Impotence Drug Might Counter Common Gene Mutation in Type 2 Diabetes: Study
By Steven Reinberg HealthDay Reporter
THURSDAY, Oct. 9, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- In a small study, Swedish researchers found that the impotence drug yohimbine might help people with type 2 diabetes who have a particular gene mutation that lowers their insulin production.
Among 50 men and women with type 2 diabetes partially caused by a mutation in a gene called alpha(2A)-AR, those treated with yohimbine showed improved insulin production and lower blood sugar levels, compared with those receiving a placebo.
"If a diabetic patient carries the risk mutation, he or she is more sensitive to stress hormones such as adrenaline," said lead researcher Dr. Anders Rosengren, head of the translational diabetes research group at Lund University Diabetes Center in Malmo.
About 40 percent of patients with type 2 diabetes carry this mutation. "It is not that patients are more stressed, but that adrenaline suppresses insulin secretion," he added.
Rosengren explained how the drug overcomes the effects of the mutation: "It is like driving a car with the brakes constantly on. If you add yohimbine, you release the brake and the car -- the insulin-producing cells -- can go at normal speed. The cells secrete adequate amounts of insulin in response to sugar."
Yohimbine isn't without side effects, however, Rosengren said. In the study, some patients experienced anxiety, stress and high blood pressure. His group is trying to find a way to reduce these side effects while preserving the benefits of the drug.
One expert also noted that targeting a single gene may not help many patients with diabetes.
Close to 300 genes play a role in diabetes, according to Dr. Joel Zonszein, director of the Clinical Diabetes Center at Montefiore Medical Center in New York City.
"Only a few have this mutation alone," Zonszein said. "In real life, we are not able to treat most patients with diabetes with a genetic therapy."
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The Sims 3 – The Perfect Genetics Challenge Part 6 (Perfect Baby!) – Video
The Sims 3 - The Perfect Genetics Challenge Part 6 (Perfect Baby!)
Welcome to my very first Let #39;s Play, I hope you enjoy it and thanks for watching! [: Please don #39;t forget to like and subscribe to receive updates on my next video! Here #39;s the link for the...
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Spinal Cord Injury and Stem Cell Clinical Trials: Whats the Latest? – Video
Spinal Cord Injury and Stem Cell Clinical Trials: Whats the Latest?
Join California #39;s Stem Cell Agency (CIRM) for a live Google Hangout about the latest progress in stem cell-based treatments for spinal cord injury. You don #39;t need a Google+ account to watch...
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Four UCLA Scientists Receive Prestigious Innovator Award for Pioneering Research Using Stem Cells
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Newswise Four scientists from the Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research at UCLA have received a National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director's New Innovator Award that will forward revolutionary stem cell and neuro-science in medicine. The four UCLA researchers were among only 50 scientists nationwide to receive the New Innovator Award, the most of any institution represented.
Each recipient received a $2.3M award for their respective projects. These included Dr. Reza Ardehali, assistant professor of cardiology, for his research investigating novel ways to use stem cells to regenerate heart tissue; Dr. Elissa Hallem, assistant professor of microbiology, immunology and molecular genetics, for her work studying interactions between animal parasites and their hosts to foster the further understanding of human parasitic diseases; Dr. Sririam Kosuri, assistant professor of chemistry and biochemistry, for his project developing new biological system technologies to solve outstanding problems in gene regulation; and Dr. Lili Yang, assistant professor of microbiology, immunology and molecular genetics, for her work developing a new method to track special immune cells for use in new cellular therapies.
"These New Innovator Award grants are an important acknowledgement of our cutting-edge research and will help our faculty drive the revolutionary advances we are seeing in stem cell and neuro-science," said Dr. Owen Witte, professor and director of the Broad Stem Cell Research Center. "Every cellular therapy that reaches patients must begin in the laboratory with novel ideas and experiments that will lead us in new directions in medicine and ultimately improve human life. That makes these awards invaluable to our research effort."
