Archive for the ‘Cell Medicine’ Category

01-02-2012 14:59 Sridhar Ramaswamy, MD, Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center, Assistant Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Harvard Stem Cell Institute, discusses targeting dormant cancer cells and the possible role that they play in the development of drug resistance. Dormant cells appear in most patients with tumors. These cells are not rapidly proliferating and remain largely inactive. While these cells sleep, they are highly resistant to most types of therapy. Dormant cancer cells are intrinsically intriguing because the number of inherent mutations would denote that the cells should be rapidly proliferating. The mechanism that allows them to switch between dormant and active is yet unknown. The goal of the research is to discover the underlying cause of the dormancy, tumor progression, and the mechanism of resistance to various types of therapy.

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Dr. Ramaswamy on Targeting Dormant Cancer Cells - Video

31-01-2012 13:32 James P. Watson, MD lecture sample from the 11th Clinical Applications for Age Management Medicine Conference, Fall 2011, Las Vegas, Nevada Pre-Conference Track 2: Regenerative and Cell Based Medicine This lecture focused on regenerative and cell-based medicine, Autologous Stem Cell Research. This field continues to grow in use by physicians across the world. From platelet rich plasma to culture expanded stem cells, the need for information about the applications of these therapies to treat patients has never been greater. This track will focus on the latest developments in cell-based medicine with speakers who are driving the research and using these technologies as part of their everyday practice of medicine. For more information about our upcoming conference visit our website http://www.agemed.org Or contact us at conference@agemed.org

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An Overview of Data Trends in Autologous Stem Cell Research and Clinical Use - James P. Watson, MD - Video

31-01-2012 13:21 Ronald W. Hanson, Jr., MD lectures at the 11th Clinical Applications for Age Management Medicine in November 2011, in Las Vegas, Nevada This focused conference track cocentrated on regenerative and cell-based medicine continue to grow in use by physicians across the world. From platelet rich plasma to culture expanded stem cells, the need for information about the applications of these therapies to treat patients has never been greater. This track will focus on the latest developments in cell-based medicine with speakers who are driving the research and using these technologies as part of their everyday practice of medicine. For more information contact conference@agemed.org Visit our website at agemed.org

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The Use of Guided Bone Marrow Nucleated Cell Fraction Injections - Ronald W. Hanson, Jr., MD - Video

24-01-2012 18:39 Four minute excerpt from the Spotlight on Genomics seminar presentation during the January 17th 2012 California Institute for Regnerative Medicine governing board meeting. The video features a conversation between Catriona Jamieson, director for stem cell research at UCSD Moores Cancer Center, and one of her patients who is participating in a clinical trial for the treatment of myelofibrosis, a life-threatening blood disorder.

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Clinical Trial for Myelofibrosis that Targets Cancer Stem Cells | CIRM Spotlight on Genomics - Video

The federal government is pledging up to $67.5 million for research into "personalized medicine," which tailors treatment to a patient's genetics and environment.

The funds will flow through Genome Canada, the Cancer Stem Cell Consortium and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the federal government's health research agency.

Federal Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq and Minister of State for Science Gary Goodyear made the announcement at the University of Ottawa's health campus Tuesday.

The field of personalized medicine is touted as having the potential to transform the way patients are treated. It looks at the genetic makeup of a person, the patient's environment and the exact course of a particular disease so that an appropriate and effective treatment can be tailored for that individual.

The idea is to move from a one-size-fits-all approach to one that is designed for a specific person and relies on the genetic signatures, or biomarkers, of both the patient and the disease.

Proponents of personalized medicine say it is likely to change the way drugs are developed, how medicines are prescribed and generally how illnesses are managed. They say it will shift the focus in health care from reaction to prevention, improve health outcomes, make drugs safer and mean fewer adverse drug reactions, and reduce costs to health-care systems.

