scientific research continues, more uses for bone marrow stem cells are likely to surface, some of which could revolutionize modern medicine.

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What Are Bone Marrow Stem Cells? (with pictures)

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -

Hemorrhagic stroke is responsible for more than 30 percent of all stroke deaths. It happens when a weakened blood vessel ruptures and bleeds into the brain.

Its something Jon Galvan experienced five years ago when he almost died from a hemorrhagic stroke while at work.

"I was typing away and I felt a pop in my head," Galvan said.

He was able to recover, but Dr. Abba Zubair, medical director of transfusion medicine and stem cell therapy at Mayo Clinic, Florida, said not everyone is as fortunate.

"If it happens, you either recover completely or die," Zubair said. "Thats what killed my mother."

Zubair said he wants to send bone marrow derived stem cells to the international space station.

"Based on our experience with bone marrow transplant, you need about 200 to 500 million cells," Zubair said.

But conventionally grown stem cells take a month. Experiments on earth have shown that stem cells will grow faster in less gravity.

"Five to ten times faster, but it could be more," Zubair said.

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Health Beat: Growing stem cells in space: Medicine's next big thing?

May 05, 2014 This is a microscopic view of the engineered bone with an opening exposing the internal trabecular bony network, overlaid with colored images of blood cells and a supportive vascular network that fill the open spaces in the bone marrow-on-a-chip. Credit: Harvard's Wyss Institute

The latest organ-on-a-chip from Harvard's Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering reproduces the structure, functions and cellular make-up of bone marrow, a complex tissue that until now could only be studied intact in living animals, Institute researchers report in the May 4, 2014, online issue of Nature Methods. The device, dubbed "bone marrow-on-a-chip," gives scientists a much-needed new tool to test the effects of new drugs and toxic agents on whole bone marrow.

Specifically, the device could be used to develop safe and effective strategies to prevent or treat radiation's lethal effects on bone marrow without resorting to animal testing, a challenge being pursued at the Institute with funding from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). In an initial test, the engineered bone marrow, like human marrow, withered in response to radiation unless a drug known to prevent radiation poisoning was present.

The bone marrow-on-a-chip could also be used in the future to maintain a cancer patient's own marrow temporarily while he or she underwent marrow-damaging treatments such as radiation therapy or high-dose chemotherapy.

"Bone marrow is an incredibly complex organ that is responsible for producing all of the blood cell types in our body, and our bone marrow chips are able to recapitulate this complexity in its entirety and maintain it in a functional form in vitro," said Don Ingber, M.D., Ph.D., Founding Director of the Wyss Institute, Judah Folkman Professor of Vascular Biology at Harvard Medical School and Boston Children's Hospital, Professor of Bioengineering at the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, and senior author of the paper.

Ingber leads a large effort to develop human organs-on-chipssmall microfluidic devices that mimic the physiology of living organs. So far Wyss Institute teams have built lung, heart, kidney, and gut chips that reproduce key aspects of organ function, and they have more organs-on-chips in the works. The technology has been recognized internationally for its potential to replace animal testing of new drugs and environmental toxins, and as a new way for scientists to model human disease.

To build organ chips, in the past Wyss teams have combined multiple types of cells from an organ on a plastic microfluidic device, while steadily supplying nutrients, removing waste, and applying mechanical forces the tissues would face in the body. But bone marrow is so complex that they needed a new approach to mimic organ function.

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This complexity arises because bone marrow has an integral relationship with bone. Marrow sits inside trabecular bonea solid-looking type of bone with a porous, honeycombed interior. Throughout the honeycomb, conditions vary. Some areas are warmer, some cooler; some are oxygen-rich, others oxygen-starved, and the dozen or so cell types each have their own preferred spots. To add complexity, bone marrow cells communicate with each other by secreting and sensing a variety of biomolecules, which act locally to tell them whether to live, die, specialize or multiply.

Rather than trying to reproduce such a complex structure cell by cell, the researchers enlisted mice to do it.

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Bone marrow-on-a-chip unveiled

FAITH Stem Cell Research and Human Cloning by: FR. GAMMY TULABING I would like to share with you this article from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Questions and Answers

What is a stem cell?