The NIH Director'sNew Innovator Award is designed specifically to support unusually creative investigators with highly innovative research ideas at an early stage of their career. The award seeks to support exceptionally creative new scientists whose research complements ongoing efforts by NIH.
Dr. Reza Ardehali: Unlocking the Secrets to Regenerating Heart Tissue
Dr. Ardehali's cutting-edge work focuses on both human embryonic stem cells and induced pluripotent stem cells, known as human pluripotent stem cells (hPSC), to provide insights into the mechanisms involved in the differentiation and specification of heart cells. hPSC have the unique ability to become any cell type in the body. His lab recently identified several novel surface markers that can highly enrich early cardiovascular progenitor cells. When delivered into functioning human hearts that are transplanted in laboratory conditions, the progenitor cells integrate structurally and functionally into the host myocardium. These studies established the basis for future hPSC-based cardiac therapy.
Dr. Ardehali and his colleagues were also the first to directly measure limited division in the cells that make up heart muscle (cardiomyocytes), proving that cardiomyocytes divide and that such cell division is rare. This discovery resolves an important controversy over whether the heart muscle has the power to regenerate and is critical for future research that may lead to regenerating heart tissue to repair damage caused by disease or heart attack.
His 2013, California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM), the state's stem cell research agency, New Faculty Physician Scientist Translational Research Award allowed Dr. Ardehali to initiate the preclinical studies on stem cell based therapies for heart disease that were pivotal for his success in the 2014 New Innovator Award competition. The NIH grant affirms the critical success of the project-to-date, and emphasizes the creativity of Dr. Ardehali's research and its potential to have a significant impact on the creation of novel regenerative approaches to treat heart disease.
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Ageless Derma Apple Stem Cell Skincare – Video
Ageless Derma Apple Stem Cell Skincare
This active ingredient won the Best Active Ingredient prize in European Innovation in 2008. Stem Cells derived from a rare Swiss Apple are part of the rev...
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Harvard University scientists alter stem cells to make insulin
October 10, 2014 - 17:56 AMT
PanARMENIAN.Net - In what could be a major breakthrough for diabetes treatment, scientists have discovered a way to drastically alter human embryonic stem cells, transforming them into cells that produce and release insulin, RT said.
Developed by researchers at Harvard University, the innovative new technique involves essentially recreating the formation process of beta cells, which are located in the pancreas and secrete insulin. By stimulating certain genes in a certain order, the Boston Globe reports that scientists were able to charm embryonic stem cells and even altered skin cells into becoming beta cells.
The whole process took 15 years of work, but now lead researcher Doug Melton says the team can create hundreds of millions of these makeshift beta cells, and theyre hoping to transplant them into humans starting in the next few years.
"We are reporting the ability to make hundreds of millions of cells the cell that can read the amount of sugar in the blood which appears following a meal and then squirts out or secretes just the right amount of insulin," Melton told NPR.
There are 29.1 million people in the United States believed to have diabetes, according to statistics by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention dating back to 2012. Thats 9.3 percent of the entire population.
Currently, diabetes patients must rely on insulin shots to keep their blood-sugar levels stable, a process that involves continual monitoring and attentiveness. Failure to efficiently control these levels can cause some patients to go blind, suffer from nerve damage and heart attacks, and even lose limbs. If Meltons beta cell creation process can be successfully applied to humans, it could eliminate the need for such constant check-ups, since the cells would be doing all the monitoring. Already, there are positive signs moving forward: the transplanted cells have worked wonders on mice, quickly stabilizing their insulin levels.
"We can cure their diabetes right away in less than 10 days," Melton said to NPR. "This finding provides a kind of unprecedented cell source that could be used for cell transplantation therapy in diabetes."
With mice successfully treated, the team is now working with a scientist in Chicago to put cells into primates, the Globe reported.
