337 replies to this topic

[Lazarus Long]

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-=GENETICS OF STEM CELLS=-
July 2003 Vol 4 No 7 REVIEW

Nature Reviews Genetics 4, 497 -507 (2003); doi:10.1038/nrg1109
Weblink

LOOKING BACK TO THE EMBRYO: DEFINING TRANSCRIPTIONAL NETWORKS IN ADULT MYOGENESIS

Maura H. Parker, Patrick Seale & Michael A. Rudnicki about the authors


Preface

Skeletal muscle has an intrinsic capacity for regeneration following injury or exercise. The presence of adult stem cells in various tissues with myogenic potential provides new opportunities for cell-based therapies to treat muscle disease. Recent studies have shown a conserved transcriptional hierarchy that regulates the myogenic differentiation of both embryonic and adult stem cells.

Importantly, the molecules and signalling pathways that induce myogenic determination in the embryo might be manipulated or mimicked to direct the differentiation of adult stem cells either in vivo or ex vivo.

Summary

1. In response to muscle damage, specialized adult myogenic progenitors known as satellite cells activate a myogenic transcriptional programme, which is analogous to that induced during embryonic and fetal muscle development.

2. Either MyoD or Myf5 is required for the commitment of skeletal myogenic cells; in the absence of both transcription factors, progenitor cells assume non-muscle fates.

3. Pax3 and Myf5 function upstream of MyoD in embryonic myogenesis. Pax3 is required for the proliferation, survival and specification of stem cells in the pre-somitic mesoderm.

4. Shh directly activates Myf5 transcription through specific Gli1 binding sites in the epaxial somite enhancer.

5. Activation of several signalling pathways — including the Wnt, Hedgehog, BMP and Notch cascades — determines the balance between the determination, proliferation, survival and differentiation of muscle progenitors in the somite.

6. Pax7 is required for the development of adult muscle satellite cells that function in the postnatal growth and repair of skeletal muscle fibers.

7. MyoD is required for adult muscle regeneration by promoting the myogenic differentiation of satellite-cell derived myoblasts.

8. The activation or modulation of signalling pathways that are implicated in embryonic and fetal muscle formation might provide a useful therapeutic strategy for the generation of muscle cells from adult stem cells either in vivo or ex vivo.

NATURE REVIEWS | GENETICS
© 2003 Nature Publishing Group
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Edited by XxDoubleHelixX, 03 July 2003 - 01:47 AM.

[Cyto]

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-=PROGRESS IN NEURON PRODUCTION=-
Mon June 30, 2003 05:32 PM ET
By Todd Zwillich
WASHINGTON (Reuters Health) - National Institutes of Health researchers have transformed human embryonic stem cells into cells that function like those lost in patients with Parkinson's disease, an official said Monday.

The official told an NIH panel that the research, which has yet to be published, has produced cells resembling human neurons "in every way."

"There has been some rather notable progress made," Dr. James Battey, chair of NIH's stem cell research task force, told members of an advisory panel to NIH director Dr. Elias Zerhouni.

It is still too early to tell whether the cells will be able to function normally if implanted into a patient's brain, Battey said in a later interview. But so far the cells "look great in the lab."

Battey told the panel that an NIH research team led by Dr. Ronald D.G. McKay used a five-step process to transform human embryonic stem cells into cells that can produce dopamine, the neurochemical lost in patients with Parkinson's disease.

The cells are able to fire the electrical impulses, or action potentials, that normal cells use to communicate with one another, he said.

"These are cells that resemble in every way a dopamine-producing mid-brain cell," said Battey, who also directs NIH's Institute of Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD).

McKay, who is chief of laboratory and molecular biology at the National Institutes of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, did not respond to a request for an interview.

But Battey told NIH officials and advisors that the finding shows that basic research is moving forward under a controversial two-year-old White House directive that limited federal funding for embryonic stem research.

The decision, issued by President Bush on Aug 9, 2001, confined federal funding to embryonic stem cell "lines" that had already been derived by the time of the announcement.

"Many of the studies that are begging to be done can be done right now," Battey said

Bush suggested at the time that the limits would prevent public money from being used to destroy human embryos in order to harvest their stem cells. The decision was controversial, with some scientists and research advocates worrying that the limits would stifle the basic research needed to find new disease cures.

Dr. J. Michael Bishop, an advisory board member and chancellor of the University of California at San Francisco, warned that the limits will keep scientists from working with immunologically diverse cells that will be needed for human implantation.

"We can't keep our head in the sand about the need to develop additional lines," he said. "I just don't want anyone to leave this room thinking that the difficulties ... can be discounted."

Former Sen. Connie Mack, R-Fla., a member of the advisory panel, questioned whether the 71 separate groups of embryos eligible for government-funded research under the rules are enough for long-term research. Only 12 stem cell lines from the 71 separate groups are currently available for researchers to use.

Battey said that McKay's finding, along with another that isolated a chemical factor allowing stem cells to freely differentiate into many cell types, showed that basic research is advancing even with limits set by Bush.

However, he also cautioned that the usefulness of the lines for later clinical research "remains a huge question mark."
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-=Embryo Cell Research Legal In Australia’s NSW=-
Wednesday 2 July 2003, 10:05 AM

NSW parliament has passed historic legislation to govern the use of human embryonic stem cells in medical research.

The legislation brings NSW in line with national laws.

In a conscience vote, members of the Legislative Council voted down an amendment which would have banned embryo use by a margin of 22 to 15.

The amendment was proposed by the Reverend Fred Nile.

Science and Medical Research Minister Frank Sartor said the government would monitor the controversial practice.

"This bill creates a strict regulatory framework that will set the rules for embryonic stem cell research," Mr Sartor said.

"NSW has now adopted a position that is nationally consistent and gives certainty to researchers striving for new therapies and cures in the fields of diabetes, spinal cord injury and Alzheimer's disease.

"The new laws also set down strict rules that restrict embryo utilisation to bona fide IVF practices and that would otherwise be destroyed."

©2003 AAP
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-=Funding of embryo cell research in EU is a GO!=-
The Commission is expected today, Tuesday 1 July, to agree on guidelines that will allow the funding of research involving the use of embryonic stem cells, despite strong moral objections.

The decision comes against a background of division in European countries over the ethics of taking and manipulating cells from an embryo - a practice which results in the death of what some consider to be a human life - and the scientific and life saving benefits which the practice may yield.

The UK has long carried out stem cell research while Ireland, Portugal, Germany – the biggest contributor to the EU budget and Italy – current holders of the EU presidency – all oppose the practice.

Critics have argued medical tests show adult stem cell research and umbilical cord blood transplants work just as well, but supporters say adult cells are not as malleable and insufficient work has yet been done to say if adult cells are as useful.

Balancing act
Across the Atlantic, US president George W Bush has placed stringent controls on the use of the federal budget to fund such research but has stopped short of an outright ban.

The Commission is expected to give the go-ahead to fund research with stems left over from, or extracted but not suitable, for fertility treatment.

The decision is likely to cause consternation in the European Parliament, which voted in April to ban the practice. This blanket ban however was not accepted by member states who asked the Commission to simply regulate its funding of such projects.

Under the Commission's guidelines, money from Italy or Germany, for example could not be used to fund research in those countries, however as contributors to a collective EU budget they may be funding research in other counties.