"The potential to understand a person's genetic makeup and the specific character of their illness in order to best determine their treatment will significantly improve the quality of life for patients and their families and may show us the way to an improved health-care system and even save costs in certain circumstances," Aglukkaq said in a news release.

Research projects could last four years

The sequencing of the human genome paved the way for personalized medicine and there have been calls for more research funding so that the discoveries in laboratories can be translated further into the medical field so they will benefit patients more.

Identifying a person's genetic profile, for example, could then indicate a susceptibility to a certain disease, if the biomarkers of that disease have also been discovered. If people know they are genetically at risk of an illness they can take actions to prevent it, and their health-care providers can monitor for it.

Cancer patients could be pre-screened to determine if chemotherapy would work for them, which could not only save a lot of money on expensive treatments but also prevent pain and suffering for patients.

Genome Canada is leading the research initiative, in collaboration with Cancer Stem Cell Consortium and CIHR which on Tuesday launched its Personalized Medicine Signature Initiative. CIHR is committing up to $22.5 million to the large-scale initiative with the other two partners, but it will be providing more funding for other projects under its personalized medicine program.

The research projects are aiming to bring together biomedical, clinical, population health, health economics, ethics and policy researchers to identify areas that are best suited to personalized medicine.

Oncology, cardiovascular diseases, neurodegenerative diseases, psychiatric disorders, diabetes and obesity, arthritis, pain, and Alzheimer’s disease are all considered to be areas that hold promise for personalized medicine.

Funding will also go to projects that are aimed at developing more evidence-based and cost-effective approaches to health care.

Researchers can get up to four years of funding, but 50 per cent of their requested funding must be matched from another source, such as a provincial government or from the academic or private sectors.

Genome Canada, CIHR and the cancer consortium will invest a maximum of $5 million in each individual project.

The successful applicants for the $67.5 million worth of funding won't be announced until December.

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'Personalized medicine' gets $67.5M research boost

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Academic Journal
Main Category: Stem Cell Research
Also Included In: Neurology / Neuroscience;  Biology / Biochemistry
Article Date: 31 Jan 2012 - 2:00 PST

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Bypassing the stem cell stage, researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine in California converted mouse skin cells directly into neural precursor cells, the cells that go on to form the three main types of cell in the brain and nervous system. They write about their findings in the 30 January early online issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The findings of this and an earlier study question the idea that pluripotency (the ability to become virtually any other cell in the body, a key characteristic of stem cells) is a necessary stage in the conversion of one cell type to another.

In the earlier study, the same team transformed mouse and human skin cells directly into functional neurons. But this study is a substantial advance on the earlier one for two reasons.

First, neural precursor cells can not only differentiate into neurons, they can also become either of the two other main types of cell in the nervous system: astrocytes and oligodendrocytes.

Astrocytes are star-shaped glia cells that hold neurons in place, get nutrients to them, and digest parts of dead neurons. Oligodendrocytes make the myelin that insulates nerve fibers that connect neurons to one another and allows them to transmit signals.

And secondly, neural precursor cells are a more useful and versatile end-product for the lab, where they can be cultivated in large numbers for transplantation or drug screening.

Together, the two studies raise the possibility that embryonic stem cell research and induced pluripotency could be replaced by a more direct way of making specific cell types for treatments and research.

The problem with embryonic stem cells, although they are considered the "gold standard" in generating new types of cell, is the ethical question of where they come from, and also because they don't come from the patient's own body, the patient has to take drugs to stop their immune system rejecting the new tissue.

Induced pluripotency, where the patient's own cells are reprogrammed into stem cells, appears to overcome the ethical and immune rejection problems of embryonic stem cells, except they introduce the risk of switching on genes that cause cancer. Although this risk can be reduced by screening out unwanted pluripotent cells, it introduces a cost.

The senior author of the new study is Dr Marius Wernig, assistant professor of pathology and a member of Stanford's Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine. He told the press he and his colleagues were "thrilled" about the medical potential of their findings.