A stem cell is a relatively unspecia-lized cell that, when it divides, can do two things: make another cell like itself, or make any of a number of cells with more specialized functions. For example, just one kind of stem cell in our blood can make new red blood cells, or white blood cells, or other kindsdepending on what the body needs. These cells are like the stem of a plant that spreads out in different directions as it grows.

Is the Catholic Church opposed to all stem cell research?

Not at all. Most stem cell research uses cells obtained from adult tissue, umbilical cord blood, and other sources that pose no moral problem. Useful stem cells have been found in bone marrow, blood, muscle, fat, nerves, and even in the pulp of baby teeth. Some of these cells are already being used to treat people with a wide variety of diseases.

Why is the Church opposed to stem cell research using the embryo?

Because harvesting these stem cells kills the living human embryo. The church opposes the direct destruction of innocent human life for any purpose, including research.

If some human embryos will remain in frozen storage and ultimately be discarded anyway, why is it wrong to try to get some good out of them?

In the end, we will all die anyway, but that gives no one a right to kill us. In any case, these embryos will not die because they are inherently unable to survive, but because others are choosing to hand them over for destructive research instead of letting them implant in their mothers womb. One wrong choice does not justify an additional wrong choice to kill them for research, much less a choice to make tax payers support such destruction. The idea of experimenting on human beings because they may die anyway also poses a grave threat to convicted prisoners, terminally ill patients, and others.

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Questions and Answers

Stem cells could be used to treat heart disease

6:30am Friday 2nd May 2014 in News

STEM cells taken from bone marrow could be used to treat heart disease by injecting them into damaged tissue, early results show.

Stem cells are cells in the body which have not yet specialised and can become any type.

Oxford University scientists hailed the encouraging evidence in results of 26 small clinical trails involving 1,255 people.

A year or more after treatment, just three per cent of people had died, compared with 15 per cent of people who had not had the procedure.

Hospital readmissions stood at only two in 100 for those testing out the new treatment.

Dr Enca Martin-Rendon, who carried out the study with the Cochrane Heart Review Group, said larger studies would be carried out to get more conclusive evidence.

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Stem cells could be used to treat heart disease

May 1, 2014

Image Caption: The continuous, necessary production of blood cells, including these red blood cells captured in a scanning micrograph by Thomas Deerinck, is the responsibility of hematopoietic stem cells found in bone marrow. Credit: Thomas Deerinck, UC San Diego

University of California San Diego

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine report that a protein called beta-catenin plays a critical, and previously unappreciated, role in promoting recovery of stricken hematopoietic stem cells after radiation exposure.

The findings, published in the May 1 issue of Genes and Development, provide a new understanding of how radiation impacts cellular and molecular processes, but perhaps more importantly, they suggest new possibilities for improving hematopoietic stem cell regeneration in the bone marrow following cancer radiation treatment.

Ionizing radiation exposure accidental or deliberate can be fatal due to widespread destruction of hematopoietic stem cells, the cells in the bone marrow that give rise to all blood cells. A number of cancer treatments involve irradiating malignancies, essentially destroying all exposed blood cells, followed by transplantation of replacement stem cells to rebuild blood stores. The effectiveness of these treatments depends upon how well the replacement hematopoietic stem cells do their job.

In their new paper, principal investigator Tannishtha Reya, PhD, professor in the department of pharmacology, and colleagues used mouse models to show that radiation exposure triggers activation of a fundamental cellular signaling pathway called Wnt in hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells.

The Wnt pathway and its key mediator, beta catenin, are critical for embryonic development and establishment of the body plan, said Reya. In addition, the Wnt pathway is activated in stem cells from many tissues and is needed for their continued maintenance.

The researchers found that mice deficient in beta-catenin lacked the ability to activate canonical Wnt signaling and suffered from impaired hematopoietic stem cell regeneration and bone marrow recovery after radiation. Specifically, mouse hematopoietic stem cells without beta-catenin could not suppress the production of oxidative stress molecules that damage cell structures. As a result, they could not recover effectively after radiation or chemotherapy.