Even so, significant obstacles remain, particularly for those who have Type 1 diabetes. With this particular form of the disease, the human immune system actually targets and destroys insulin-producing beta cells in the pancreas, so Meltons team is looking into encasing cells inside of a protective shell in order to ensure their safety.
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Harvard University scientists alter stem cells to make insulin
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ViaCytes chief scientific officer, explains beat cell encapsulation – Video
ViaCytes chief scientific officer, explains beat cell encapsulation
JDRF research partner ViaCyte is developing an encapsulated cell therapy for treatment of type 1 diabetes. The company has filed an application with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to...
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Learn How Stem Cell Therapy Is Being Used Right Here in North Texas – Video
Learn How Stem Cell Therapy Is Being Used Right Here in North Texas
http://www.innovationsstemcellcenter.com Call: 214.420.7970 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/innovationsmedical Twitter: https://twitter.com/dallasdrj Instagram: http://instagram.com/drbilljo...
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Fighting CP through stem cell therapy
Can brain damage caused during birth be ever reversed? Is it possible to repair the damaged brain tissues among children, who suffer from Cerebral Palsy (CP)?
So far, the treatment option for CP is to manage the symptoms of the ailment. However, in recent times, scientists and researchers worldwide have started to explore stem cell therapy as a potential treatment option for CP patients.
Can stem cells reverse the brain damage, which is the sole cause for CP among children? Our research on over 100 CP patients and stem cell therapy has been very encouraging. The patients, who underwent stem cell therapy, have displayed huge improvement in CP symptoms, says Professor and Head of Neurosurgery, LTM Medical College, Mumbai, Alok Sharma.
The neurosurgeon, who is taking part in an international conference on CP in Hyderabad this weekend, said that doctors are not concentrating on treating the brain damage.
The current treatment options available to help patients are only to mange symptoms and nobody tries to repair the underlying damage to the brain tissue. Therefore, developing a standard therapeutic approach for CP through stem cells is the need of the hour, he said.
The results from the stem cell therapy on CP patients conducted by Dr. Aloks team were recently published in Neurogens chapter on Stem cell therapy for cerebral palsy A Novel Option in a book titled Cerebral Palsy Challenges For the Future. According to the neurosurgeon, the patients after therapy had improvements in their speech, balance, upper and lower limb activity and movement.
While for stem cell research, many prefer cord blood banking, Dr. Alok pointed out that they have used stem cells from the adults derived from the bone marrow. The transplanted stem cells have the ability to migrate to the area of the damaged tissue in the brain and home-in on those affected areas to help repair the damage. Stem cells release substance that stimulates natural growth, which decreases the process of damage of the brain, Dr. Alok explained.
The researcher, who has started NeuroGen Brain and Spine Institute in Mumbai to conduct stem cell research, pointed out that stem cell therapy and other rehabilitation programmes should be encouraged for the benefit of CP patients. The positive changes that we recorded in our patients were not just restricted to their symptoms but also constructive change in brain metabolism observed through PET-CT scans, he explained. Dr. Alok Sharma can be reached at: alok276@gmail.com
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Experts discuss new developments in the field of stem cell research and cell therapy
10.10.2014 - (idw) Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft
From 9-10 October 2014 around 200 scientists met at the Leipzig Fraunhofer Institute for Cell Therapy and Immunology for the ninth Fraunhofer Life Science Symposium. Held every two years, this year the event focused on the theme "Medicinal Cell Products and Stem Cells for Medicinal Applications". In recent years biomedical research has revealed numerous promising new approaches for the prevention and treatment of serious illnesses. The issue of stem cells plays a key role in this. With the symposium the Fraunhofer IZI offers international scientists a platform on which they can discuss the latest developments in this field.