"We've shown the cells can integrate into a mouse brain and produce a missing protein important for the conduction of electrical signal by the neurons. This is important because the mouse model we used mimics that of a human genetic brain disease," said Wernig.

However, he cautioned that more work is needed before they can show a similar conversion from human skin cells is not only possible and effective, but also safe.

For the study, Wernig and colleages infected embryonic mouse skin cells (a cell line commonly used in labs) with a virus carrying three transcription factors (Brn2, Sox2 and FoxG1) known to be present at a high level in neural precursor cells. In just over three weeks, one in ten of the skin cells had started to look and act like neural precursor cells.

In the earlier study, they had used a different set of three transcription factors (Brn2, Ascl1 and Myt1l).

They confirmed the presence of neural precursor cells in two ways: in the lab and in animals (in vitro and in vivo).

In the lab, they confirmed the transformed cells were expressing the appropriate genes and had the same shape and function as naturally derived neural precursor cells.

And to confirm them in animals, they injected the new cells into the brains of newborn mice bred to lack to ability to make the myelin sheath that surrounds nerve fibers. After ten weeks, the new cells had differentiated into oligodendroytes and had begun to coat the mice's nerve fibers with myelin.

The team is now hoping to repeat their success with skin cells from adult mice and humans.

Funds from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, the New York Stem Cell Foundation, the Ellison Medical Foundation, the Stinehart-Reed Foundation and the National Institutes of Health helped pay for the study.

Written by Catharine Paddock PhD
Copyright: Medical News Today
Not to be reproduced without permission of Medical News Today

Visit our stem cell research section for the latest news on this subject. "Direct conversion of mouse fibroblasts to self-renewing, tripotent neural precursor cells"; Ernesto Lujan, Soham Chanda, Henrik Ahlenius, Thomas C. Südhof, and Marius Wernig; PNAS Published online ahead of print 30 January 2012; DOI:10.1073/pnas.1121003109; Link to Abstract.
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Scientists Transform Skin Cells Direct To Brain Cells, Bypassing Stem Cell Stage

24-09-2010 12:47 "60 Minutes" hidden cameras expose medical con men who prey on dying victims by using pitches that capitalize on the promise of stem cells to cure almost any disease. Scott Pelley reports

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21st Century Snake Oil, Part 1 - Video

24-01-2012 10:25 On January 17th, 2012, the CIRM Governing Board heard from scientists and a patient about the essential role of genomics in the development of stem cell based therapies.

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Craig Venter: Understanding Our Genes - A Step to Personalized Medicine | CIRM Spotlight on Genomics - Video

23-01-2012 09:18 Website qdragon.info Shirts and Stuff http://www.zazzle.com My twitter twitter.com Like Brainstorm on Facebook http://www.facebook.com Medical News tinyurl.com Evolution News tinyurl.com Molecular Biology News tinyurl.com Hosted by http://www.youtube.com Contributors http://www.youtube.com http://www.youtube.com

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Umbilical Stem Cell Breakthrough! (Brainstorm Ep41) - Video

01-09-2009 23:43 Recent Scientific studies indicate by increasing the number of adult stem cells (your own adult stem cells that derive from your own bone marrow) in your blood flow is the single most important thing for optimal health, and for speedy recovery on any organ or tissue or muscle or fibre in the human body!

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"StemEnhance" the Biggest Scientific

12-12-2009 13:45 What are stem cells? - An short educational film by the Irish Stem Cell Foundation Stem cells are master cells of the body — want to learn more? Visit http://www.irishstemcellfoundation.org ISCF is an independent not-for-profit organisation whose primary objective is to educate about stem cells, their basic biology and the research and therapies using them

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What are stem cells? How can they be used for medical benefit? - Video

16-01-2010 13:37 I have Secondary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis or MS and had an extremely successful stem cell treatment over a year ago. The stem cell treatment is safe and follows US medical standards of care, but is not yet FDA approved. It gave me my life back, but it is a treatment and not a cure.