Our work shows that Wnt signaling is important in the mammalian hematopoietic system, and is critical for recovery from chemotherapy and radiation, Reya said. While these therapies can be life-saving, they take a heavy toll on the hematopoietic system from which the patient may not always recover.

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Protein Discovery Could Boost Efficacy Of Bone Marrow Replacement Treatments

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Newswise Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine report that a protein called beta-catenin plays a critical, and previously unappreciated, role in promoting recovery of stricken hematopoietic stem cells after radiation exposure.

The findings, published in the May 1 issue of Genes and Development, provide a new understanding of how radiation impacts cellular and molecular processes, but perhaps more importantly, they suggest new possibilities for improving hematopoietic stem cell regeneration in the bone marrow following cancer radiation treatment.

Ionizing radiation exposure accidental or deliberate can be fatal due to widespread destruction of hematopoietic stem cells, the cells in the bone marrow that give rise to all blood cells. A number of cancer treatments involve irradiating malignancies, essentially destroying all exposed blood cells, followed by transplantation of replacement stem cells to rebuild blood stores. The effectiveness of these treatments depends upon how well the replacement hematopoietic stem cells do their job.

In their new paper, principal investigator Tannishtha Reya, PhD, professor in the department of pharmacology, and colleagues used mouse models to show that radiation exposure triggers activation of a fundamental cellular signaling pathway called Wnt in hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells.

The Wnt pathway and its key mediator, beta catenin, are critical for embryonic development and establishment of the body plan, said Reya. In addition, the Wnt pathway is activated in stem cells from many tissues and is needed for their continued maintenance.

The researchers found that mice deficient in beta-catenin lacked the ability to activate canonical Wnt signaling and suffered from impaired hematopoietic stem cell regeneration and bone marrow recovery after radiation. Specifically, mouse hematopoietic stem cells without beta-catenin could not suppress the production of oxidative stress molecules that damage cell structures. As a result, they could not recover effectively after radiation or chemotherapy.

Our work shows that Wnt signaling is important in the mammalian hematopoietic system, and is critical for recovery from chemotherapy and radiation, Reya said. While these therapies can be life-saving, they take a heavy toll on the hematopoietic system from which the patient may not always recover.

The findings have significant clinical implications.

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Damage Control: Recovering From Radiation and Chemotherapy

Researchers at Columbia Engineering announced today that they have successfully grown fully functional human cartilage in vitro from human stem cells derived from bone marrow tissue. Their study, which demonstrates new ways to better mimic the enormous complexity of tissue development, regeneration, and disease, is published in the April 28 Early Online edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

"We've been able -- for the first time -- to generate fully functional human cartilage from mesenchymal stem cells by mimicking in vitro the developmental process of mesenchymal condensation," says Gordana Vunjak-Novakovic, who led the study and is the Mikati Foundation Professor of Biomedical Engineering at Columbia Engineering and professor of medical sciences. "This could have clinical impact, as this cartilage can be used to repair a cartilage defect, or in combination with bone in a composite graft grown in lab for more complex tissue reconstruction."

For more than 20 years, researchers have unofficially called cartilage the "official tissue of tissue engineering," Vunjak-Novakovic observes. Many groups studied cartilage as an apparently simple tissue: one single cell type, no blood vessels or nerves, a tissue built for bearing loads while protecting bone ends in the joints. While there has been great success in engineering pieces of cartilage using young animal cells, no one has, until now, been able to reproduce these results using adult human stem cells from bone marrow or fat, the most practical stem cell source. Vunjak-Novakovic's team succeeded in growing cartilage with physiologic architecture and strength by radically changing the tissue-engineering approach.

The general approach to cartilage tissue engineering has been to place cells into a hydrogel and culture them in the presence of nutrients and growth factors and sometimes also mechanical loading. But using this technique with adult human stem cells has invariably produced mechanically weak cartilage. So Vunjak-Novakovic and her team, who have had a longstanding interest in skeletal tissue engineering, wondered if a method resembling the normal development of the skeleton could lead to a higher quality of cartilage.