Written by Andrew Beatty
Edited by Honor Mahony
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-=COMMENTARY=-

Well AU and Eu are doing the right thing by funding and allowing ESCs to be researched and understood because we all know epigentics are everything when it comes to this field of research.

As for the "fully functional" neurons, that gives a good feeling to know there are researchers out there making sure we get what we want.
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Edited by XxDoubleHelixX, 24 July 2003 - 12:11 AM.

[Lazarus Long]

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-=STEM CELLS HELP: THE BRAIN=-
More interesting findings.

http://story.news.ya...vere_stroke&e=2

Stem-Like Cells Restore Function in Rats With Severe Stroke
Tue Jul 8, 8:00 PM ET

Source: University of South Florida Health Sciences Center

Rats with severe strokes recovered function following intravenous injections of stem-like cells obtained from circulating human blood -- a finding that points to another potential cell therapy for stroke.

The study, by researchers at the University of South Florida Center of Excellence for Aging and Brain Repair, appears in tthe July 7, 2003, issue of the journal Cell Transplantation.

The human blood donors were injected with granulocyte stimulating factor (G-CSF) to stimulate the release of stem-like cells from their bone marrow into the bloodstream before a blood sample was collected. These stem-like cells are known as peripheral blood progenitor cells.

"This is the first demonstration that G-CSF stimulated peripheral blood cells promote functional recovery after a stroke," said Alison Willing, PhD, assistant professor of neurosurgery and first author of the study. "We were putting these cells into animals 24 hours after a stroke and seeing significant behavioral improvement. The animals behaved almost normally on our tests, just as they had before the stroke. That's pretty amazing."

G-CSF stimulated peripheral blood cells have become an alternative treatment to bone marrow transplants for patients with blood cancers. They are easier to obtain, lead to faster recovery from chemotherapy and better survival.

Dr. Willing and her colleagues wanted to explore whether G-CSF treated peripheral blood cells might also be a treatment for central nervous system disorders. For the last few years, the USF Center for Aging and Brain Repair has been investigating alternatives to human embryonic stem cells, such as adult bone marrow stem cells and human umbilical cord blood (HUCB) cells, as treatments for stroke, spinal cord injury and other neurological disorders.

"Our findings suggest that mobilized peripheral blood cells might be a good candidate for early treatment of central nervous system disorders like stroke," said Paul R. Sanberg, PhD, DSc, professor of neurosurgery and director of the USF Center for Aging and Brain Repair. "They appear to be more readily accessible and easier to isolate than bone marrow and, like bone marrow, could be donated by patients for their own use."

In an editorial accompanying the USF study, authors Cesar Borlongan, PhD, and David Hess, MD, both of the Medical College of Georgia, also suggest that a patient's own peripheral blood stem cells might be a source of cell therapy for stroke. "Administration of G-CSF itself (an already FDA (news - web sites)- approved drug) may mobilize progenitor cells from the bone marrow compartment into the peripheral blood where they can 'home' to the brain and have a protective or restorative effect. This would avoid the need to isolate cells and reinject them."

For this pilot study, the USF team compared the effect of G-CSF stimulated peripheral blood cells with that of HUCB cells in a rat model for severe stroke. An earlier report by researchers at USF and Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit reported that intravenous injections of HUCB cells helped rats recover from strokes faster.

The USF team looked at three groups of rats induced to have symptoms of stroke. The first group was intravenously injected with G-CSF stimulated peripheral blood cells 24 hours after a stroke. These cells were collected from the circulating blood of human blood donors through a process known as leukapheresis. Because the donors had received G-CSF before their blood was drawn, the resulting blood sample included a larger-than-normal population of immature, undifferentiated cells with the capacity to become any cell in the body, including neurons.

The second group was intravenously injected with HUCB cells 24 hours after the stroke.

The third group, a control, received no cellular treatment.

The researchers found that, following cell therapy, the stroke-induced hyperactive behavior of the rats was reduced to a pre-stroke level of normal activity. The improvement was similar whether the rats had been treated with peripheral blood cells or HUCB cells. Unlike humans, who are often paralyzed following a severe stroke, rats typically become abnormally active.

In addition, both the G-CSF stimulated peripheral blood cells and HUCB cells prevented the rats from developing stroke-associated motor asymmetry -- the favoring of one side over another. The control rats displayed a significant increase in motor bias following stroke.

The researchers are unsure how these peripheral blood cells improve functional recovery, but they suspect the transplanted cells may secrete protective substances that prevent further brain damage rather than replacing already damaged neurons. One month, the length of the USF study, likely was not enough time for a stem-like peripheral blood cell to change into a replacement neuron and sprout functioning fibers in the brain, Dr. Willing said.

Dr. Willing and her colleagues are continuing to try to determine how the peripheral blood cells work, as well as the optimal time, method and number of cells to deliver following a stroke.


Copyright © 2003 Acurian Inc. All Rights Reserved.


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Edited by XxDoubleHelixX, 16 July 2003 - 09:50 PM.

[Cyto]

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-=FURTHERING UNDERSTANDING OF hNSCs=-
Brain Stem Cells are not Rejected when Transplanted

Findings could improve retinal and other nervous system transplants

Intro:
Most tissues when transplanted from one body to another are seen by the recipient as foreign and attacked by the immune system. This is because the transplanted tissue has molecules on its surface called antigens that are recognized by the immune system as "not self." If the immune response goes unchecked by drugs to inhibit the attack, it will eventually destroy the transplanted tissue and reject it.

Michael Young and his colleagues chose a part of the body that always rejects transplanted tissue without immunosuppressant drugs and without close tissue typing the kidney capsule, the pouch in which the kidney is located. This pouch is commonly used to determine whether transplants can survive. Over the years scientists have tested skin, cornea and other tissues in the kidney capsule to evaluate their transplant potential.
End Intro.

"These findings are very exciting," says Michael Young, PhD, the lead author of the study and an assistant scientist at Schepens Eye Research Institute and assistant professor at Harvard Medical School. "Though we suspected brain stem cells might be protected in this way, this is the first documented evidence."

There are sites in the body that do not mount attacks against foreign tissue because to do so would be too self-destructive. For instance, in the eye an all out immune attack would cause inflammation that would destroy delicate tissue and, with it, vision. These sites, which are known as "immune privileged," include the eye, the brain, the digestive system, and the reproductive system.

Conclusion:
Young, who in previous research found that brain and retinal stem cells transplanted into the eyes of mice and rats seemed to survive longer and integrate more easily into damaged retinas than other cells, suspected that these "neural stem cells" might be immune privileged. The only way for him to learn the true nature of their immune properties was to transplant these neural stem cells to a part of the recipients body that, unlike the eye, was not immune privileged already.

They concluded that these neural stems cells did not induce an immune response and must be invisible to the immune system, at least initially. The next step was to determine if the cells possessed the antigens that most other tissues had. To test this theory, the team took other brain cells (not stem cells) from the green mice and implanted them in the normal non-green mice. These cells were rejected, and when brain stem cells were then again implanted in the normal non-green mice, they, too were rejected. The team concluded, therefore, that the brain stem cells did possess antigens, but unless the recipient was primed or pre-immunized, the antigens were not visible to the immune system of the recipient and not rejected.
End Conclusion.

