What is Stem Cell: October 2007

Sunday, October 28, 2007

[StemCells] Download More than 500 Biology Ebooks...

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StemCells subscribers may also be interested in these sites:

Children's Neurobiological Solutions
http://www.CNSfoundation.org/

Cord Blood Registry
http://www.CordBlood.com/at.cgi?a=150123

The CNS Healing Group
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CNS_Healing
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Friday, October 26, 2007

[StemCells] Fat to Nerve Clinical Trials in UK

'Bionic' Nerve To Bring Damaged Limbs And Organs Back To Life
ScienceDaily (Oct. 18, 2007) — University of Manchester researchers
have transformed fat tissue stem cells into nerve cells - and now
plan to develop an artificial nerve that will bring damaged limbs and
organs back to life.

In a study published in October's Experimental Neurology, Dr Paul
Kingham and his team at the UK Centre for Tissue Regeneration (UKCTR)
isolated the stem cells from the fat tissue of adult animals and
differentiated them into nerve cells to be used for repair and
regeneration of injured nerves. They are now about to start a trial
extracting stem cells from fat tissue of volunteer adult patients, in
order to compare in the laboratory human and animal stem cells.

Following that, they will develop an artificial nerve constructed
from a biodegradable polymer to transplant the differentiated stem
cells. The biomaterial will be rolled up into a tube-like structure
and inserted between the two ends of the cut nerve so that the
regrowing nerve fibre can go through it from one end to the other.

This 'bionic' nerve could also be used in people who have suffered
trauma injuries to their limbs or organs, cancer patients whose
tumour surgery has affected a nearby nerve trunk and people who have
had organ transplants.

With a clinical trial on the biomaterial about to be completed, the
researchers hope the treatment could be ready for use in four or five
years.

Dr Kingham said: "The differentiated stem cells have great potential
for future clinical use, initially for treatment of patients with
traumatic injuries of nerves in the arms and legs.

"This work will also help to develop a similar surgical approach for
organ transplant, to give full functional recuperation to the
transplanted tissue.

"Furthermore, the technique of artificial nerve grafting could also
be applicable when tumour mass has involved a nearby nerve trunk,
which consequently has to be excised together with the tumour, such
as the removal of a prostate tumour where damage to the nerve leads
to male impotence."

Director of the UKCTR, Professor Giorgio Terenghi said: "This new
research is a very exciting development with many future clinical
applications that will improve the lives of many different types of
patients and therefore many, many people.

"The frequency of nerve injury is one in every 1,000 of the
population - or 50,000 cases in the UK - every year.

"The current repair method - a patient donating their own nerve graft
to span the gap at the injury site - is far from optimal because of
the poor functional outcome, the extra damage and the possibility of
forming scars and tumours at the donor site. Tissue engineering using
a combination of biomaterials and cell-based therapies, while at an
early stage, promises a great improvement on that. Artificial nerve
guides provide mechanical support, protect the re-growing nerve and
contain growth factor and molecules favourable to regeneration. The
patient will not be able to tell that they had ever 'lost' their limb
and will be able carry on exactly as they did before."

He added: "The facilities available at the UKCTR have been developed
jointly by the University of Manchester and the North West
Development Agency, with exactly this aim - to provide the transition
from experimental research to new clinical treatment."

Adapted from materials provided by University of Manchester.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/10/071017094047.htm

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[StemCells] Nanocrystals for adult (helps bone heal faster)

Bones could heal faster with nanocrystals
15 October 2007

A nanocrystalline cement could help bone grafts to heal more quickly,
Chinese scientists have claimed.

The amorphous calcium phosphate (ACP) cement used in bone and dental
surgery has always been thought to make bones repair faster than more
solid alternatives. But now researchers from Zhejiang University,
Hangzhou, have found that the stem cells that help the healing
process actually grow more easily on tiny crystals of hydroxyapatite
(HAP, Ca10(PO4)6(OH)2), an excellent inorganic model of human bone
and tooth enamel.