Sarindr Bhumiratana, postdoctoral fellow in Vunjak-Novakovic's Laboratory for Stem Cells and Tissue Engineering, came up with a new approach: inducing the mesenchymal stem cells to undergo a condensation stage as they do in the body before starting to make cartilage. He discovered that this simple but major departure from how things were usually? being done resulted in a quality of human cartilage not seen before.

Gerard Ateshian, Andrew Walz Professor of Mechanical Engineering, professor of biomedical engineering, and chair of the Department of Mechanical Engineering, and his PhD student, Sevan Oungoulian, helped perform measurements showing that the lubricative property and compressive strength -- the two important functional properties -- of the tissue-engineered cartilage approached those of native cartilage. The researchers then used their method to regenerate large pieces of anatomically shaped and mechanically strong cartilage over the bone, and to repair defects in cartilage.

"Our whole approach to tissue engineering is biomimetic in nature, which means that our engineering designs are defined by biological principles," Vunjak-Novakovic notes. "This approach has been effective in improving the quality of many engineered tissues -- from bone to heart. Still, we were really surprised to see that our cartilage, grown by mimicking some aspects of biological development, was as strong as 'normal' human cartilage."

The team plans next to test whether the engineered cartilage tissue maintains its structure and long-term function when implanted into a defect.

"This is a very exciting time for tissue engineers," says Vunjak-Novakovic. "Stem cells are transforming the future of medicine, offering ways to overcome some of the human body's fundamental limitations. We bioengineers are now working with stem cell scientists and clinicians to develop technologies that will make this dream possible. This project is a wonderful example that we need to 'think as a cell' to find out how exactly to coax the cells into making a functional human tissue of a specific kind. It's emblematic of the progress being driven by the exceptional young talent we have among our postdocs and students at Columbia Engineering."

The study was funded by the National Institutes of Health (National Institute for Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering, National Institute for Dental and Craniofacial Research, and National Institute for arthritis and musculoskeletal diseases).

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Engineers grow functional human cartilage in lab

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Newswise New York, NYApril 30, 2014Researchers at Columbia Engineering announced today that they have successfully grown fully functional human cartilage in vitro from human stem cells derived from bone marrow tissue. Their study, which demonstrates new ways to better mimic the enormous complexity of tissue development, regeneration, and disease, is published in the April 28 Early Online edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

Weve been ablefor the first timeto generate fully functional human cartilage from mesenchymal stem cells by mimicking in vitro the developmental process of mesenchymal condensation, says Gordana Vunjak-Novakovic, who led the study and is the Mikati Foundation Professor of Biomedical Engineering at Columbia Engineering and professor of medical sciences. This could have clinical impact, as this cartilage can be used to repair a cartilage defect, or in combination with bone in a composite graft grown in lab for more complex tissue reconstruction.

For more than 20 years, researchers have unofficially called cartilage the official tissue of tissue engineering, Vunjak-Novakovic observes. Many groups studied cartilage as an apparently simple tissue: one single cell type, no blood vessels or nerves, a tissue built for bearing loads while protecting bone ends in the joints. While there has been great success in engineering pieces of cartilage using young animal cells, no one has, until now, been able to reproduce these results using adult human stem cells from bone marrow or fat, the most practical stem cell source. Vunjak-Novakovics team succeeded in growing cartilage with physiologic architecture and strength by radically changing the tissue-engineering approach.

The general approach to cartilage tissue engineering has been to place cells into a hydrogel and culture them in the presence of nutrients and growth factors and sometimes also mechanical loading. But using this technique with adult human stem cells has invariably produced mechanically weak cartilage. So Vunjak-Novakovic and her team, who have had a longstanding interest in skeletal tissue engineering, wondered if a method resembling the normal development of the skeleton could lead to a higher quality of cartilage.

Sarindr Bhumiratana, postdoctoral fellow in Vunjak-Novakovics Laboratory for Stem Cells and Tissue Engineering, came up with a new approach: inducing the mesenchymal stem cells to undergo a condensation stage as they do in the body before starting to make cartilage. He discovered that this simple but major departure from how things were usually? being done resulted in a quality of human cartilage not seen before.

