Microcapsules Developed to Direct Neural Stem Cells

In order to treat a variety of genetic disorders of the central nervous system, including Hunter syndrome, biomedical engineering professor Stefan Zappe and his research team are developing a neural stem cell therapy.

Stem cells can differentiate into a diverse range of cell types. These primal cells can multiply through cell division, and retain the ability to renew themselves.

Zappe said,

Stem Cells Used for Mental and Neurological Disease Therapy

Passing clinical trials with no safety issues, stem cell technologies have been developed by scientists in Saint Petersberg.

The studies involved mental and neurological diseases and produced interesting results. Mental deficiency and idiocy were proved to be reversible when mentally challenged patients were transplanted with mesenchymal stem cells. Visible improvements in self-service skills, common behavior, speech and perception were observed in 8 patients who were enrolled in the trial therapy. Sensible games and learning ability were demonstrated by patients, while they actually lost inadequate reactions.

Stable positive effect of cell therapy was observed in about 85 per cent of medical cases in neurological patients with brain injuries and cerebrovascular accidents. Drug therapy became much more efficient and neurological deficit decreased significantly.

Safety of the adult stem cell treatment was proven.

New Bones Formed by Stem Cells

A breakthrough in human bone treatment has been made by the National University of Singapore (NUS) and the Malaysian stem cell firm StemLife Bhd. By using natural bone substances in combination with stem cells, a team of scientists has developed a new technique to produce bones. By combining stem cells with collagen and hydroxyapatite, NUS and StemLife scientists announced that they were able to produce a new substance that acts like bone.

Hydroxyapatite is an inorganic mineral that make up the bone. Giving structural strength to bone, blood vessels, heart, skin, cartilage, and eye; collagen is a protein in human tissues. Found in all multi-cellular organisms that retain the ability to renew themselves, stem cells are considered to be primal cells.

New bone tissue is generated when the invented biomaterial mineralizes bone-forming stem cells or osteoblasts said Professor Seeram Ramakrishna, the NUS’ dean of engineering, in an interview on nanotechnology website Azonano.com.

In order to treat defective bone and muscle, as well as heal wounds, the technique will enable orthopedic doctors to create bone linings and bone fillers according to StemLife.

Orthopedic science could be revolutionized in the future due to this breakthrough said Professor Aw Tar Choon who is the chief medical officer of StemLife. The bone grafting industry, which is currently operating at over $1-billion dollars, will also be open to the firm now.

International scientific journals published the findings of the Singapore and Malaysian scientists. At a cost of $90,046, it took StemLife two years to conduct the research on developing new bone.

Brain Stem Cells Can Now be Tracked

U.S. researchers report that brain stem cells can now be tracked for the first time with the identification of a new marker.

The team’s senior author said that for the conditions of and involving multiple sclerosis, early childhood development, and depression, the accomplishment is opening doors to new research.

“This is a way to detect these cells in the brain, so that you can track them in certain conditions where we suspect that these cells play a certain role,” explained Dr. Mirjana Maletic-Savatic, an assistant professor of neurology at the State University of New York, Stony Brook.

“This is also very applicable for situations where people envision the transplantation of stem cells into the brain,” the researcher said.

The breakthrough “is very important, because it now allows us to look and see ways in which to measure changes in endogenous [natural] neural stem cells,” agreed Paul Sanberg, director of the Center for Excellence for Aging and Brain Repair at the University of South Florida, in Tampa. He was not involved in the research.

The study was published in the November 9th issue of Science, and was funded by the U.S. National Institutes of Health.

The human brain and/or nervous system sustains critical damage in individuals who suffer from Parkinson’s, stroke, multiple sclerosis, traumatic injury, Alzheimer’s, and other conditions. Scientists believe they might be manipulated to repair or replace lost cells and tissues because stem cells have the potential to develop into other types of cells.

Stem cells called progenitor cells are already produced by key parts of the brain.

“There are two major areas where you can find them in the brain — one is the center for learning and memory, called the hippocampus, and the other is around the brains’ ventricles,” Maletic-Savatic explained.

So they can develop into new or replacement cells, these brain cells, like other adult stem cells in the body, are held in reserve.

Since humans keep collection memories, the stem cells found in the hippocampus are particularly useful. In order to interpret and store memories, the brain needs new cells.

“Memories always change,” Sanberg pointed out.

Since scientists haven’t had any means of tracking neural stem cells, research in this area has been slow. Because scientists discovered molecular markers that reliably identify them on MRS, two dominant cell types — glial cells and neurons — have been tracked for some time using a non invasive technology called magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS).