Bone marrow stem cells grow faster on hydroxyapatite nanocrystals
than previously thought

© RSC/Tang

'Previously, scientists have paid too much attention to the chemical
composition of the ceramics,' said Ruikang Tang, who led the research
team. Their study focussed instead on the crystal size effects by
keeping the size of the hydroxyapatite particles very close to 20nm.

Their in vitro experiments showed that crystalline HAP showed better
healing potential than the supposedly superior cement. Crystalline
hydroxyapatite in the size range 20-40nm is a basic building block
for biological bone and enamel, explained Tang, so 'ideal biomedical
materials should have the same features to improve tissue repair.'
The team now plan to test their nano-cement in laboratory animals.

Lee Buttery, a tissue engineering researcher at Nottingham University
School of Pharmacy, agrees that particle size has been
overlooked. 'In the body the bone marrow stem cells clearly respond
to nanoscale features which stimulate growth,' he said. 'We're only
now starting to look at the "smaller" picture.'

ReferencesQ Hu et al, J. Mater. Chem., 2007, DOI 10.1039/b710936a
Also of interestEffect of crystallinity of calcium phosphate
nanoparticles on adhesion, proliferation, and differentiation of bone
marrow mesenchymal stem cells

Qinghong Hu, Zhou Tan, Yukan Liu, Jinhui Tao, Yurong Cai, Ming Zhang,
Haihua Pan, Xurong Xu and Ruikang Tang, J. Mater. Chem., 2007
DOI: 10.1039/b710936a

http://www.rsc.org/chemistryworld/News/2007/October/15100701.asp

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[StemCells] Nanocrystals for embryonic

Quantum dot imaging could benefit embryonic stem cell therapy
Oct. 15, 2007

(Nanowerk Spotlight) A quantum dot (QD), also called a nanocrystal,
is a semiconductor nanostructure that can be as small as 2 to 10 nm.
The usefulness of quantum dots comes from their peak emission
frequency's extreme sensitivity - quantum mechanical in nature - to
both the dot's size and composition. QDs have been touted as possible
replacements for organic dyes in the imaging of biological systems,
due to their excellent fluorescent properties, good chemical
stability, broad excitation ranges and high photobleaching
thresholds. By contrast, conventional organic dyes cannot be easily
synthesized to emit different colors and have narrow excitation
spectra and broad emission spectra that often cross into the red
wavelengths, making it difficult to use these dyes for multiplexing.
QDs hold increasing potential for cellular imaging both in vitro and
in vivo. Researchers have now used QDs for in vivo imaging of
embryonic stem cells in mice. This opens up the possibility of using
QDs for fast and accurate imaging applications in stem cell therapy.
Stem cell therapy is the process of injecting stem cells into an
organism in the hope that they will differentiate and replace damaged
tissue or grow new organs. This technology holds great promise for
treatment of a wide range of intractable conditions such as
Parkinson's disease, diabetes, or degenerative joint diseases. There
are two types of cells used in stem cell therapy, adult stem cells
and embryonic stem (ES) cells. ES cells are the ultimate source for
use in cell-based therapy because they posses a virtually unlimited
capacity for self-renewal and because they possess the ability to
differentiate into all other cell types found in the body, from brain
cell to toe nail. For stem cell therapy, it is important to develop
methods to monitor cell survival and location after transplantation.
"In stem cell therapy, monitoring of cell survival and location after
transplantation is important for determining their efficacy" Dr.
Joseph C. Wu explains to Nanowerk. "Because the absorption and
scattering of light in biological tissue can be considerable, any
optical signal transmitted from deep tissues to the surface tends to
diminish in strength. With QDs' many advantages over traditional
organic dyes, QDs may provide an excellent tool for imaging stem cell
therapy."