Extra:
"Understanding the immune properties of these stem cells could have an enormous effect on how we perform brain or retinal transplantations in the future. Stem cells already have the advantage of being able to transform or differentiate into various types of cells and can be reproduced endlessly outside the body. Now we know that at least brain stem cells are immune privileged and can be used without the same worry about tissue matching or immunosuppression that is true for other types of tissue. Young is the director of Schepens Eye Research Institute's Minda de Gunzburg Retinal Transplantation Research Center. The center is committed, with a focus on retinal regeneration, to unlocking the mysteries of vision and finding the cures for blinding eye diseases that devastate millions in the United States and around the world.

The study, titled "Neural progenitor cells lack immunogenicity and resist destruction as allografts" can be obtained at the Stems Cells website at http://stemcells.alphamedpress.org/ or by emailing pattijacobs@hotmail.com or mikey@vision.eri.harvard.edu.

Other members of the research team include Junko Hori, Tat Fong Ng, Marie Shatos, and J. Wayne Streilein of Schepens Eye Research Institute of Boston and Henry Klassen of the Stem Cell Research Program at Children's Hospital of Orange County in Orange, California.
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-=FYI=-
I did move the article around to make a nice intro and conclusion, easier reading.
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Edited by XxDoubleHelixX, 24 July 2003 - 12:11 AM.

[kevin]

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-=STEM CELLS HELP: THE LIVER=-
Stem cells found to home toward the injured liver
The now recognized plasticity of stem cells challenges researchers to further define the mechanisms responsible for their recruitment and differentiation, so that they may ultimately become clinically useful in the repair of injured organs.
In the July 15 issue of The Journal of Clinical Investigation, a collaborative research team led by Tsvee Lapidot and colleagues at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel, and also including researchers from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York, Institut Pasteur in Paris, and the Chaim Sheba Medical Center, Israel, have reported a study that greatly contributes to our understanding of how hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) home to injured liver tissue and contribute to tissue repair. The authors reveal that migration of HSCs to the liver is a selective, non-random event, requiring the expression of the signaling chemokine SDF-1 and the receptor CXCR4. The pathways that facilitate crosstalk between HSCs and injured liver tissue may serve as targets for future therapeutic protocols in the field of liver regeneration and transplantation.

Link to PDF
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Edited by XxDoubleHelixX, 16 July 2003 - 09:52 PM.

[Bruce Klein]

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-=FURTHERING UNDERSTANDING OF hNSCs=-
Brain stem cells are not rejected when transplanted

Science Blog - For the first time scientists have shown that brain stem cells are immune privileged, which means that they are invisible to a transplant recipient's immune system and do not trigger the immune system to reject them. These results, published in the July issue of Stem Cells, indicate that using central nervous system stem cells in transplants for diseases of the eye (which is part of the brain), brain, and spinal cord, may eliminate the need for tissue typing before, and immunosuppressive drugs after, transplantation. Ultimately these findings promise to improve the success of retinal transplantation to regenerate vision for millions with macular degeneration, retinitis pigmentosa and diabetic retinopathy and brain transplants to restore functioning for patients with disorders such as Parkinson's disease.

http://www.sciencebl...rticle&sid=1828
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Edited by XxDoubleHelixX, 16 July 2003 - 10:58 PM.

[Cyto]

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-=Nanog RETURNS!=-

IN THE NEWS
Eternal youth

Arianne Heinrichs

Scientists from UK and Japan have discovered a major new player in maintaining the immortality of embryonic stem (ES) cells. This breakthrough might one day allow scientists to turn any cell into an immortal, pluripotent cell that can be used for therapeutic purposes.

Shinya Yamanaka and his colleagues, from the Nara Institute of Science and Technology, and Austin Smith's group, at the Institute for Stem Cell Research in Edinburgh, independently identified a gene that was expressed specifically in pluripotent, undifferentiated cells. They named the gene Nanog — after the mythological Celtic land of the ever-young, Tir nan Og.

In two papers in Cell, the scientists showed that overexpression of Nanog prevented ES cells from differentiating. What is exciting is that Nanog seems to be a key factor in the transcription-factor network that is known to be required for the ES cell phenotype.

"As we know more and more about pluripotency, it probably will be possible to reprogram cells to make stem cells out of any cell in the body," said James Thomson, the University of Wisconsin scientist who first isolated human embryonic stem cells in 1998 (Washington Post, 30th May 2003).

Although most of their experiments involved using the mouse version of Nanog in mouse cells, some involved the human version, which was identified thanks to its structural similarity to mouse Nanog. "If Nanog has the same effect in humans as we have found in mice, this will be a key step in the developing embryonic stem cells for medical treatments," said Austin Smith (New Scientist, 30th May 2003).
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-=FYI=-
Nanog was discovered a while ago (~January 2002 in Science News reported the discovery in murine models) but NOW it is being found to be a player in ES fate determination.
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Edited by XxDoubleHelixX, 24 July 2003 - 12:10 AM.

[Cyto]

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-=Stem Cells Bring Countries Together=-



Stem Cells International Policy Discussion

The Medical Research Council convened an international policy discussion on stem cells on 7 January 2003, to bring together nine international research agencies that have already shown an interest in working together to further stem cell research.

Prospects that stem cell research offers for:

[>] generating new insights into fundamental cell biology and developmental processes
[>] developing cell-based treatments to repair or replace human tissues damaged through injuries
[>] treating a wide range of serious degenerative diseases that affect millions of people world-wide and for which there are currently no cures

Objectives of the meeting were to:

[>] encourage collaborative research across nations, boundaries and disciplines
[>] encourage sharing of resources and data and fully capitalize on the existing available human stem cell lines
[>] identify key research gaps and address these by capitalizing on national strengths
[>] identify funding schemes that facilitate transnational collaborations

The countries and agencies involved were:

1.) Medical Research Council, UK
2.) Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities
3.) Canadian Institutes of Health Research
4.) National Institutes of Health, USA
5.) National University of Singapore
6.) Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, USA
7.) National Health and Medical Research Council, Australia
8.) Academy of Finland
9.) Scientific Council for Medicine, Swedish Research Council

Prof. Sir George Radda, Chief Executive of the Medical Research Council, said: "This has been a very constructive day for stem cell research and international scientific collaboration, laying the foundation for a global approach to cutting edge research.

"The agencies from around the world that met in London today recognize the long-term potential of stem cell research for human health, but are also aware of the concerns raised by new ethical challenges in this type of research".

Sir George summary:

Two expert working groups would be set up; one would look at the requirements of stem cell research, which would include stem cell line characterization, and the second would look at facilitating further discussion for country-specific ethical issues.
A website would be created through which information on training events for those in the field would be channeled.
The group would keep abreast of international intellectual property issues and deal with them at an appropriate time

The group has also agreed to meet again in six months to review these outcomes in the light of new information that will become available.
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-=STEM CELLS HELP: THE HEART=-

Age-related Stem Cell Decline Might Explain Heart Problems
Dwayne Hunter
Betterhumans Staff
Tuesday, July 15, 2003, 12:50:08 PM CT

Researchers from Duke University Medical Center have now demonstrated that age-related loss of stem cells that continually repair blood vessel damage is critical to the onset and progression of atherosclerosis.