The scientific program encompasses three major subject areas: production, manufacture and application. In the first section a paper presented by Sarah Ferber (Centre for Stem Cells, Regenerative Medicine and Tissue Engineering, Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer, Israel) was one major point of interest: "Reprogramming the endocrine pancreas; autologous cell replacement therapy for diabetic patients". She spoke about the possibilities for transforming liver cells into insulin-producing cells. In the future this method could possibly be used to help patients with type 1 diabetes, where the misdirected immune system destroys the body's own insulin-producing beta cells of the pancreas.
The Fraunhofer Life Science Symposium brings together up to 200 participants from academic and clinical institutions to discuss the various focal points concerning new technologies, trends and developments. It is organized by the Fraunhofer Institute for Cell Therapy and Immunology IZI. For further information see http://www.fs-leipzig.com. Weitere Informationen:http://www.fs-leipzig.comhttp://www.izi.fraunhofer.de
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Mutant gene prevents worms gaining weight from unhealthy diets
The mutant gene SKN-1 found in the worm Caenorhabditis elegant has been shown to negate weight gain that typically accompanies high sugar diets
Sure, foods that are high in sugar are often the most tempting, but that sugar rush can come at a weighty cost. A new study conducted at the University of South Carolina has suggested that this may not need be the case. Researchers have identified a gene that can dictate how these foods are processed, potentially suppressing the weight problems that go hand-in-hand with unhealthy eating habits.
The research centers on a mutant gene called SKN-1 found in the worm Caenorhabditis elegans. The scientists fed a number of these worms a high-sugar diet and observed no difference in weight for those with a hyperactive SKN-1 gene, while those without the gene quickly began to stack on the nanograms.
This mutant gene is present in humans, though it goes by the name of Nrf2. Described as a "transcriptor factor," the gene clings to a particular DNA sequence and aids in our cells' ability to detox or repair themselves when damaged by chemically reactive oxygen. These properties have seen the gene become a target for pharmaceutical companies, who anticipate a role in it producing anti-oxidants and helping to slow aging.
The team is hopeful that the positive effects of the mutant gene in the worms will also apply to humans. But don't start cooking up that Deep Fried KitKat Grilled Cheese Sandwich just yet. The research so far has been limited to the worms and human cells in a petri dish. Furthermore, heightened Nrf2 function has been linked to aggressive cancers in humans, suggesting there's quite a bit to work through before this research culminates in a drug that enables guilt-free gorging.
Perhaps it is a matter of timing and location, says Sean Curran from USC Davis School of Gerontology and leader of the research. If we can acutely activate Nrf2 in specific tissues when needed then maybe we can take advantage of its potential benefits.
The team's research was published in the journal Nature Communications.
Source: University of South Carolina
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Can we bring animals back from extinction? – THE BIG FUTURE – Video
Can we bring animals back from extinction? - THE BIG FUTURE
Like in Jurassic Park, genetic engineering might allow us to save endangered species or even bring back extinct animals. Subscribe: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=theverge...
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Mountain Lions In Southern California Face Genetic Decay
Image Caption: This female mountain lion, known as F52, was collared in the middle portion of the Santa Ana range. She later died near a busy highway of unknown causes. Credit: UC Davis
Provided by University of California Davis
Cut off by freeways and human development, mountain lions in southern California are facing a severe loss of genetic diversity, according to a new study led by the University of California, Davis in partnership with The Nature Conservancy.
The study, published today in the journal PLOS ONE, represents the largest genetic sampling of mountain lions, or pumas, in southern California. It raises concerns about the current status of mountain lions in the Santa Ana and Santa Monica mountains, as well as the longer-term outlook for mountain lions across southern California.
UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine scientists collected and analyzed DNA samples from 354 mountain lions statewide, including 97 from southern California. Pumas in the Santa Ana Mountains displayed lower genetic diversity than those from nearly every other region in the state.
Santa Ana mountain lions show dramatic genetic isolation and have less in common with their neighbors in the Santa Monica Mountains than with those in the Sierra Nevada, underscoring the increasing seclusion of pumas in southern California.