Gerard Ateshian, Andrew Walz Professor of Mechanical Engineering, professor of biomedical engineering, and chair of the Department of Mechanical Engineering, and his PhD student, Sevan Oungoulian, helped perform measurements showing that the lubricative property and compressive strengththe two important functional propertiesof the tissue-engineered cartilage approached those of native cartilage. The researchers then used their method to regenerate large pieces of anatomically shaped and mechanically strong cartilage over the bone, and to repair defects in cartilage.

Our whole approach to tissue engineering is biomimetic in nature, which means that our engineering designs are defined by biological principles, Vunjak-Novakovic notes. This approach has been effective in improving the quality of many engineered tissuesfrom bone to heart. Still, we were really surprised to see that our cartilage, grown by mimicking some aspects of biological development, was as strong as normal human cartilage.

The team plans next to test whether the engineered cartilage tissue maintains its structure and long-term function when implanted into a defect.

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Columbia Engineers Grow Functional Human Cartilage in Lab

Written by Lidia Dinkova on April 30, 2014

After 15 years of University of Miami research on a unique adult bone marrow-derived stem cell and on a process that leaves the cell in a relatively pure form, the university and its tissue bank have partnered with a Marietta, GA, biomedical company to make the stem cell called the MIAMI cell commercially available in July.

Vivex Biomedical Inc. invested in the research and development of the cell and licensed the technology from UM for orthopedic use, said company President and CEO Tracy S. Anderson. Vivex has contracted with the universitys tissue bank to develop the cell for commercial use. The company will pay an undisclosed royalty to UM from sales.

Dr. H. Thomas Temple, professor of orthopedics, vice chair of orthopedic surgery and director of the University of Miami Tissue Bank, said South Florida is a viable market for the MIAMI cell.

Just in bone [regeneration] alone theres an enormous market, and then if you take into consideration all the joint dysfunction that occurs with aging we have a significantly aged population, he said. If you think about the number of trauma cases we have down here where patients have open fractures, I think this has enormous potential.

Not a lot of companies, Dr. Temple said, are keen on investing in stem cells.

A lot of big companies dont want to take the risk on stem cells because they dont understand it, and theyre making a lot of money on other things, he said. The university doesnt have the financial resources to do the development work. They [UM] do a great job of investigating and researching these things, but the development side takes a lot of capital. In order to have a successful product, not only does it have to be really good, you have to have a successful market, so they [Vivex] bring in the distribution.

The marrow-isolated adult multi-lineage inducible cell, or MIAMI cell, is unique on two fronts. Its highly inducible and potent partially because it shares genes with embryonic stem cells, and the process used to isolate it allows for the infusion of a purer MIAMI cell concentration.

Generally in other processes, when stem cells are infused, they come with other cells that may be synergistic but more likely antagonistic, Dr. Temple said.

Its a small percentage of that actual layer that are actually stem cells. It may be effective, but this is different, he said. When we provide the cells, we can tell you that 95% of them are really MIAMI cells. Once theyre thawed, 97% to 98% of them are viable. Its really the process that makes them different.

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UM research lands stem cell deal

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

30-Apr-2014

Contact: Deborah Williams-Hedges debwms@caltech.edu 626-395-3227 Landes Bioscience

A gene known to repair DNA damage in healthy cells may also provide new insights about treating a genetic disorder of the bone marrow, Caltech researchers say.

This finding was published in the May 15 print edition of the journal Cell Cycle.

In the study led by Judith Campbell, professor of chemistry and biology at Caltech, the researchers investigated the relationship between two genesFANCD2 and DNA2both known to play roles in fixing broken or damaged strands of DNA within a cell, called DNA repair. A defective version of the FANCD2 gene can result in the genetic disease Fanconi anemia (FA), which is characterized by failure of the bone marrow (an inability to replenish the body's supply of blood cells) and a predisposition to certain developmental disorders and cancers. Although DNA2 has not been associated with an FA family as yet, genetic studies implicate DNA2 in the FA DNA repair pathway.

To determine the relationship between the genes, the researchers applied formaldehyde and other DNA-damaging substances to three types of cells: those lacking FANCD2, those lacking DNA2, and cells lacking both FANCD2 and DNA2. The groups of cells in which only one of the two genes had been deleted quickly succumbed to the formaldehyde-induced DNA damage; however, the cells lacking both FANCD2 and DNA2 were able to repair the DNA damage and survive.