"Our studies indicate that the inability of bone marrow to produce progenitor cells which repair and rejuvenate the lining of the arteries drives the process of atherosclerosis and the formation of plaques in the arteries," he says.

Mice with high cholesterol

A Duke study to appear in the July 29 issue of the journal Circulation, published online yesterday (read abstract), used mice experiments to better understand atherosclerosis -- one of the leading causes of death and illness in the US.

The Duke team examined stem cells know as bone-marrow-derived vascular progenitor cells with the intention of injecting them into patients to forestall or prevent the development of atherosclerosis.

Another option would be to induce a patient's own stem cells to differentiate into progenitor cells.

In the experiment, the researchers bred mice to develop atherosclerosis and high cholesterol levels. Over a 14-week period these mice were injected with bone marrow cells from normal mice.

After 14 weeks, a 40% to 60% decrease in the number of lesions in the aorta -- the main artery carrying blood from the heart -- was detected in the treated mice.

Specific staining techniques on the aortas helped researchers determine that the bone marrow cells "homed in" on areas where atherosclerotic lesions were most common.

Migration and differentiation

Not only did the bone marrow cells migrate to where they were needed most, but they also differentiated into the proper cell types -- endothelial cells that line arteries and the smoother muscle cells beneath the endothelium that help strengthen the arteries.

The researchers also found that bone marrow cells from older mice were less able to prevent atherosclerosis than those of younger mice.

"This finding suggests that with aging, cells capable of preventing atherosclerosis that are normally present in the bone marrow became deficient in the older mice that had developed atherosclerosis," says Goldschmidt.

The finding could have implications beyond heart conditions and their treatment. Loss of rejuvenating cells could also be a contributor to a broad range of age-related disorders that includes rheumatoid arthritis and chronic liver disease.
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-=COMMENTARY=-

So we have countries now working on establishing fluid research so findings don't overlap which will theoretically result in faster research. And we have a direct confirmation, of a specific tissue system, relying on stem cells to maintain health. For the latter: like we didn't already suspect this but hey, its always better to have the papers to shove around. The End.
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Edited by XxDoubleHelixX, 24 July 2003 - 12:10 AM.

[Cyto]

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-=ESC, a quick revisit=-
Problems:

*Safest route is to do the many injections - no one will do this

*murineESCs derived from SCNT have been shown to cause cancer

*reverting cells in your body to a less differentiated form, via solution injection, could kill you

*keeping around your original cells could lead to cancers

Goals to look for:

*Stem Cell Biologists and Nuclear Reprogrammers working to make 'your' pluripotent SCs, derived from somatic cell nuclear transfer, add to the stem cells stock when injected into the body.

*The Nanog gene, if up-regulated, will keep ESCs from differentiating (Nanog medium till transplant?)

*Make the ESCs derived from SCNT more plasticit (up-regulate sensitivity)

*Understand why there is that nasty possibility of cancer

*Add in mods (more XP proteins) also when we understand the cancer beating mice (see below) we should take the model and utilize it in our cells

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After thinking about the problem of uncontrolled cell growth for using undifferentiated embrionics I looked around and found a paper on the subject and one dealing with a problem like tumors.

On stemcells.com there is a paper titled: Selective Ablation of Human Embryonic Stem Cells Expressing a "Suicide" Gene by
Maya Schuldinera et al which talks about them genetically engineered human ES cell lines to express the herpes simplex virus thymidine kinase (HSV-tk) gene. This gene is sensitive to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration-approved drug ganciclovir, inducing destruction of HSV-tk+ cells at ganciclovir concentrations that are nonlethal to other cell types. Using this they were able to transplant in mice and control a cancerous growth.

Approaches to Utilize Mesenchymal Progenitor Cells (MPC) as Cellular Vehicles by L. Pereboevaa et al give an approach to body gaurdians.

Nice sum up:

MPCs expressing thymidine kinase were able to exert a bystander killing effect on the cancer cell line SKOV3ip1 in vitro. In addition, we found that MPCs were able to support Ad replication, and thus can be used as cell vectors to deliver oncolytic viruses. Our results show that MPCs can foster expression of suicide genes or support replication of adenoviruses as potential anticancer therapeutic payloads. These findings are consistent with the concept that MPCs possess key properties that ensure their employment as cellular vehicles and can be used to deliver either therapeutic genes or viruses to tumor sites.

A research paper published in Cancer Research October 15th 2002 had interesting results. Brain stem cells, when injected into a brain tumor, can follow the fragments that break off. So the nSCs were upregulated in interleukin 12 production (immune-stimulation) - mice recovered and 30% were immune to brain cancers.

As for an example of how we should model new designer stem cells which can beat cancers, the Cancer Beating Mice will prove useful.
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Edited by XxDoubleHelixX, 24 July 2003 - 12:10 AM.

[Cyto]

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-=Oh, Yea=-

The post on the Stem cells uniting countries looks like it united 9 countries but its 12. Sweden, Netherlands, Finland, Singapore, Isael, Japan, France, Germany, Australia, Canada, US and UK. Can we say "Big Guns."

Geron made osteoblasts (bone forming cells) from ESCs. (shrug)
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Edited by XxDoubleHelixX, 24 July 2003 - 12:10 AM.

[Cyto]

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-=Neural Stem Cell Breakthrough Understaning=-

From Bio.com...
Nitric Oxide regulates stem cell division in the adult brain; Strategy seen for repairing brain damage caused by neurodegenerative disease and stroke

Most neurons in the mammalian brain are produced during embryonic development. However, several regions of the adult brain continue to spawn large numbers of neurons through the proliferation of neural stem cells. Moreover, it is becoming clear that these new neurons are integrated into existing brain circuitry.

Now, researchers at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory have discovered that a molecule called nitric oxide (NO) is a pivotal, natural regulator of the birth of new neurons in the adult brain. The study, published in this week's issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, shows that blocking nitric oxide production stimulates neural stem cell proliferation and hence dramatically increases the number of neurons that are generated in the brains of adult rats.

Importantly, the new neurons that arise as a consequence of blocking nitric oxide production display properties of normal neurons, and they appear to contribute directly to the architecture of the adult brain. The study suggests that modulating nitric oxide levels might be an effective strategy for replacing neurons that are lost from the brain due to stroke or chronic neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and Huntington's disease.
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-=Funding=-

From scotsman.com

Stem Cell Sciences raises £2.35m for research

A BIOTECHNOLOGY company with bases in Edinburgh and Australia has bucked the industry’s funding drought by raising £2.35 million to expand its research to find new treatments for Parkinson’s Disease and diabetes.

Stem Cell Sciences is likely to use some of the funding to begin experimenting with cloned human embryos, using a similar technique to the one that created Dolly the Sheep.

The company has attracted joint financial support of £1.15m from the Archangels syndicate and Scottish Enterprise’s Co-Investment Fund, and £1.2m from BioTech Capital, one of Australia’s largest life sciences private equity funds. Funds committed in Scotland and Australia will be spent in their respective territories.
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-=Spain Jumps In=-

Spain Approves Stem Cell Research, with Conditions

MADRID (Reuters) - Predominantly Catholic Spain authorized the use of embryonic stem cells for research on Friday, but said only embryos left over from fertilization treatment could be used, and only with the parents' consent.
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[Cyto]

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-=Neural Stem Cells, Why Do You Die?=-

from bio.com - I moved the article around to highlight points...