The Santa Ana Mountain range, located south of Los Angeles and north of San Diego, is surrounded by urbanization and a growing population of about 20 million people. A small habitat linkage to the southeast connects pumas to the Peninsular Range, but it is bisected by Interstate 15 a busy 10-lane highway and associated human development. The study highlights the urgency to maintain and enhance the little connectivity remaining for coastal mountain lions, particularly across I-15.
The study also showed that the Santa Ana pumas recently went through a population bottleneck, when the populations size sharply decreased to a fraction of its original size.
The genetic samples give us a clear indication that there was a genetic bottleneck in the last 80 or so years, said lead author Holly Ernest, a professor with the Karen C. Drayer Wildlife Health Center and the Veterinary Genetic Laboratory at UC Davis at the time of the study. She is now a professor at the University of Wyoming, Laramie. That tells us its not just natural factors causing this loss of genetic diversity. Its us people impacting these environments.
Pumas in the Santa Monica Mountains are similarly threatened by low genetic diversity, inbreeding, and lions killing other lions, according to a study co-authored by Ernest published in Septembers issue of Current Biology. Just one lion was known to cross Highway 101 during the study period, and he significantly increased the genetic diversity of that population, the study found.
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Mountain Lions In Southern California Face Genetic Decay
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Rich People Have Better Genetics – How To Improve Your DNA – Video
Rich People Have Better Genetics - How To Improve Your DNA
Check out my facebook training http://bit.ly/fbsmyoutube Do you think there are certain people that are genetically programed to become wealthy? Do you think there are certain people that...
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MOTIVASYON VIDEOSU – TURKISH GENETICS -FULL BODY WORKOUT – Shredded Brothers – Video
MOTIVASYON VIDEOSU - TURKISH GENETICS -FULL BODY WORKOUT - Shredded Brothers
FACEBOOK - http://www.facebook.com/shreddedbrothers INSTAGRAM : 25resul / 25recoo MOTIVASYON VIDEOSU - Shredded Brothers.
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MOTIVASYON VIDEOSU - TURKISH GENETICS -FULL BODY WORKOUT - Shredded Brothers - Video
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ICE Genetics Idents Body – Video
ICE Genetics Idents Body
ICE GENETICS idents for our #GENETICSbodies. With Special Thanks to: Mark Le Grange Photography assisted by Zac Dique Production Company: Robot Director: Stephan Hambsch Producer: Liam ...
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ICE Genetics Idents Body - Video
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Dr. Indrin Chetty at TEDx Detroit 2014 – Video
Dr. Indrin Chetty at TEDx Detroit 2014
Dr. Indrin Chetty at TEDx Detroit 2014 "Pioneering Edge technology, Novel gene therapy program and the futuristic Raman spectroscopy research at Henry Ford Hospital.
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Study Finds Link Between Neural Stem Cell Overgrowth and Autism-Like Behavior in Mice
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Newswise People with autism spectrum disorder often experience a period of accelerated brain growth after birth. No one knows why, or whether the change is linked to any specific behavioral changes.
A new study by UCLA researchers demonstrates how, in pregnant mice, inflammation, a first line defense of the immune system, can trigger an excessive division of neural stem cells that can cause overgrowth in the offsprings brain.
The paper appears Oct. 9 in the online edition of the journal Stem Cell Reports.
We have now shown that one way maternal inflammation could result in larger brains and, ultimately, autistic behavior, is through the activation of the neural stem cells that reside in the brain of all developing and adult mammals, said Dr. Harley Kornblum, the papers senior author and a director of the Neural Stem Cell Research Center at UCLAs Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior.
In the study, the researchers mimicked environmental factors that could activate the immune system such as an infection or an autoimmune disorder by injecting a pregnant mouse with a very low dose of lipopolysaccharide, a toxin found in E. coli bacteria. The researchers discovered the toxin caused an excessive production of neural stem cells and enlarged the offsprings brains.