"A key implication of this finding is the potential to manipulate DNA2 to improve the survival of FANCD2-deficient cells, and hopefully, by extension, the survival of FA patients," says Kenneth Karanja, a former postdoctoral scholar in Campbell's laboratory and first author on the study. Currently, the only treatment for FA is a bone marrow transplant, but even after the transplant the disease remains lethal.

"DNA2 is a well-studied gene, and this recent discovery could potentially become the basis for ameliorating the symptoms of this incurable disorder," Campbell says. Furthermore, she says, the protein DNA2 encodes is a nucleasewhich is a specific type of enzyme that has become a promising drug target.

"Since much is known about the mechanism of action of DNA2, it is an attractive target for future drug treatmentslike small-molecule inhibitors that could reduce an FA patient's cancer predispositionas well as a possible gene therapy for aiding a patient's blood cell development," she says.

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DNA repair gene provides new ideas for disease treatment

Released: 4/28/2014 3:00 PM EDT Source Newsroom: City of Hope Contact Information

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Newswise DUARTE, Calif. Bone marrow transplants offer a second chance for people with life-threatening blood cancers and other hematologic malignancies. But many recipients, though overwhelmed with curiosity and the need to express their gratitude, can only dream of meeting the strangers who saved their lives. City of Hope is about to make that dream come true for two patients.

At City of Hopes annual Bone Marrow Transplantation Reunion on May 9, two grateful patients will meet the strangers, each hailing from different countries, who gave them back their futures.

Shes a world away, and weve never met, but were in a way genetic twins, said George Winston, the impressionistic, genre-defying musician with more than 20 instrumental albums under his belt. Winston received a lifesaving transplant from a young German woman two years ago, and cant wait to get to know her. Its amazing how they can locate a donor. I cant wait to meet her and just thank her from the bottom of my heart.

The meetings are the public focal point of City of Hopes annual Celebration of Life. Other meetings, and reunions, will take place throughout the event, attended by more than 6,500 bone marrow, stem cell and cord blood transplant recipients, their families and donors. All will celebrate second chances, scientific breakthroughs and transplant anniversaries.

Each survivor wears a button proudly proclaiming the years since his or her transplant. For some, its only a year. For others, a few decades. They celebrate their own recoveries, and the medical advances that have allowed this fellowship of survivors to grow from just a single patient 38 years ago at the first reunion, to thousands.

City of Hope helped pioneer bone marrow transplantation nearly four decades ago and is now a leader in bone marrow, stem cell and cord blood transplant, preparing to formally launch its Hematologic Cancers Institute. City of Hope has the only transplant program in the nation to achieve nine consecutive reporting years of over performance in one-year overall patient survival, according to the most recent data from the Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research, which tracks all such transplants performed in the U.S.

The reunion is a motivation that leaves us in awe of the many patients weve been able to help, but also humbled and focused on the patients currently in our care and those who will count on us in the future, said Stephen J. Forman, M.D., Francis & Kathleen McNamara Distinguished Chair in Hematology and Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation. We dont have any results so good that they cannot be improved. Were always focused on how we can do this better. Were never satisfied.

Two patients will be highlighted as part of the reunion, and will meet their donors for the first time ever.

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Bone Marrow Recipients Get Rare Chance to Meet Their "Genetic Twins" at City of Hope

Research team at York University aims to improve bone disease treatment

12:45pm Friday 25th April 2014 in News By Barry Nelson, Health Editor

RESEARCHERS are aiming to develop new therapies for osteoarthritis by rejuvenating old stem cells to repair cartilage damage.

A research team at York University have been awarded 190,158 from the medical research charity Arthritis Research UK to carry out a three-year study to investigate how rejuvenated cells from older people with osteoarthritis can be used to repair worn or damaged cartilage, reducing chronic pain.

There is currently no treatment to prevent the progression of osteoarthritis, and people with severe disease often need total joint replacement surgery.