Stem cell death gives clue to brain cell survival

Opening:
"During embryonic development, we would like to know how stem cell death is regulated because we know it needs to be regulated," says Dr. Bieberich. "You don't want the whole brain dying or overgrowing. You have to find a balance. How is that balanced maintained? What are the secrets for that?

Middle:
At a certain point in cell division, just before neurons begin forming, there is massive production of proteins and up-regulation of lipids. During that phase, decisions are made about which daughter cells get what composition of lipids and proteins, decisions that affect the cells' future function.

Typically at this point in division, the two daughter cells birthed from a single stem cell will have the same makeup and the same ultimate purpose.

Yet in a subpopulation of the stem cells involved in brain development, the scientists have documented increasing levels of ceramide in both resulting daughter cells while its death partner, PAR-4, gets handed off to only half the cells.

Cells destined to survive, and likely further divide and differentiate, are handed instead a protein called nestin. "Nestin is a marker for a particular stage of neuronal development," says Dr. Bieberich. "Nestin-bearing cells will develop into neural cells such as our neurons or astrocytes or other cells. So it makes sense that the cells that inherit nestin, but not PAR-4, will survive and develop into normal neuronal cells whereas the other ones will die."

End:
"We all know that even in adulthood, we have stem cells in the brain and they may be able to repair damaged areas," says Dr. Bieberich. "But if the same cell death mechanisms are still active, there will not be an increase in the number of stem cells because always one cell will die and one will survive. Maybe we can control this and increase the number of endogenous stem cells.

"Also during the neurodegeneration that occurs in diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's, we have a lot of cell death going on and we would like to know what signals are involved that make those brain cells die. They may be very similar or even exactly the same as the ones we investigate with our embryonic mouse stem cells."
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[Lazarus Long]

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-=COMMENTARY=-
Hey DH have you changed your name to carboniX?

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Edited by CarboniX, 11 August 2003 - 07:58 PM.

[Cyto]

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-=COMMENTARY=-
Yes, I have been meaning to change the name and the little incident with Alex R. reminded me. I have shifted from promoter dynamics to molecular alterations - in this case improving GG-NER/TC-NER. Of course this has me now engrossing in heavy organic chem. The End. [g:)]

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Edited by CarboniX, 11 August 2003 - 07:59 PM.

[kevin]

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-=GENETICS OF STEM CELLS: Vascularization=-
http://www.eurekaler...c-usi080703.php

UNC studies identify key genes involved in blood vessel development

CHAPEL HILL -- New research from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has identified two genes that play key roles in regulating blood vessel development.
The research appears in two reports published in the Aug. 15 issue of Molecular and Cellular Biology, a professional journal. Dr. Cam Patterson, professor of medicine and director of the Carolina Cardiovascular Biology Center and a member of the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, led both studies.

Both research papers focus on angiogenesis, the molecular program by which endothelial cells lining blood vessels develop or differentiate from their precursor stem cells.

"I think of endothelial cells as the 'intelligent cells' of blood vessels," Patterson said. "They are communicators between the blood vessel wall and bloodstream. They are the cells that determine what a blood vessel does. For example, during angiogenesis, when new blood vessels are being formed, it's the endothelial cells that determine where they go and how big they get."

And as communicators, Patterson added, endothelial cells also help determine what passes through the blood-brain barrier, through the endothelium and into the brain, and what does not.

"One study in this issue of the journal sheds important new light on the molecular process that prevents a particular cell type from overrunning the developing embryo," Patterson said. "The findings from this study also offer tantalizing possibilities for new treatments aimed at putting the brakes on blood vessel development in tumors and other disorders having important vascular growth components, such as diabetes."

The second paper focuses on what activates the endothelial cell program, and it reports having found a possible answer in a single protein, a known transcription factor that has never been characterized functionally.

"This has really been a 'holy grail' finding for us," Patterson said. "No other research group has found a single transcription factor that by itself is both necessary and sufficient to activate the endothelial cell program." For the first study, co-authors were Patterson and School of Medicine research colleagues Drs. Martin Moser, Olav Binder, Yaxu Wu, Julius Aitsebaomo, Rongqin Ren, Victoria Bautch and Frank L. Conlon. Dr. Christoph Bode of Freiburg University in Germany also served as co-author. The study team discovered a gene they called BMPER for BMP-binding endothelial precursor-derived regulator. The molecule was found using "a sophisticated molecular approach to separate out endothelial cell precursors from non-endothelial cell cells in a stem-cell model," Patterson said.

In a series of experiments, the researchers demonstrated that only endothelial cells and their precursors express the BMPER gene. Endothelial cells secrete the protein as they differentiate, issuing a molecular "stop" order to inhibit further differentiation.

"This was shown very clearly when we used stem cells to generate endothelial cells and then added BMPER. We found that BMPER inhibited the whole process," Patterson said.

In the second study, co-authors Wu, Moser, Bautch and Patterson looked at the gene flk1, a molecular marker for early endothelial cell precursors. "Flk1 is important because it's a receptor for vascular endothelial growth factor, which is an angiogenic factor," Patterson said.

"But it's also important to us because it's the first gene that gets turned on in endothelial progenitor cells. So we wanted to know what transcription factors turn on flk1 and are those factors themselves sufficient enough to turn on the whole endothelial cell gene program - that is, can you use those factors to take a precursor cell and turn it into an endothelial cell?"

The study team used a screening procedure (yeast-1 hybrid screen) in which a piece of DNA was employed as a kind of bait to screen a library containing a variety of transcription factors.

"And the protein we pulled out with the bait is called HOXB5, a transcription factor that's known but that has never been functionally characterized," Patterson said.

The researchers then asked whether HOXB5 would increase expression of flk1 by binding to genetic regulatory elements in the gene. "And indeed that was the case in our in vitro studies," Patterson said. "But the really important findings came when we over-expressed HOXB5 in stem cells. We used a stem cell model developed a few years ago here at UNC and found we could double or triple the number of flk1-positive cells that were produced from stem cells.

"But most importantly, if we look at actual vessel formation in stem cell cultures, we found vessel formation is hugely increased." Thus, the findings indicate that simply over-expressing HOXB5 by itself not only increases expression of the regulatory protein, but also increases the number of endothelial cells that will form from the precursors.

"We're especially excited about the possibility that we can use this transcription factor to create renewable populations of endothelial cell precursors. I think this will be very important, as it would be analogous to hematopoietic (blood cell-forming) stem cells," Patterson said.

"And if we can create an analogous endothelial stem cell line, we can use that for gene therapy applications, for example, as a regenerative therapy for aged blood vessels.

"The therapeutic potentials for this research are many."

A grant from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, a component of the National Institutes of Health, supported this research.


###
Note: Contact Patterson at 919-843-6477 or cpatters@med.unc.edu.
School of Medicine contact: Les Lang, 919-843-9687 or llang@med.unc.edu.

By LESLIE H. LANG
UNC School of Medicine
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Edited by CarboniX, 11 August 2003 - 08:01 PM.

[kevin]

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-=nSTEM CELL PRODUCTION=-
Creation of new neurons critical to antidepressant action in mice

Blocking the formation of neurons in the hippocampus blocks the behavioral effects of antidepressants in mice, say researchers funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Their finding lends new credence to the proposed role of such neurogenesis in lifting mood. It also helps to explain why antidepressants typically take a few weeks to work, note Rene Hen, Ph.D., Columbia University, and colleagues, who report on their study in the August 8th Science.

