Spanish researchers say that a cure for perianal fistula can be found in a patient’s fat. The stem cells in the fat to be more precise.

According to Damian Garc

The pleas of millions of balding men could soon be answered.

Scientists have revealed for the first time that hair can be grown by coaxing stem cells.

A comb-over, a toupee, or a transplant, is what the 7.4 million balding Britons have to choose from if they are unhappy about the condition of their hair.

But they may have the chance to re-grow their lost hair thanks to advances in stem cell science; all inside of the next decade.

For the condition alopecia where hair falls out in patches, new treatments could result from the latest research as well.

New hair follicles were grown in adult mammals during the course of the study. The results have been published in the journal Nature.

Previously held viewpoints maintained that baldness resulted from the gradual death of hair follicles that were only formed before birth. But the research shows that the tiny structures can be developed by using stem cells later in life. This should open the door for new hair loss treatments.

While studying the wound healing process in mice, researchers made the discovery at the University of Pennsylvania.

Allowing new hair to develop, new hair follicles from beneath the new skin would form as the wound healed.

Capable of turning into different cells and tissues, stem cells were responsible for the formation of the follicles as close examination proved.

Usually only active in the womb, the use of a protein called wnt was imperative to the process. More hair grows as the level of the protein is increased. No hair grows in the absence of wnt.

Wound healing was also enhanced with the addition of wnt. Allowing new and completely functional follicles to form, it is thought that when the skin heals itself, it returns to a condition that is comparable to what is found in the developing fetus.

A similar treatment for humans could be developed. Researchers are confident of this even though all the work has involved only mice thus far.

For a wnt-based drug to be administered, the skin in the area would likely need to be grazed. This is because wounding the area seems to be crucial to the method.

New hair would more than likely need to be dyed to match the color of existing hair because all the hair that has been grown so far has been white. But any cure for baldness should not be expected for at least a decade since a two year wait stands in the way just to begin the first human trials.

Experts have described the breakthrough as “remarkable”.

“Up to now we thought that the number of hair follicles we have is set before we were born and can only go downhill from there,” said Dr. Denis Headon, a developmental biologist from Manchester University.

“This work shows that new hair follicles are made in adult skin, at least when it is healing a wound. The implication is that it might be simpler than we thought to make new hair follicles as a treatment for hair loss.”

A series of injections may be a stand in option for those unwilling to wait for the treatment to come to market. British scientists believe other remedies such as this would appear on the market more quickly.

Aimed at developing cell therapies for lung regeneration and repair, Israeli and UK stem cell specialists announced collaborative efforts today.

Working with clinicians at the UK based Papworth Hospital, the Israeli Gamida Cell and the UK NovaThera Ltd. will combine their expertise and technology. For tissue regeneration and the treatment of blood diseases, Gamida uses proprietary technologies to expand the populations of hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells for the development of therapeutics from cord blood. Applications for tissue engineering and regenerative medicine by applying stem cell biology and bio-materials is the specialty of NovaThera.

Using cord blood stem cells that have been expanded with Gamida

The magical ability of the stem cell has been made popular by media and public controversy. But aside from being familiar with the debate about embryonic versus adult stem cells, few know the tangible facts about stem cells themselves. What makes stem cells so extraordinary, and how do cord blood stem cells fit into the healing puzzle?

All the organ cells in the body are represented by stem cells in some way, shape, and form. It is akin to nature

Based on the body’s own self-healing processes and stem cells, a new alternative therapy for cartilage replacement has been developed by German researchers.

Currently, a culture has to be taken from healthy cartilage. Expanded cells are then re-injected into the area where cartilage has been lost or worn after the culture is expanded in the lab. This multi-step process is time consuming, but the only choice offered at the moment.

The cultivated cartilage cells grow on a sponge-like structure composed of animal collagens. Industrial-grade bovine collagen is used by the doctors for this purpose. The newly transplanted cells need the structure for support.

The practice, which is known as autologous chondrocyte transplanting (or ACT), is rather costly and requires numerous operations. It costs $4,700 to $9,500 (€3,500 to €7,000) just to have the cartilage cultured in a lab. The many factors associated with the procedure can make it prohibitive for many.

A much simpler and less-expensive alternative has now been developed. Based on activating the body’s own healing powers, north German researchers at Lübeck University are responsible for the novel technique.

Micro-fracturing, a method in which doctors drill tiny holes into open bone, is performed in the area where cartilage is worn out. Mesenchymal stem cells are released from bone marrow during the bleeding.

Cut to the shape and size of the lost cartilage, a sponge-like collagen frame is inserted into the location. Doctors then inject a small amount of blood serum from the patient which can coax the mesenchymal stem cells from the bleeding bone and help them turn into cartilage cells. The serum contains a growth factor to assist the process.

No externally grown cells are required as a cartilage-like tissue is developed by the patient’s own cells that join to the sponge.

“What’s funny about this matrix is that it creates a ceiling, and tissue or cells that grow underneath it, cling to it,” said Peter Behrens, who developed the procedure at Lübeck University Clinic. “In this covered area, new tissue grows.”

Clinics in Potsdam, Hanover, Freiburg, and Regensburg, are testing the new procedure which is known as autologous matrix induced chondrogenesis (AMIC).

“The stem cells are in our body,” Beherens said. “That’s what is fascinating about this method; we are activating our own cells.”

Throughout the whole human body, stem cells reside in nearly every nook and cranny. Using bone marrow stem cells to treat conditions such as leukemia, has been a known method for year. Now cartilage defects are also being treated and healed using the same cells.

“Something that needs to be replaced because it degrades over time, but is still good for a few years,” is what Behrens said about the repaired cartilage when comparing it to asphalt.

The procedure has been completed successfully on several hundred patients thus far.

“Our own cartilage is still the best, but this is a replacement that can help us be pain free for five years or so,” Behrens said. “That is the whole idea of these procedures.”

Since the procedure can be repeated every few years, Behrens says that he thinks the useful life of the repair is acceptable. And a prosthetic cartilage injection would be an option for the patients as well if they chose to go that route in the future.

The cornea, which is the translucent external layer of the eyeball, may be repairable thanks to a new breakthrough study. Researchers have revealed that the natural protein keratocan, which is involved in the development of the cornea, can be formed by bone marrow stem cells which can differentiate into the protein.

The outcome of the study could aid those with the inherited disease that is abnormal corneal cell growth.

Researchers Hongshan Liu and Winston Whei-Yang Kao at the University of Cincinnati led the study team.

The study was conducted using bone marrow cells and injecting them into the corneas of mice to see if they would be able to modify corneal abnormalities that had been induced by the researchers to imitate genetic eye mutations.

The abnormal corneas in the animal models began to transform their shape and heal due to the injected bone marrow stem cells. This occurred after only one week according to the researchers.

“We found that bone marrow stem cells can contribute to the formation of connective tissues. If we can change the function of non-corneal bone marrow stem cells by introducing them into human corneas, we can possibly repair the loss of visual sharpness caused by mutations,” Kao said.

A clinical trial is presently being planned. Future generations of those suffering from genetic corneal diseases could be helped if the trial is successful.

“When the donor cells disappear after a few years, the corneal disease often reoccurs. However, if we can place the stem cells inside the cornea, they will repair the lost function of the mutated gene, and stem cells can presumably renew themselves and maintain effective treatment longer, if not forever,” Kao said.

The research was presented in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, at the annual Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology meeting.