Now, brain stem cells can be marked for the first time.

A chemical signature that distinctly characterizes neural stem cells has been discovered by Maletic-Savatic’s team. The discovery was made using computer and state-of-the-art scanning technology.

“We think that it’s a complex lipid or lipoprotein,” the Stony Brook researcher said. Further investigation is under way to define and describe the molecule’s identity, she added.

The researchers tracked the quantity and location of neural progenitor cells in the brain using MRS imaging on mice, rats, and human volunteers who were healthy. They also used MRS to verify the transplant location after implanting some of these cells into an adult rat’s brain.

The concentration of neural progenitor cells in the brains of adult humans, adolescents, and young children was compared by Maletic-Savatic’s team. This marked another first. Their findings revealed that the number of these cells in the brain decreases markedly with age. This confirmed suspicions that arose during animal studies.

“We were actually really surprised that there was such a dramatic decline,” Maletic-Savatic said.

The researcher said she’s already planning to use the new tracking technology in a variety of neurological studies.

For example, it is suspected that antidepressants work by boosting the creation of new brain cells. With that in mind, Maletic-Savatic’s team will use MRS to “clarify whether abnormalities in these progenitors have any role in causing depression,” she said.

Maletic-Savatic said she is also planning a study looking at the cells’ role in early brain development because she is primarily a pediatric neurologist.

“Particularly in premature babies who can develop cerebral palsy and mental retardation,” she added.

MRS-guided research into neural stem cells may also benefit multiple sclerosis patients.

“We are now doing a study that already started a year ago on patients with MS, and we plan to prospectively follow them and see whether we can use this bio-marker as a prognostic tool,” Maletic-Savatic said.

She added that this type of stem cell research could also benefit research on a wide range of brain disorders. Maletic-Savatic said breakthroughs in that area are probably years away, but that tracking stem cells in the brain has obvious implications for research into stem cell transplantation.

“On the other hand, if we find drugs or ways that can stimulate your own endogenous cells, that would be even better,” she said.

Sanberg agreed that brain research would enjoy a marked boost with scientists being able to track neural stem cells.

“To be able to show that you are increasing neurogenesis in the brain through your treatment — through drugs that induce neurogenesis — that’s going to be very important,” he said. “This is a really strong first step.”

Heart Repair Boosted by Stem Cell Injections

In an effort that has generated more debate than breakthroughs, researchers at the University of California, San Diego Medical Center reported small successes Wednesday in using stem cells to patch ailing hearts.

Embryonic stem cell are considered to be capable of differentiating into any tissue in the body, but are controversial due to the fact a human embryo must be destroyed to obtain them.

More Heart Advances Made with Adult Stem Cell Research

Stem cells are already being used to restore the functioning of damaged hearts, and now scientists are working towards gaining an even better understanding of how this works.

In Orlando, Florida, different aspects of this promise were presented on Wednesday in the form of several studies.

California Makes Advances with Ethical Stem Cell Legislature

California recently signed two bills into law.

Mini Cell Transplants for Cancer Treatment

By utilizing mini cell transplants, a radical new cancer treatment has been developed by doctors.

The ground-breaking procedure involves taking donor blood, extracting stem cells from that blood, and injecting them into cancer patients.

An alternative to bone marrow operations, experts say the procedure is faster and safer than the current conventional method.

For leukemia patients who are too weak for intensive chemotherapy, doctors at Barts and London who have performed trials on these patients say the treatment is a lifesaver.

Professor John Gribben, a cancer expert at the hospital, told the Standard: “This treatment is life-saving for patients who are too weak to undergo further chemotherapy and also means people don’ t have to spend months in hospital.”

The treatment removes the need for a painful bone marrow extraction procedure to be performed by doctors, and also reduces the amount of chemotherapy needed by patients.

Instead of bone marrow extraction, stem cells are encouraged to migrate from bone marrow into the blood stream thanks to the administration of a chemical.

Genetic Skin Disorder Treated with Adult Stem Cells

In order to treat recessive dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa (RDEB), a first ever cord blood and bone marrow transplant was preformed on an 18-month-old boy by doctors at the University of Minnesota Children’s Hospital, Fairview.

Affecting the gastrointestinal tract, esophagus, and mouth, RDEB causes skin to slough off on the inside of the body in these areas.

Cure for Diabetes? Stem Cell Transplant Success Key

The cure for Type-1 diabetes may only be days away claim scientists in Melbourne.

Eliminating the need