"If antidepressants work by stimulating the production of new neurons, there's a built-in delay," explained Hen, a grantee of NIH's National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) and National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). "Stem cells must divide, differentiate, migrate and establish connections with post-synaptic targets – a process that takes a few weeks."

"This is an important new insight into how antidepressants work," added NIMH director Thomas Insel, M.D. "We have known that antidepressants influence the birth of neurons in the hippocampus. Now it appears that this effect may be important for the clinical response."

http://www.eurekaler...m-con080403.php
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Edited by CarboniX, 11 August 2003 - 08:02 PM.

[Cyto]

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-=NIH's: Stem Cells: Scientific Progress and Future Research Directions Online Book=-

I admit that I haven't gone over all the chapters in this recently updated online book (I think it would be called that) but they put in a lot of time to make this a great resource for understanding ESCs. Its in PDFs.



Stem Cells: Scientific Progress and Future Research Directions

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[kevin]

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-=STEM CELLS HELP: THE LIVER=-
Public release date: 11-Aug-2003

Contact: Alex Smith
Alex_smith@margeotes.com
212-460-0563
Weizmann Institute

Weizmann Institute scienists find that stem cells in the bone marrow become liver cells
They still don't have a personality, and they're waiting for the maturity call. Stem cells in our bone marrow usually develop into blood cells, replenishing our blood system. However, in states of emergency, the destiny of some of these stem cells may change: They can become virtually any type of cell – liver cells, muscle cells, nerve cells – responding to the body's needs.
Prof. Tsvee Lapidot and Dr. Orit Kollet of the Weizmann Institute's Immunology Department have found how the liver, when damaged, sends a cry for help to these stem cells. "When the liver becomes damaged, it signals to stem cells in the bone marrow, which rush to it and help in its repair – as liver cells," says Lapidot. His research team has found that certain molecules that govern normal development of the liver become overproduced when it is damaged, signaling to the stem cells in the bone marrow to come to the site. The scientists were able to pinpoint the signaling molecules – HGF, MMP-9 and SDF-1– and describe the homing process. HGF is involved in liver cell development and, in irregular cases, can play a role in cancer metastasis. MMP-9 assists cell migration from the blood system into various types of tissue, including liver tissue. SDF-1 is a molecule that stem cells are attracted to. The scientists discovered that large amounts of HGF and MMP-9, when overproduced in the damaged liver, enter the blood flow and increase the sensitivity of stem cells in the bone marrow to SDF-1. Suddenly able to sense SDF-1's calling signal from the liver (which itself is amplified due to increased production and distribution of SDF-1), the stem cells migrate from the bone marrow into the blood and navigate their way to the liver. The findings could lead to new insights into organ repair and transplants, especially liver-related ones. They may also uncover a whole new stock of stem cells that can under certain conditions become liver cells. Until a few years ago only embryonic stem cells were thought to possess such capabilities. Understanding how stem cells in the bone marrow turn into liver cells could one day be a great boon to liver repair as well as an alternative to the use of embryonic stem cells.


###
Prof. Tsvee Lapidot's research is supported by the Concern Foundation, Beverly Hills, CA; Ms. Rhoda Goldstein, Nanuet, NY; Levine Institute of Applied Science; M.D. Moross Institute for Cancer Research; Ms. Nora Peisner, Hungtington, MI; and Gabrielle Rich Center for Transplantation Biology Research.

http://www.eurekaler...ct/medicine.php

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Edited by CarboniX, 22 August 2003 - 04:44 AM.

[Lazarus Long]

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-=STEM CELLS HELP: THE HEART=-

The links in the article are worth pursuing.

http://www.biomedcen...ews/20030811/01

August 11, 2003

Mending broken hearts
Rat mesenchymal stem cells modified to express Akt show potential for the regeneration of the heart | By David Secko

Human cardiac disease involving a disruption of blood flow, for example, in myocardial infarction, initiates a process in which heart muscle cells (the myocardium) die. Natural repair mechanisms do exist, including an enlargement of the heart, an increase in the number of cells present, and the traveling of bone-marrow–derived stem cells (BMCs) to effect some repair, but none are effective in the long term. To effect additional repair, harvesting and direct injection of BMCs and mesenchymal stems cells (MSCs) into ischemic myocardium has been undertaken. This has met with partial success and is partly explained by the poor viability of the transplanted cells.

In the August 10 Nature Medicine, Abeel A. Mangi and colleagues at Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School genetically engineered MSCs designed to overcome previous problems with cell death during transplantation into infarcted hearts (Nature Medicine, DOI:10.1038/nm912, August 10, 2003).

Mangi et al. grew large quantities of adult rat MSCs in mixed culture with hematopoietic cells and purified the MSCs > 99.9% using preferential attachment to polystyrene surfaces and negative paramagnetic bead sorting. The purified MSCs were then genetically modified with the use of retroviruses to express a murine version of the cell survival protein Akt in order that the cells would not undergo apoptosis upon transplantation into infracted hearts. They observed that Akt-expressing MSCs showed an 80% reduction in apoptosis in vitro after 24 hours of hypoxia and also observed this effect in vivo through the injection of 5 x 106 Akt MSCs into myocardial infarcted female rats. The injected MSCs developed into cardiac myocyte-like cells in a manner restricted to injured myocardium, since it was not observed in uninjured tissue. This injection was also associated with regeneration of lost myocardial volume, normalized cardiac function, and the prevention of pathological remodeling, all pointing to improved cardiac function resulting from the Akt MSCs.

"We speculate that future therapy for acute myocardial infarction may involve transplantation of MSCs overexpressing Akt to facilitate the repair of the damaged heart," conclude the authors. The genetic engineering of stem cells, perhaps encompassing a combination of gene and cell therapy, may hold great potential for effective treatments involving regenerative medicine.
Links for this article
R.S. Williams et al., "Protective responses in the ischemic myocardium," Journal Clinical Investigation, 106:813-818, October 2000.
[PubMed Abstract]

D. Orlic et al., "Bone marrow cells regenerate infarcted myocardium," Nature, 410:701-705, April 5, 2001.
[PubMed Abstract]

A.A. Mangi et al., "Mesenchymal stem cells modified with Akt prevent remodeling and restore performance of infracted hearts," Nature Medicine, DOI:10.1038/nm912, August 10, 2003.
http://www.nature.com/nm/

Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School
http://www.brighamandwomens.org/

S.R. Datta et al., "Cellular survival: a play in three Akts," Genes and Development, 13:2905-2927, November 15, 1999.
[PubMed Abstract]
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Edited by CarboniX, 22 August 2003 - 04:45 AM.

[Cyto]

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-=Rabbits and China: Semi-Hu-Rabs...something like that?=-

China biologists are using rabbit eggs to help make...or try to make, some non-controversial ESCs. Course thats not going to work out either.

The cells from the rabbit/human product won't divide immortal-like. And the religious or "the nature's way" people will be pissy of course.