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First True MS Flare-up Since Having Stem Cell Treatment - Video

23-06-2010 22:04 Stem cells from one's own eye can bring new sight to those blinded by burns.

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Medical Breakthrough: Restoring Sight to the Blind - Video

16-01-2012 19:46 Korea Tooth Stem Cell Bank, Inc. aired on TV media.

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Korea Tooth Stem Cell Bank, Inc. - Video

14-01-2012 07:17 youtu.be youtu.be youtu.be Research @ http://www.youtube.com youtu.be UConn Health Center researchers have uncovered a way to potentially use human stem cells as a kind of vaccine against colon cancer. This discovery, led by experts in immunology, Drs.

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Cancer Immunotherapy - Virotherapy : Stem Cells Which "Fool Immune System" - Video

12-01-2012 21:49 Michaela Sky, 11, has received two cycles of umbilical cord blood stem cells in China as of 2011. Her parents continuously search for new means of improving their daughter's quality of life. They see the stem cell treatments as having provided improvements to her core strength, muscle tone and control amongst other things

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Michaela Sky - Secondary Dystonia - Video

09-01-2012 19:00 Stem cell therapy patient, Shelley Sims, discusses her improvements following stem cell treatments at the Stem Cell Institute in Panama City, Panama. Shelley has reduced her medications from thirteen to two

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Stem Cell Therapy - Multiple Sclerosis Treatment Patient Interview - Video

30-12-2011 10:52 Watch Suzanne Somers' amazing breast reconstruction surgery on Suzanne Somers Breaking Through - Episode 1.

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Suzanne Somers' Stem Cell Breast Reconstruction Surgery - Episode 1 - Video

05-10-2011 13:12 The GOOD Company Project visits Cytori Therapeutics to learn about their innovative approach to stem cell therapy.

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GOOD Company Project: Cytori - Video

02-01-2012 12:26 See inside our state-of-the-art adult stem cell facilities in Panama City, Panama. Our laboratory, Medistem Panama, Inc., operates an 8000 sq

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Stem Cell Therapy - Medistem Labs Panama Laboratory Tour - Video

18-11-2011 14:29 Dr Tony Talebi discusses stem cell transplantation in Myeloma with Dr Ratzan. For further discussion visit http://www.HemOnc101.com. Treatment of stem cell transplantation candidate patient with multiple myeloma Multiple myeloma is characterized by the neoplastic proliferation of a single clone of plasma cells producing a monoclonal immunoglobulin antibody.

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Dr Tony Talebi discusses stem cell transplantation in Myeloma with Dr Ratzan - Video

The Latest With Stem Cells Show Thomas Ichim, CEO of MediStem and Dr. Larry Goldstein, UC San Diego Stem Cell Program

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The Latest With Stem Cells Show Thomas Ichim, CEO of MediStem and Dr. Larry Goldstein - Video

On December 15, 2011, Genetics Policy Institute (GPI) Founder and Executive Director Bernard Siegel joined South Florida leaders at the Palm Beach County Convention Center to announce the selection of West Palm Beach, Florida as host of the 8th World Stem Cell Summit, Dec 3-5, 2012.

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8th World Stem Cell Summit Announcement - Video

CIRM has funded a $5.5 million Disease Team to develop a follow on clinical trial that uses a patient's own heart stem cells to regenerate scarred tissue damaged by a heart attack. The team is led by Eduardo Marban, MD, PhD, Director of the Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute.

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Stem Cell Clinical Trial for Heart Failure: Eduardo Marban - CIRM Spotlight on Disease - Video

Stem Cell Treatment email update from Holly Catalano's mother, Carolyn to the Stem Cell Institute's CEO, Pablo de la Hoya. Holly was treated for periventricular leukomalacia, a disorder that is similar to cerebral palsy. Hi Pablo, Hope you are enjoying your time in NY

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Stem Cell Therapy - Cerebral Palsy Treatment || Holly Catalano Update - Video