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Stem Cells Made From Cloned Embryos, Now What? – Video
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Cells Extracted From Urine – Video
ScienceDaily (Nov. 27, 2012) A new method of growing cardiac tissue is teaching old stem cells new tricks. The discovery, which transforms aged stem cells into cells that function like much younger ones, may one day enable scientists to grow cardiac patches for damaged or diseased hearts from a patient’s own stem cells — no matter what age the patient — while avoiding the threat of rejection.
Stem cell therapies involving donated bone marrow stem cells run the risk of patient rejection in a portion of the population, argues Milica Radisic, Canada Research Chair in Functional Cardiovascular Tissue Engineering at the Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering (IBBME) and Associate Professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering and Applied Chemistry at the University of Toronto.
One method of avoiding the risk of rejection has been to use cells derived from a patient’s own body. But until now, clinical trials of this kind of therapy using elderly patients’ own cells have not been a viable option, since aged cells tend not to function as well as cells from young patients.
“If you want to treat these people with their own cells, how do you do this?”
It’s a problem that Radisic and her co-researcher, Dr. Ren-Ke Li, think they might have an answer for: by creating the conditions for a ‘fountain of youth’ reaction within a tissue culture.
Li holds the Canada Research Chair in Cardiac Regeneration and is a Professor in the Division of Cardiovascular Surgery, cross-appointed to IBBME. He is also a Senior Scientist at the Toronto General Research Institute.
Radisic and Li first create a “micro-environment” that allows heart tissue to grow, with stem cells donated from elderly patients at the Toronto General Hospital.
The cell cultures are then infused with a combination of growth factors — common factors that cause blood vessel growth and cell proliferation — positioned in such a way within the porous scaffolding that the cells are able to be stimulated by these factors.
Dr. Li and his team then tracked the molecular changes in the tissue patch cells. “We saw certain aging factors turned off,” states Li, citing the levels of two molecules in particular, p16 and RGN, which effectively turned back the clock in the cells, returning them to robust and healthy states.
“It’s very exciting research,” says Radisic, who was named one of the top innovators under 35 by MIT in 2008 and winner of the 2012 Young Engineers Canada award.
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'Fountain of youth' technique rejuvenates aging stem cells
Dear Dr. Donohue Since starting to clip your articles, I haven’t found any that deal with using adult stem cells for breakthrough treatments, such as repairing heart damage. Could they help if one needs an aortic valve replacement? A.R.
Answer Stem cells are primitive cells that have the potential of spawning mature cells that carry out specific bodily functions, like skin cells, liver cells, lung cells, heart muscle cells, and on and on. Embryonic stem cells have the greatest potential for differentiating into any of the many varieties of cells that make up all body organs, structures and tissues.
Hematopoietic stem cells are recovered from the bone marrow and, to a lesser extent, the circulating blood. They have been and are being used to restore the bone marrow’s capability of generating blood cells.
At the present time, no stem cell therapy has been used in replacing a heart valve.
Dear Dr. Donohue I would like to know the risk of having a stroke when a carotid artery has a blockage. I was told that doctors don’t go by percentage of blockage now. How is the risk determined? K.C.
Answer An obstruction in the carotid artery, the neck artery that supplies the brain with blood, is not the only cause of a stroke. A piece of a blood clot that has broken off of a main clot elsewhere in the body and been swept into a brain artery is another cause of stroke. I mention this to keep it clear that a blocked carotid is but one risk for a stroke.
The doctors I know still use percentage of reduction in the interior of a carotid artery as a criterion of stroke risk. With a 60 percent to 70 percent or greater narrowing of the carotid artery, people benefit from the opening up of the artery, using a variety of procedures. Some experts feel that a 60 percent narrowing requires only blood-thinning medication, such as aspirin. Others feel that surgical removal of the blockage is indicated.
Other factors have to be considered: the patient’s age, the patient’s wishes and the patient’s health problems unrelated to the artery problem..
Dear Dr. Donohue I am an 85-year-old female, and my doctor has suggested a colonoscopy. I find it a degrading test. The doctor didn’t say why I needed it. Should a woman my age have it? K.C.
Answer The American College of Physicians recommends against screening colonoscopies for people 75 and older or for those people with a life expectancy of less than 10 years. Some add that screening can be stopped only if prior colonoscopies have been normal. No one I know recommends screening at 85.
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A look at stem cells and their current use
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OMICS Group :: Journal of Stem Cell Research
LOS ANGELES–(BUSINESS WIRE)–
ImmunoCellular Therapeutics, Ltd. (“ImmunoCellular” or the “Company”) (OTCBB: IMUC –News), a biotechnology company focused on the development of novel immune-based cancer therapies, today announced that John Yu, MD, Chairman and Chief Scientific Officer of ImmunoCellular Therapeutics, will deliver a presentation at the Cambridge Healthtech Institute’s inaugural Targeting Stem Cells Symposium as a part of the 19th Annual Molecular Medicine Tri-Conference from February 19-23, 2012. Dr. Yu will present during a session highlighting Emerging Cancer Stem Cell Therapeutics, featuring the Company’s discovery and development of cancer stem cell therapy.
The Cambridge Healthtech Institute’s Targeting Cancer Stem Cells Symposium reflects a growing interest in cancer stem cells and their developing importance in the field of oncology, as more pharmaceutical and biotech companies have begun to focus on cancer stem cells as oncological drug targets. The symposium will feature case studies from those working with cancer stem cells, a history of the role of cancer stem cells in treatment resistance, as well as highlights from ongoing novel cancer stem cell therapeutic development programs and platforms.
About ImmunoCellular Therapeutics, Ltd.
IMUC is a Los Angeles-based clinical-stage company that is developing immune-based therapies for the treatment of brain and other cancers. The Company recently commenced a Phase II trial of its lead product candidate, ICT-107, a dendritic cell-based vaccine targeting multiple tumor associated antigens including those associated with cancer stem cells for glioblastoma treatment. To learn more about IMUC, please visit www.imuc.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains certain forward-looking statements that are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, including the risk that any patents issued covering IMUC’s vaccine technology will not provide significant commercial protection for IMUC’s technology or products; the risk that the safety and efficacy results obtained in the Phase I trial for the dendritic cell- based vaccine will not be confirmed in subsequent trials; the risk that the correlation between immunological response and progression-free and overall survival in the Phase I trial for ICT-107 will not be reflected in statistically significant larger patient populations; the risk that IMUC will not be able to secure a partner company for development or commercialization of ICT-107. Additional risks and uncertainties are described in IMUC's most recently filed SEC documents, such as its most recent annual report on Form 10-K, all quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and any current reports on Form 8-K. IMUC undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
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ImmunoCellular Therapeutics To Present at Targeting Stem Cells Symposium during 19th Annual Molecular Medicine Tri …
( Written by Alexander Crawford. Data sourced from Finviz.) A stem cell treatment for heart disease from Australia’s biotech firm Mesoblast Ltd lowered the risk of heart attack or cardiac
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Stem Cell Therapy May Prevent Heart Failure: 4 Companies to Watch
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