Also TalkOrigins.org has a Science Is Tricky Stuff article that talks about how science is hard to understand but the public should have some VALID understanding of some of the common themes. Or I'm just posting this because it makes me feel better knowing someone else is saying science is tricky, besides me. [lol]
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[Cyto]

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-=nSCs and Their Future Part in Biomedical Sciences: Meeting=-
Potential Role of Stem Cells in the Discovery of New Drugs to be Addressed at October 14-15 Meeting
Wednesday August 20, 8:51 am ET


NEW YORK, Aug. 20 /PRNewswire/ -- The prospective role of human neural stem cells in the screening of potential pharmaceutical compounds will be presented as part of an industrial stem cell and regenerative therapeutic research meeting to be held this October in Princeton, NJ, announces Strategic Research Institute.
Following two highly successful events, the third annual meeting features researchers from the stem cell industry's leading biotech and biopharmaceutical companies as well as pioneering scientists from academia as they present their most recent data.

Topics to be covered Human Embryonic Stem Cells, Cord Blood Derived and Bone Marrow Stem Cells, CNS Stem Cell Transdifferentiation and Transplantation, Implications for Drug Discovery, Bioethics of Stem Cell Research, and Commercial and Federal Regulatory Implications for the Pharmaceutical and Biotech Industries.

Over 25 companies including Geron Corporation, Stem Cell Sciences, Bresagen, NeuralStem, Neuronyx, NeuroNova, Osiris Therapeutics, Genzyme Corporation, Thrombogenics, and many others will discuss their role in stem cell research to an broad audience comprised of pharmaceutical, academic and biotech researchers and executives.

To register, request announcement, and/or for sponsorship/exhibition information, please contact Steve J. Kuperberg at skuperberg@srinstitute.com

(Please include company/university and mailing address) Registration is available online at
www.srinstitute.com/cs254/register.htm

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Source: Strategic Research Institute
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[Lazarus Long]

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-=STEM CELL COMPATIBILITY ISSUE=-
Geron was also in today's news with respect to a previous post AND happy (almost) anniversary of "joining the new forum Helix.

Also if you could make a template for your pretty format I would try to use it as a time saving device for uniformity but otherwise I will be lazy and make it readable and leave the "fluffing up" the data to you )

I am putting the financial data in because we have been talking about putting our money where our mouths are as a type of informal Stock watch listing for a while and Genron was often mentioned as a company to watch.

http://story.news.ya...health_geron_dc

Human Heart Cells Working in Rat Hearts - Geron
Wed Aug 20, 8:28 AM ET Science - Reuters

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Geron Corp on Wednesday said it had successfully transplanted heart muscle cells derived from human embryonic stem cells into the hearts of rats and that the human cells appeared to be dividing and forming new heart tissue in the rodents.

The Menlo Park, California-based biotech firm said the human heart cells were transplanted into healthy rats, but that other studies will test whether such transplanted human cells can help animals that have suffered heart attacks.

"These results exemplify one of the basic advantages of using human embryonic stem cell-derived cells for tissue engineering -- namely their ability to re-create the natural developmental biology of new tissue formation," Geron Chief Executive Officer Thomas Okarma said in a statement.

The company said an analysis of the mature grafted tissue indicated the researchers transplanted only human heart cells to the rats, and no other types of human tissue cells. Geron said it had presented data from its study at a meeting of the American Heart Association.

Shares of Geron closed on Tuesday at $7.68 on the Nasdaq. They have traded in the past 52 weeks in a range between $1.41 and $9.75.
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Edited by Lazarus Long, 01 September 2003 - 07:41 PM.

[Cyto]

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-=COMMENTARY=-

Happy (real) anniversary to you and happy early birthday! heh.

As for the boarders that give this thread its unique look, i'll keep doing it. Keeps me involved...more. Something like that.

As for the fianancial news I am ok with as long as the companies deal with Stem Cells, like Geron. Im sure you knew that but I have to make sure its down in text.

I have been a coward as far as investing in stocks. I put some in General Electric and I may sell it and put it in Geron, maybe.

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[lordprovost]

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-=Stem Cell Line=-

http://www.reneuron.com/reneuron/releases/.../pressreleases/]UK's Largest Stem Cell Line://http://www.reneuron.com/reneuron/re... Stem Cell Line://http://www.reneuron.com/reneuron/re... Stem Cell Line://http://www.reneuron.com/reneuron/re... Stem Cell Line://http://www.reneuron.com/reneuron/re... Stem Cell Line://http://www.reneuron.com/reneuron/re... Stem Cell Line

Research culminates in 2005 [!]
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Edited by CarboniX, 30 August 2003 - 05:17 PM.

[Cyto]

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-=STEM CELLS HELP: THE LUNG=-

BURLINGTON, VT – For the first time, researchers have demonstrated that adult human stem cell transplantation results in spontaneous cell regeneration in damaged lung tissue. Published in the August 1 issue of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, the study further supports an existing body of research that suggests blood- and marrow-derived stem cells have the capacity to become many different human tissues.

"Many of the body's tissues once thought to be only locally regenerative may, in fact, be actively replaced by circulating stem cells after hematopoietic or blood-forming stem cell transplantation," says lead author Benjamin Suratt, M.D., assistant professor of medicine and Vermont Lung Center researcher at the University of Vermont College of Medicine. "This finding is of note not only for its novelty as a regenerative mechanism of the lung, but also for its vast therapeutic implications for any number of lung diseases." (grin)

According to Suratt, the study's findings indicate that circulating stem cells are going into organ tissue and repairing damage, which could have a huge impact on the treatment of such devastating lung diseases as emphysema or cystic fibrosis.

Supported by funding from the National Institutes of Health and a National Center for Research Resources Centers for Biomedical Research Excellence grant, Suratt and his colleagues are currently looking further into what types of cells have the capacity to differentiate and generate a different type of cell, and whether these cells might be used to treat cystic fibrosis

release date: 29-Aug-2003
Contact: Jennifer Nachbur
Link Here
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[Cyto]

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-=STEM CELLS HELP: THE HEART=-

Highlights of...

Report indicates stem cells need aid

The first key discovery is that the heart tries to repair itself after a heart attack by releasing a molecule called SDF-1 for a few days after the heart attack -- not enough time to allow for significant healing.

The second finding is that implanting SDF-1 molecules into the heart -- even weeks after a heart attack -- acts as a beacon for the body's naturally occurring stem cells. In effect, the SDF-1 molecules call the stem cells to the heart for repair work.

"We all release about 30,000 stem cells a day,'' Penn said. ``They percolate through our body and then go back to where they want to go to, which is usually the bone marrow. (Implanting SDF-1) essentially gives them another address to go to.''

"So not only are we replacing dead tissue with living cells,'' he said, ``but it's making the body regenerate itself.''

An accompanying review in The Lancet said the ``work is intriguing, but has limitations.'' For starters, the findings come in rats, not humans, though Penn said human trials should begin within two years. Another criticism is that the paper offers no proof that the rats' hearts saw any new muscle growth.

Penn said he and his colleagues wish they could determine whether the stem cells lead to muscle growth. What they do know, though, is that the hearts' function improved.
---------------------------------------------------------
The underlined portion I thought was odd. They could of labeled some stem cells with the green fluorescence protein and then used that to see where the new stem cells went and why the heart function improved.
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[Cyto]

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-=PATIENT"S OWN STEM CELLS KEEP THEM FROM NEEDING NEW HEART!=-

Highlights of...