Neural stem cells become the major types of cells in the brain, including the neurons that process and transmit information and the glial cells that support and protect them.
Notably, the researchers found that mice with enlarged brains also displayed behaviors like those associated with autism in humans. For example, they were less likely to vocalize when they were separated from their mother as pups, were less likely to show interest in interacting with other mice, showed increased levels of anxiety and were more likely to engage in repetitive behaviors like excessive grooming.
Kornblum, who also is a professor of psychiatry, pharmacology and pediatrics at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, said there are many environmental factors that can activate a pregnant womans immune system.
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Study Finds Link Between Neural Stem Cell Overgrowth and Autism-Like Behavior in Mice
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St. Louis Regenerative Medicine & Pain Institute – Video
St. Louis Regenerative Medicine Pain Institute
St. Louis Regenerative Medicine Pain Institute is a multi-disciplinary clinic providing interventional procedures and therapies for the treatment of chronic and acute conditions, including...
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UCLA study finds link between neural stem cell overgrowth and autism-like behavior in mice
PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:
9-Oct-2014
Contact: Mark Wheeler mwheeler@mednet.ucla.edu 310-794-2265 University of California - Los Angeles @uclanewsroom
People with autism spectrum disorder often experience a period of accelerated brain growth after birth. No one knows why, or whether the change is linked to any specific behavioral changes.
A new study by UCLA researchers demonstrates how, in pregnant mice, inflammation, a first line defense of the immune system, can trigger an excessive division of neural stem cells that can cause "overgrowth" in the offspring's brain.
The paper appears Oct. 9 in the online edition of the journal Stem Cell Reports.
"We have now shown that one way maternal inflammation could result in larger brains and, ultimately, autistic behavior, is through the activation of the neural stem cells that reside in the brain of all developing and adult mammals," said Dr. Harley Kornblum, the paper's senior author and a director of the Neural Stem Cell Research Center at UCLA's Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior.
In the study, the researchers mimicked environmental factors that could activate the immune system such as an infection or an autoimmune disorder by injecting a pregnant mouse with a very low dose of lipopolysaccharide, a toxin found in E. coli bacteria. The researchers discovered the toxin caused an excessive production of neural stem cells and enlarged the offspring's' brains.
Neural stem cells become the major types of cells in the brain, including the neurons that process and transmit information and the glial cells that support and protect them.
Notably, the researchers found that mice with enlarged brains also displayed behaviors like those associated with autism in humans. For example, they were less likely to vocalize when they were separated from their mother as pups, were less likely to show interest in interacting with other mice, showed increased levels of anxiety and were more likely to engage in repetitive behaviors like excessive grooming.
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UCLA study finds link between neural stem cell overgrowth and autism-like behavior in mice
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New Stem Cell Treatment, Successful in Mice, May Someday Cure Type 1 D
When his infant son Sam was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes two decades ago, Doug Melton made himself a promise: He would cure it. When his daughter Emma was diagnosed with the same autoimmune disease at 14, he redoubled his efforts.
Finally he can see the finish line. In a paper published Thursday in the journal Cell, Melton announces that he has created a virtually unlimited supply of the cells that are missing in people with type 1 diabetes.
By replacing these cellsand then protecting them from attack by the body's immune systemMelton, now a professor and stem cell researcher at Harvard, says someday he'll have his cure.
"I think we've shown the problem can be solved," he said.
In type 1 diabetes, which usually starts in childhood and affects as many as three million Americans, the person's immune system attacks and destroys beta cells in the pancreas. Melton used stem cellswhich can turn into a wide variety of other cell typesto manufacture a new supply of these beta cells, which provide exquisitely fine-tuned responses to sugar levels in the blood.
When you eat, beta cells increase levels of insulin in your blood to process the extra sugar; when you're running on empty, the cells dial down insulin levels.