Fluorescent images of embryonic mouse stem cells labeled with QDs on
day 1 post labeling. (Copyright: BioMed Central)
Wu, an Assistant Professor of Medicine & Radiology at Stanford
University School of Medicine, together with collaborators from the
University's Molecular Imaging Program, conducted a study in which
the scientists used the peptide-based reagent QTracker to label mouse
ES cells with QDs and evaluate the utility of QDs for imaging stem
cell therapy." The results have been published in a recent free
access paper in the July issue of BMC Biotechnology ("Quantum dot
imaging for embryonic stem cells")
Wu and his colleagues successfully labeled murine embryonic stem
cells with six different quantum dots and demonstrated the ES cell
viability, proliferation, and differentiation were not adversely
affected by QDs. They showed that QD 525, QD 565, QD605, QD 655, QD
705, and QD 800 labeled ES cells can be detected in vivo using a
single excitation wavelength (465 nm). This finding makes QDs an
attractive choice for regenerative therapy.

1 million ES cells labeled with QD 525, 565, 605, 655, 705, and 800
were subcutaneously injected on the back of the athymic nude mice
right after labeling and the image was taken with a single excitation
light source right after injection. (Copyright: BioMed Central)
"We also successfully imaged labeled ES cells with good contrast with
one single excitation wavelength in vivo" says Wu. "This versatility
makes them good candidates for tumor targeting, lymph node and
vascular mapping, and cell trafficking in small animal imaging."
Toxicity of QDs of course is a key factor in determining whether it
will be a feasible probe for both cellular and clinical use. The
Stanford scientists carefully examined QDs' effect on ES cells and
found that QD labeling had no detectable effect on ES cell growth.
Next they tested its effect on cellular development and
differentiation and again found no effects of the labeling.
Wu points out that another advantage of QDs is their ability to do
multiplex imaging of different QDs at the same time. "However" he
says, "in our study, ES cells labeled with different QDs were only
capable of being imaged up to day 2 after subcutaneous implantation.
A likely cause for this could be the loss of signal due to rapid cell
division. Another possible cause could be serum instability of the
QDs."
While this study appears to be the first successful demonstration of
in vivo multiplex imaging of mouse ES cells labeled QDs, the use of
QDs in stem cells is only beginning to be explored.
Due to their many advantages over conventional organic dyes, QDs
serve as good candidates to monitor cell survival and location after
transplantation in stem cell therapy However, the poor retention of
QDs in targets cells may be a problem for long-term tracking. Wu says
that upon further improvements – such as near-infrared QDs, better
serum stability, and improved cell retention – QDs will have greater
potential for tracking of stem cells within deep tissues.
By Michael Berger, Copyright 2007 Nanowerk LLC
http://www.nanowerk.com/spotlight/spotid=2933.php

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[StemCells] Storing extra embryos for OWN stem cell treatments frowned upon

IVF 'cell bank' plan criticised

Embryo stem cells have yet to be successfully used to treat disease
A US firm's controversial proposition to store stem cells from spare
IVF embryos has angered UK scientists.
In theory, cells banked from one embryo could provide treatment for a
sibling threatened by serious disease many decades later.

However, Lord Robert Winston said the scheme, unveiled at the
American Society for Reproductive Medicine conference, preyed on
parents' fears.

One stem cell expert said it was "too early" to justify storing the
embryos.

I would be horrified if anyone tried to do this in Britain

Lord Robert Winston, Hammersmith Hospital

Stem cells are the body's "master cells", capable of growing into a
wide variety of different tissues, and many scientists believe that
one day, they could be harnessed to fight diseases of old age such as
Parkinson's and Alzheimer's.

One source of these is the human embryo, and most IVF cycles produce
more embryos than can be implanted back into a woman, leaving
unwanted embryos which are normally frozen for later use or
discarded.

However, the science of stem cells is still at a fledgling stage, and
stem cells derived from an embryo have never been successfully used
to treat or cure human disease.

'Future investment'

The technique revealed at the conference involves harvesting and
developing stem cells taken from frozen embryos.

California-based firm StemLifeLine claims that embryos can
be "transformed" into individual stem cell lines which "may one day"
help create therapies.

It is like trying to run before you can walk

Professor Stephen Minger, Kings College London

"Think of our service as an investment for the future," says its
website.

However, British experts took a dim view of the scheme.

Lord Winston said: "It's a clear example of exploitation of the
worries of couples about the fate of their children.

"There is no scientific evidence to sustain the notion that this will
be a useful procedure. "I would be horrified if anyone tried to do
this in Britain."