A patients own bone marrow stem cells are a valuable source of potential treatment as they can generate joint tissue that wont be rejected when re-implanted. However, as people grow older the number of stem cells decreases and those that remain are less able to grow and repair tissue.

Dr Paul Genever, lead researcher, who heads up the Arthritis Research UK Tissue Engineering Centre at the University of York said: A way to reset stem cells to an earlier time point, termed rejuvenation, has recently been discovered, allowing more effective tissue repair.

This project will firstly compare rejuvenated and non-rejuvenated stem cells to see if the process improves cartilage repair, and secondly, investigate whether it is possible to develop new drugs which are able to rejuvenate stem cells.

In the UK, more than 8m people, have sought treatment from their GP for the condition, which causes pain and stiffness in the joints due to cartilage at the ends of bones wearing away.

Professor Alan Silman, medical director at charity Arthritis Research UK, said: This is pioneering research, which has the potential to help reduce pain and disability and improving quality of life of those living with osteoarthritis.

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Research aims to improve bone disease treatment

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

23-Apr-2014

Contact: Nicanor Moldovan Moldovan.6@osu.edu 614-247-7801 Ohio State University

COLUMBUS, Ohio New research suggests that attempts to isolate an elusive adult stem cell from blood to understand and potentially improve cardiovascular health a task considered possible but very difficult might not be necessary.

Instead, scientists have found that multiple types of cells with primitive characteristics circulating in the blood appear to provide the same benefits expected from a stem cell, including the endothelial progenitor cell that is the subject of hot pursuit.

"There are people who still dream that the prototypical progenitors for several components of the cardiovascular tree will be found and isolated. I decided to focus the analysis on the whole nonpurified cell population the blood as it is," said Nicanor Moldovan, senior author of the study and a research associate professor of cardiovascular medicine at The Ohio State University.

"Our method determines the contributions of all blood cells that serve the same function that an endothelial progenitor cell is supposed to. We can detect the presence of those cells and their signatures in a clinical sample without the need to isolate them."

The study is published in the journal PLOS ONE.

Stem cells, including the still poorly understood endothelial progenitor cells, are sought-after because they have the potential to transform into many kinds of cells, suggesting that they could be used to replace damaged or missing cells as a treatment for multiple diseases.

By looking at gene activity patterns in blood, Moldovan and colleagues concluded that many cell types circulating throughout the body may protect and repair blood vessels a key to keeping the heart healthy.

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Stem cells in circulating blood affect cardiovascular health, study finds

Released: 4/21/2014 8:55 AM EDT Embargo expired: 4/23/2014 5:00 PM EDT Source Newsroom: Ohio State University Contact Information

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Newswise COLUMBUS, Ohio New research suggests that attempts to isolate an elusive adult stem cell from blood to understand and potentially improve cardiovascular health a task considered possible but very difficult might not be necessary.

Instead, scientists have found that multiple types of cells with primitive characteristics circulating in the blood appear to provide the same benefits expected from a stem cell, including the endothelial progenitor cell that is the subject of hot pursuit.

There are people who still dream that the prototypical progenitors for several components of the cardiovascular tree will be found and isolated. I decided to focus the analysis on the whole nonpurified cell population the blood as it is, said Nicanor Moldovan, senior author of the study and a research associate professor of cardiovascular medicine at The Ohio State University.

Our method determines the contributions of all blood cells that serve the same function that an endothelial progenitor cell is supposed to. We can detect the presence of those cells and their signatures in a clinical sample without the need to isolate them.

The study is published in the journal PLOS ONE.

Stem cells, including the still poorly understood endothelial progenitor cells, are sought-after because they have the potential to transform into many kinds of cells, suggesting that they could be used to replace damaged or missing cells as a treatment for multiple diseases.

By looking at gene activity patterns in blood, Moldovan and colleagues concluded that many cell types circulating throughout the body may protect and repair blood vessels a key to keeping the heart healthy.

The scientists also found that several types of blood cells retain so-called primitive properties. In this context, primitive is positive because these cells are the first line of defense against an injury and provide a continuous supply of repair tissue either directly or by telling local cells what to do.

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Stem Cells in Circulating Blood Affect Cardiovascular Health