Patients Given Own Stem Cells Escape Transplant

By Ben Hirschler

VIENNA (Reuters) - Four out of a group of five seriously sick Brazilian heart-failure patients no longer needed a heart transplant after being treated with their own stem cells, the doctor in charge of the research said Monday.

"This is the first approach where you have an opportunity to actually heal a heart," said Dr Michael Rosen of Columbia University, New York. "It's going to be a very long road, but it is the most exciting thing I've seen in my 40 years as a doctor in this field."

The four critically ill patients were among a larger group of 14 who Dohmann and colleagues from the Texas Health Science Center in Houston had in April reported showing improved heart function.

The exact mechanism of action is not understood but medics believe stem cells harvested from bone marrow or blood may be able to form new muscle and blood vessels. Alternatively, they may trigger a chemical reaction that improves the functioning of cells in the locality of the injection.

So far, all the clinical work involves so-called "autologous" cell transplants, in which cells are used from the patient's own body.

Rosen and his team are working on a technique to use cell therapy to deliver genes to the heart that would improve its electrical pulse, effectively creating a biological pacemaker to replace today's mechanical ones.
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[Cyto]

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-=STEM CELLS HELP: THE EYES=-

Highlights of...

Davis man's restored vision is a revelation Doctors are learning from his efforts to interpret what he sees.

"I use the vision to make things easier, but I don't have to rely on it."

May's is considered the most successful -- and most researched -- sight restoration case in history. But for this man who had flourished as a blind person, forging a rich and active life, vision has brought with it some pitfalls. The confidence with which he maneuvered the blind world has in some ways been shaken by the introduction of sight.

Before the surgeries he functioned expertly at nearly everything, including sports such as skiing and windsurfing, by making use of high-tech gadgets and old-fashioned guidance from canes, dogs and people.

Now, while he can see the world, he has trouble interpreting it. The limited vision he has can be both distracting and unnerving.

The scientists studying May after the operations found that while he can make out moving objects such as bouncing balls and passing cars, he can't readily distinguish between male and female faces. Instead, he continues to rely on other sensory clues -- the sound of high heels or the smell of perfume.

May lost his sight at age 3 when a jar of chemicals he was playing with in the back yard of his New Mexico home exploded. In the years following the accident, he had three cornea transplants, all of which failed because of scar tissue.
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[Cyto]

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-=CONGRESS LOOKING TO CUT CANCER RESEARCH FOR STEM CELLS=-

Highlights of...

Congress shifting medical research dollars

Cancer patients and researchers held a rally at Penn State Hershey Medical Center in protest to possible cut backs in cancer research by Congress. The House and Senate want to greatly reduce the amount of money going for federal cancer research funding.

While budgeting runs tight on many fronts on Capital Hill, one area destined for increased expenditures is stem cell research. Bill HR 2852 entitled "Cord Blood Stem Cell Act of 2003" was submitted to the US House of Representatives in July.

The purpose of the Bill is to establish a National Cord Blood Stem Cell Bank Network to prepare, store and distribute human umbilical cord blood stem cells for the treatment of patients and to support peer-reviewed research.
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-=STEM CELLS HELP: THE EAR=-

Highlights of...

Stem cell research may help deafness

Purdue University biologists say they've learned how to control the development of stem cells in the inner ears of embryonic chickens.

By introducing new genes into the cell nuclei, researchers instructed the embryonic cells to develop into different adult cells than they ordinarily would have. Instead of forming the tiny hairs the inner ear uses to detect sound waves, the stem cells matured into tissue with different kind of hairs -- the sort used to keep balance.

Associate biology professor Donna Fekete said: "We now know at least one gene that determines what these embryonic ear cells will eventually become. Because so many people suffer from deafness later in life, we hope this research will yield treatments for them down the line."
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[Cyto]

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-=STEM-CELL-TOPIA AND $ SUPPORT FOR STEM CELL RESEARCH=-

Highlights of...

A look at Singapore and Biotech

Workers are putting the finishing touches to an underground vivarium to house a quarter of a million rodents beneath Singapore's new, $US286million ($445million) Biopolis biomedical research and development complex. "We call it the Mickey Mouse park," said Philip Su, assistant chief executive of the JTC, the government industrial park operator that is building Biopolis.

The mice will be surrounded by a sticky mat and what Mr Su described as a sort of moat, to keep them from running off if they escape from their cages. Biopolis' human tenants will eventually be surrounded by a high-technology campus of nearly 500 acres with apartments, schools and wireless internet access.

Faced with declining returns in electronics, the industry that helped catapult Singapore into the ranks of the world's wealthiest nations, the government is throwing its administrative might - and $US2.3billion in investments, grants and other incentives - behind an effort to become an integrated biotechnology hub.

Singapore needs to find a new niche. Cheap labour in China is drawing jobs away. The government has warned that the unemployment rate, now at 4.5 per cent, is likely to climb to 5.5 per cent this year, its highest since 1987.

Singapore began promoting biotechnology in the early 1980s, luring Glaxo in 1982.
In the next decade, Singapore established a Bioprocessing Technology Centre Incubator Unit for start-ups, with fully equipped labs in 1997. In 2000, Singapore declared biotechnology the "fourth pillar" of its economy, renamed its National Science as the Agency for Science, Technology and Research, and spent roughly $US570million to establish three new biotechnology research institutes.

For stem-cell researchers, Singapore offers one of the world's most liberal legal atmospheres. It allows stem cells to be taken from aborted foetuses, and human embryos to be cloned and kept for up to 14 days to produce stem cells.
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-=RESEARCH TO WATCH AND $ SUPPORT FOR STEM CELL RESEARCH=-

Highlights of...

Zebrafish ESCs

While genetically more distant from humans, the vertebrate zebrafish nevertheless has comparable organs and tissues, such as heart, kidney, pancreas, bones, and cartilage. The zebrafish is an essential tool to the branch of science called proteomics, which refer to the study of an organism's proteins

Dr. Collodi has received a $1-million, three-year NIH grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). He and his team are exploring ways to introduce specific alternations into zebrafish embryonic stem cells and keep them alive long enough to pass on the genetic traits.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) will break ground in October for a new facility to breed and house zebrafish for intramural research. When completed in 2004, the $10 million 5000-square foot facility will house more than half a million zebrafish in 25,000 tanks.
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-=RESEARCH TO WATCH AND $ SUPPORT FOR STEM CELL RESEARCH, AGAIN=-

Highlights of...

The University of Georgia gets $6.7 million cancer research grant

National Institutes of Health, has awarded a five-year $6.7 million grant to a team headed by scientists at The University of Georgia for research that could eventually help in the treatment of certain kinds of cancer and Parkinson's Disease.

The research funded by the grant will focus on technologies to map the "glycome" of stem cell lines established by Bresagen, a private research company with offices and laboratories in Athens. "Glycome" describes all the complex carbohydrates attached to proteins and lipids that are made by a cell, as well as the enzymes responsible for their metabolism. It also describes the carbohydrate binding proteins that function by recognizing these complex carbohydrates.

The mapping technology will allow the glycomic analysis of small numbers of cells and the means to isolate or kill these particular cells. The expected outcome will be directly applicable to the isolation of certain types of nerve cells for treatment of such diseases as Parkinson's, as well as development of new ways to diagnose and treat cancer.
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