No permission

Stem cell expert Professor Stephen Minger, from King's College
London, said that it was "too early" to be banking cells from
embryos.

"My worry is that this is a commercial service that is being promoted
to companies when the science is really not there to justify it.

"It is like trying to run before you can walk, and the fact it is
being done for commercial purposes makes it worse."

The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) regulates the
use of IVF embryos either for infertility treatment or scientific
research in the UK.

A spokesman said that it was unlikely that a similar scheme in the UK
would gain its approval.

"To get a licence, scientists must show that the creation of stem
cells in every case both a necessary and desirable use of human
embryos."

In addition, the export of frozen human embryos to other countries is
also strictly controlled by the HFEA. Some companies already offer to
store blood taken from the umbilical cord of a newborn, which is
also, to a lesser degree, a source of stem cells.

This service has also received criticism from scientists who say that
the resulting cells are of dubious value.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/7045486.stm

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[StemCells] qPCR NEWSLETTER - October 2007

qPCR NEWSLETTER - October 2007

If this newsletter is not displayed correctly by your email client,
please use following LINK:
http://www.gene-quantification.de/qpcr-news.html

Dear researcher,
dear Gene Quantification page reader,

Our newsletter informs about the latest news in quantitative real-time
PCR (qPCR and qRT-PCR), which are compiled and summarised on the Gene
Quantification homepage. The focus of this newsletter issue is:

- Update of real-time RT-PCR normalisation page

- New papers about RNA integrity testing

- NARG 2007 qPCR survey results

- Download the talk and poster PDFs from the qPCR 2007 Event

- qPCR Symposium USA next week San Francisco

- qPCR application workshops in 2007 and 2008

----------------------------------------------------------

Data normalisation in real-time RT-PCR is a further major step in gene
quantification analysis (Bustin 2002, Pfaffl 2001 ). The reliability
of any relative RT-PCR experiment can be improved by including an
invariant endogenous control (reference gene) in the assay to correct
for sample to sample variations in RT-PCR efficiency and errors in
sample quantification. A biologically meaningful reporting of target
mRNA copy numbers requires accurate and relevant normalisation to some
standard and is strongly recommended in kinetic RT-PCR. But the
quality of normalized quantitative expression data cannot be better
than the quality of the normalizer itself. Any variation in the
normalizer will obscure real changes and produce artifactual changes
(Bustin 2000). Real-time RT-PCR-specific errors in the quantification
of mRNA transcripts are easily compounded with any variation in the
amount of starting material between the samples, e.g. caused by
sample-to-sample variation, variation in RNA integrity, RT efficiency
differences and cDNA sample loading variation (Stahlberg 2003 2004a,
2004b). This is especially relevant when the samples have been
obtained from different individuals, different tissues and different
time courses, and will result in the misinterpretation of the derived
expression profile of the target genes. Therefore, normalisation of
target gene expression levels must be performed to compensate intra-
and inter-kinetic RT-PCR variations (sample-to-sample and run-to-run
variations) (Pfaffl & Hageleit 2001).

Find more info on our web page:
http://normalisation.gene-quantification.info/

----------------------------------------------------------

Universal reference method for real-time.
Neil Ivan Bower, Ralf Joachim Moser, Jonathan Robert Hill, and Sigrid
Arabella Lehnert
BioTechniques (2007) 42: 199-206

Validation of rat reference genes for improved quantitative gene
expression analysis using low density arrays.
Jenny Hong Cai, Shibing Deng, Steven W. Kumpf, Patricia A. Lee,
Panayiotis Zagouras, Anne Ryan, and Dan S. Gallagher
BioTechniques (2007) 42: 503-512

In search of suitable reference genes for gene expression studies of
human renal cell carcinoma by real-time PCR.
Monika Jung, Azizbek Ramankulov, Jan Roigas, Manfred Johannsen, Martin
Ringsdorf, Glen Kristiansen & Klaus Jung
BMC Molecular Biology (2007) 8: 47