Since the 1920s, people with type 1 diabetes have been kept alive with insulin injections, though many still face nerve damage, slow wound healing, and even blindness because even the best pumps and monitors are not as effective as the body's beta cells.
The only known cure for type 1 diabetes is a beta cell transplant, which takes the cells from someone who has recently died. But the procedure is complicated, and the patient must remain on drugs forever to prevent the immune system from destroying the cells.
Fewer than 1,000 beta cell transplants have ever been done, said Albert Hwa, senior scientific program manager for beta cell therapies at the diabetes research organization JDRF, which has helped fund Melton's work for more than a decade.
Hope From Stem Cells
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Management of COPD: Update – Video
Management of COPD: Update
The COPD webcast reviews the impact of personalized medicine and pharmacologic and nonpharmacologic options for patients with COPD. To learn more about the Respiratory Virtual Grand Rounds.
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Management of COPD: Update - Video
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This Is My Journey: Jenny’s Road to Independence with GSIL’s Personal Care (PCA) Services – Video
This Is My Journey: Jenny #39;s Road to Independence with GSIL #39;s Personal Care (PCA) Services
After suffering a major Spinal Cord Injury (SCI), Jenny wanted to move back home to New Hampshire, but the house and lifestyle needed some new accommodations. Listen as Jenny talks about her...
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Social boozing with a spinal cord injury – Video
Social boozing with a spinal cord injury
Why not?
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Scientists Develop Barcoding Tool For Stem Cells
October 8, 2014
Image Caption: New genetic barcoding technology allows scientists to identify differences in origin between individual blood cells. Credit: Camargo Lab
Provided by Joseph Caputo, Harvard University
New technology that tracks the origin of blood cells challenges scientific dogma
A 7-year-project to develop a barcoding and tracking system for tissue stem cells has revealed previously unrecognized features of normal blood production: New data from Harvard Stem Cell Institute scientists at Boston Childrens Hospital suggests, surprisingly, that the billions of blood cells that we produce each day are made not by blood stem cells, but rather their less pluripotent descendants, called progenitor cells. The researchers hypothesize that blood comes from stable populations of different long-lived progenitor cells that are responsible for giving rise to specific blood cell types, while blood stem cells likely act as essential reserves.
The work, supported by a National Institutes of Health Directors New Innovator Award and published in Nature, suggests that progenitor cells could potentially be just as valuable as blood stem cells for blood regeneration therapies.
This new research challenges what textbooks have long read: That blood stem cells maintain the day-to-day renewal of blood, a conclusion drawn from their importance in re-establishing blood cell populations after bone marrow transplantsa fact that still remains true. But because of a lack of tools to study how blood forms in a normal context, nobody had been able to track the origin of blood cells without doing a transplant.
Boston Childrens Hospital scientist Fernando Camargo, PhD, and his postdoctoral fellow Jianlong Sun, PhD, addressed this problem with a tool that generates a unique barcode in the DNA of all blood stem cells and their progenitor cells in a mouse. When a tagged cell divides, all of its descendant cells possess the same barcode. This biological inventory system makes it possible to determine the number of stem cells/progenitors being used to make blood and how long they live, as well as answer fundamental questions about where individual blood cells come from.
Theres never been such a robust experimental method that could allow people to look at lineage relationships between mature cell types in the body without doing transplantation, Sun said. One of the major directions we can now go is to revisit the entire blood cell hierarchy and see how the current knowledge holds true when we use this internal labeling system.
People have tried using viruses to tag blood cells in the past, but the cells needed to be taken out of the body, infected, and re-transplanted, which raised a number of issues, said Camargo, who is a member of Childrens Stem Cell Program and an associate professor in Harvard Universitys Department of Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology. I wanted to figure out a way to label blood cells inside of the body, and the best idea I had was to use mobile genetic elements called transposons.
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Scientists Develop Barcoding Tool For Stem Cells
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