GeneChip, geNorm, and gastrointestinal tumors: novel reference genes
for real-time PCR.
Mark Kidd, Boaz Nadler, Shrikant Mane, Geeta Eick, Maximillian
Malfertheiner, Manish Champaneria, Roswitha Pfragner, and Irvin Modlin
Physiol Genomics (2007) 30: 363–370

Developmental expression profiles of Xenopus laevis reference genes.
Sindelka R, Ferjentsik Z, Jonak J.
Dev Dyn. (20069 235(3): 754-758

Statistical Selection of Maintenance Genes for Normalization of Gene
Expressions.
Yifan Huang Jason C. Hsu† Mario Peruggia‡ Abigail A. Scott
Statistical Applications in Genetics and Molecular Biology (2006) 5(1) 1-4

Quantification of cDNA generated by reverse transcription of total RNA
provides a simple alternative tool for quantitative RT-PCR normalization.
Jiri Libus and Helena Štorchová
Institute of Experimental Botany, Prague, Czech Republic
BioTechniques (2006) 41: 156-164

Equivalence test in quantitative reverse transcription polymerase
chain reaction: confirmation of referencegenes suitable for
normalizationHaller F, Kulle B, Schwager S, Gunawan B, von Heydebreck
A, Sultmann H, Fuzesi L.Anal Biochem. (2004) 335(1): 1-9

Find more publication on our web page:
http://normalisation.gene-quantification.info/

----------------------------------------------------------

REVIEW: RNA integrity and the effect on the real-time qRT-PCR
performance.

Molecular Aspects of Medicine 27 (2006) 126–139
Simone Fleige & Michael W. Pfaffl
Physiology Weihenstephan, Center of Life and Food Sciences (ZIEL),
Technical University of Munich, 85350 Freising, Germany; TATAA
Biocenter Germany, Freising-Weihenstephan, Germany

http://www.gene-quantification.de/fleige-pfaffl-rin-2006.pdf

The assessment of RNA integrity is a critical ﬁrst step in obtaining
meaningful gene expression data. Working with low-quality RNA may
strongly compromise the experimental results of downstream
applications which are often labour-intensive, time-consuming, and
highly expensive. Using intact RNA is a key element for the successful
application of modern molecular biological methods, like qRT-PCR or
micro-array analysis. To verify RNA quality nowadays commercially
available automated capillary-electrophoresis systems are available
which are on the way to become the standard in RNA quality assessment.
Proﬁles generated yield information on RNA concentration, allow a
visual inspection of RNA integrity, and generate approximated ratios
between the mass of ribosomal sub-units. In this review, the
importance of RNA quality for the qRT-PCR was analyzed by determining
the RNA quality of diﬀerent bovine tissues and cell culture.
Independent analysis systems are described and compared (OD
measurement, NanoDrop, Bioanalyzer 2100 and Experion). Advantage and
disadvantages of RNA quantity and quality assessment are shown in
performed applications of various tissues and cell cultures. Further
the comparison and correlation between the total RNA integrity on PCR
performance as well as on PCR eﬃciency is described. On the basis of
the derived results we can argue that qRT-PCR performance is aﬀected
by the RNA integrity and PCR eﬃciency in general is not aﬀected by the
RNA integrity. We can recommend a RIN higher than ﬁve as good total
RNA quality and higher than eight as perfect total RNA for downstream
application.

----------------------------------------------------------

http://rna-integrity.gene-quantification.info/

Newly added RNA intergrity publication:

Preanalytical mRNA Stabilization of Whole Bone Marrow Samples
Technical Advance: Isolation of Microarray-Grade Total RNA, MicroRNA,
and DNA from a Single PAXgene Blood RNA Tube
RNA quality in frozen breast cancer samples and the influence on gene
expression analysis - a comparison of three evaluation methods using
microcapillary electrophoresis traces.
Tissue preparation for laser capture microdissection and RNA
extraction from fresh frozen breast tissue.
Simultaneous control of DNA and RNA processing efficiency using a
nucleic acid calibration set.
Einfluss der RNA Integrit auf die quantitative real-time RT-PCR (in
German)

----------------------------------------------------------

qPCR 2007

Link to the qPCR 2007 Event homepage:
http://qpcr2007.gene-quantification.info/
3rd International qPCR Symposium & Application Workshop in Freising -
Weihenstephan 2007

Download => qPCR 2007 Symposium Proceedings ISBN-13:
978-3-00-020385-5
http://www.gene-quantification.de/qpcr2007/qpcr2007-proceedings-final.pdf

Download => qPCR 2007 Talks and Posters (now available)
http://www.gene-quantification.de/qpcr2007/presentations-2007.html

----------------------------------------------------------

Download the talks and poster presentations from previous qPCR Symposia

- qPCR 2004 Event downloads
http://qpcr2004.gene-quantification.info/

- qPCR 2005 Event downloads
http://www.gene-quantification.de/talks-qpcr2005.html

- Leipzig 2005 Meeting downloads
http://www.bioscience-events.com/leipzig/agenda-leipzig.html

----------------------------------------------------------

Upcoming Events World-wide academic and commercial qPCR Events
http://events.gene-quantification.info/

Symposia, Meetings, Conferences, Workshops, Seminars, Online-Seminars,
qPCR Education Program, ...etc...
Please submit your qPCR event here => events@gene-quantification.info

----------------------------------------------------------

qPCR Symposium USA
http://www.qPCRsymposium.com

Symposium Focus:
Markers, Stem Cells, Single Cell, siRNA, miRNA, Diagnostics,
Immuno-qPCR, Expression Profiling,
Poster Presentation, Workshops in qPCR

----------------------------------------------------------

WORKSHOP

TATAA Biocenter Germany - qPCR Application workshops

At the TATAA Biocenter Germany we offer qPCR application workshops,
the 3-day Core Module and a 2-day Biostatistics Module. qPCR courses
are held in regularly in Göteborg, Sweden, in English and in
Freising-Weihenstephan, Germany, in German and English, and in Prague,
Czech Republic in English and Czech.
Depending on the occasion the workshop language and the different
prices may apply. Further customized workshops and specialized
trainings will be held as well across Europe and world-wide. TATAA
Biocenter Germany courses are held in cooperation with the Institute
of Physiology, located at the Technical University of Munich, in
Freising-Weihenstephan, near Munich, very close to the Munich Airport
(MUC). For more information and to register for the qPCR application
workshops, please see our web page:
http://tataa.gene-quantification.info/

Course Occasions 2007 and 2008:
3-day qPCR Core Module (Mon. - Wed.) and 2-day BioStatistics
Module (Thu. - Fri.)

* 26 - 30th November 2007 (in Freising, Germany, Kurs wird in
DEUTSCH gehalten, German language)
* 3rd - 7th March 2008 (in Freising, Germany, English language)
* 5 - 9th May 2008 (in Freising, Germany, Kurs wird in DEUTSCH
gehalten, German language)
* 7 - 11th July 2008 (in Freising, Germany, English language)

Please register here => http://www.tataa.com/Courses/Courses.html

----------------------------------------------------------

Forward Please send the qPCR NEWS to further scientists and friends
who are interested in qPCR !

Best regards,

Michael W. Pfaffl
responsible Editor of the Gene Quantification Pages
http://www.gene-quantification.info

----------------------------------------------------------

If this newsletter is not displayed correctly by your email client,
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The qPCR NEWS and the Gene Quantification Pages are educational sites
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Tuesday, October 23, 2007

[StemCells] CA CIRM President's Research Scandal(s)

Stem cell work under investigation
Oct. 17, 2007

Australia's Monash University is investigating evidence that
researchers submitted false reports to a funding body over the
progress of a publicly funded stem cell project, it emerged this
week.

One researcher in particular, whose name has not been made public, is
the focus of the investigation. He worked on the project at the
Monash Immunology and Stem Cell Laboratories under renowned
investigator Alan Trounson, who will next year take the helm at the
$3 billion California Institute for Regenerative Medicine.

The researcher, who has since left the university, was a senior
member of a team working on the Adult Stem Cell Lung Regeneration
Project. It aimed to see how adult mesenchymal stem cells might be
used to regenerate lung tissue in preclinical models of cystic
fibrosis. The project had received $1.2 million funding over 18
months from the Australian Stem Cell Centre (ASCC).

But in November last year, routine checks by the ASCC showed that
claims made in a number of routine 90-day progress reports were not
supported by documentation from lab notebooks.

According to Australian media reports, the progress reports falsely
claimed the group had reached pre-set milestones, including
developing a mouse model of smoking-related lung damage and that
producing experimental results showing that treatment with adult stem
cells reversed respiratory damage in the mouse.

A three-week investigation by the ASCC raised enough questions about
the work for the agency to cancel its funding of the project in
February. "The ASCC is entrusted with tax-payer's money and we're
entrusted to apply that money to the very best research to achieve
the results that can come up with a clinical benefit," the
spokeswoman said.

Late 2006, the ASCC passed their evidence on to the deputy vice
chancellor for research at Monash, Edwina Cornish, and she set up an
investigation committee of academics to confidentially examine the
evidence, a Monash University spokesman said.

Both Alan Trounson, as project leader, and the other researcher had
signed the reports in question. However Trounson has not been
implicated in the current investigation, the spokesman told The
Scientist.

"There were many people working on the projects, and only one of
those has been investigated," added Richard Boyd, who is acting as
interim director of the Monash Immunology and Stem Cell Laboratories
now that Trounson is moving to California. "It's a reminder to
scientists of the need to be diligent with data monitoring and
recording."

Boyd said the final report from the university was likely to be
imminent, and that the investigating committee has kept all claims
and data confidential. He added: "I have no idea what the outcome
will be... but no-one has ever indicated to me that the person
involved had deliberately fabricated data."

Dale Carlson, spokesman for the California Institute for Regenerative
Medicine, told The Scientist Trounson had discussed the matter with
CIRM officials prior to his appointment. "It's important to note that
Dr. Trounson is not under investigation," he added. "We are aware of
the matter and have it under careful review."

No data generated by the research has been published, and none will
be, the ASCC said. Trounson's office told The Scientist he would not
comment while the investigation was ongoing.

Stephen Pincock
mail@the-scientist.com

Editor's note: In a previous version of this article, information
regarding the details of the progress reports was incorrectly
attributed. The Scientist regrets the error.

Links within this article:

C. Crawford, "Stem cell research project under investigation," Herald
Sun, October 13, 2007.
http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,22576948-2862,00.html

A. Katsnelson, "Calif. stem cell institute appoints president," The
Scientist, September 17, 2007.
http://www.the-scientist.com/blog/display/53594/

A. McCook, "California stem cell ball rolling, sort of," The
Scientist, September 2005.
http://www.the-scientist.com/article/display/22768

Stem cells in respiratory repair
http://med.monash.edu.au/miscl/research/respiratory-repair.html

Australian Stem Cell Centre
http://www.stemcellcentre.edu.au/

Edwina Cornish
http://www.monash.edu.au/research/dvc.html

Richard Boyd
http://www.med.monash.edu.au/miscl/research/immune-regeneration.html

http://www.the-scientist.com/news/home/53707/

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[StemCells] hES for big pharma

Big pharma get involved in stem cells
12 October 2007 | By Dr Caroline Wright

Three multinational pharmaceutical companies have entered into a
partnership with the UK government to develop human embryonic stem
cells for use in toxicity testing (reported in Reuters). Stem Cells
for Safer Medicine (SC4SM), a non-profit British company to be headed
by Philip Wright, science director at the Association of the British
Pharmaceutical Industry, will be the first major public-private
collaboration in stem cell research. Drug giants GlaxoSmithKline,
AstraZeneca and Roche have each contributed £0.1 million to help fund
the first year's work, whilst the British government is contributing
£0.75 million; other drug companies are expected to join soon.

Within its 5 year programme, the consortium will focus on converting
stem cells into specific differentiated cell lines for toxicity
testing; it will not directly investigate the therapeutic use of stem
cells to treat disease. This type of research falls under the broad
heading of "animal-on-a-chip" technology, and could significantly
reduce the need for animal testing by providing alternatives for
evaluating drug toxicity. Reduction in live animal testing is
desirable on practical and commercial grounds as well as ethical
grounds. Around 10% of the 3 million animals used for testing in the
UK in 2006 were used for toxicity testing by the pharmaceutical
industry (see Statistics of Scientific Procedures on Living Animals
Great Britain 2006) and the number is likely to increase dramatically
as a result of the recent European Union legislation regarding the
regulation of chemicals (REACH).

More than 90% of new drugs entering into clinical trials fail to get
to market, either due to lack of effectiveness or adverse side-
effects not predicted during pre-clinical development. SC4SM will
initially focus on producing liver cells (hepatocytes) from stem
cells, as unexpected liver toxicity is the biggest single reason why
new drugs fail during clinical trials. In the longer term, the
consortium will investigate differentiating stem cells into various
other cell types including heart cells (cardiomyocytes).
http://www.phgfoundation.org/news/3834/

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[StemCells] Designer Cells

Parkinson's researchers focus on 'designer' cells
Staff report
October 11, 2007

University of Florida regenerative medicine researchers have
received a $1.6 million federal grant to study whether "designer"
cells can be used to rescue the brain from Parkinson's and other
neurological diseases.

Using cell cultures and a rodent model of Parkinson's disease,
scientists want to study whether stemlike cells from mice and from
adult human brains and bone marrow can be adapted to deliver a
potentially protective protein to the brain.

"Certain cells derived from brain or bone marrow may have the
potential to be engineered to release therapeutic factors in
Parkinson's disease," said Dennis Steindler, Ph.D., principal
investigator of the five-year grant and executive director of the
Evelyn F. and William L. McKnight Brain Institute. "The possibility
of using a person's own cells to slow or perhaps even halt the course
of devastating neurological disorders offers a tremendous advantage,
because there is less chance the therapy will be rejected."

The new, five-year study is funded by the National Institute of
Neurological Disorders and Stroke. Scientists want to dose the brain
with engineered cells capable of producing growth factors that have
shown promise for replacement and preservation of neurons.

The idea is to nourish and protect brain cells that produce dopamine,
a substance essential for normal movement that is depleted in
Parkinson's patients.

About 1.5 million Americans currently have Parkinson's disease,
according to the National Parkinson Foundation. The condition usually
develops after the age of 65.

"It takes a great deal of dopamine-producing brain cells to die
before symptoms appear," said Ron Mandel, Ph.D., a professor of
neuroscience in the College of Medicine. "Our strategy is to protect
these cells to slow or halt the progression of the disease."

Scientists will first genetically engineer the ability to produce two
particular growth factors into immature human cells that haven't
quite finished developing, and then introduce the modified cells into
the models of Parkinson's disease.

"The idea is to obtain a few cells of the needed type from a patient,
grow those cells, modify them to produce growth factors that protect
at-risk dopamine neurons, and then put them back in the patient in a
reasonable time," said Kenneth Berns, M.D., Ph.D., a collaborator on
the project and director of the UF Genetics Institute. "It will be a
challenge, but it will be a terrific application of human gene
therapy in adult human stem and progenitor cells as well as
differentiated cells."

Also collaborating on the project are Lung-Ji Chang, Ph.D., a
professor of molecular genetics and microbiology, and Eric Laywell,
Ph.D., an assistant professor of anatomy and cell biology.

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/features/health/sfl-
fljjpsparkinsons1009jjbcoct11,0,17654.story

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What is Stem Cell

Sunday, October 28, 2007

[StemCells] Download More than 500 Biology Ebooks...

Friday, October 26, 2007

[StemCells] Fat to Nerve Clinical Trials in UK

[StemCells] Nanocrystals for adult (helps bone heal faster)

[StemCells] Nanocrystals for embryonic

[StemCells] Storing extra embryos for OWN stem cell treatments frowned upon

[StemCells] qPCR NEWSLETTER - October 2007

Tuesday, October 23, 2007

[StemCells] CA CIRM President's Research Scandal(s)

[StemCells] hES for big pharma

[StemCells] Designer Cells

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