What is Stem Cell: January 2009

Saturday, January 31, 2009

[StemCells] Marrow for skin regeneration

Bone Marrow Stem Cells Used To Regenerate Skin
ScienceDaily (Jan. 19, 2009) — A new study suggests that adult bone
marrow stem cells can be used in the construction of artificial skin.
The findings mark an advancement in wound healing and may be used to
pioneer a method of organ reconstruction. The study is published in
Artificial Organs.*

----------------------------------------------------------
----------
See also:
Health & Medicine
Skin Care
Stem Cells
Skin Cancer
Psoriasis
Leukemia
Bone and Spine
Reference
Skin grafting
Healing
Human physiology
Wound
To investigate the practicability of repairing burn wounds with
tissue-engineered skin combined with bone marrow stem cells, the
study established a burn wound model in the skin of pigs, which is
known to be anatomically and physiologically similar to human skin.

Engineering technology and biomedical theory methods were used to
make artificial skin with natural materials and bone marrow derived
stem cells. Once the artificial skin was attached to the patient and
the dermal layer had begun to regenerate, stem cells were
differentiated into skin cells. The cells are self-renewing and raise
the quality of healing in wound healing therapy. When grafted to the
burn wounds, the engineered skin containing stem cells showed better
healing, less wound contraction and better development of blood
vessels.

Skin, the human body's largest organ, protects the body from disease
and physical damage, and helps to regulate body temperature. When the
skin has been seriously damaged through disease or burns, the body
often cannot act fast enough to repair them. Burn victims may die
from infection and the loss of plasma. Skin grafts were originally
developed as a way to prevent such consequences.

"We hope that this so-called `engineered structural tissue' will
someday replace plastic and metal prostheses currently used to
replace damaged joints and bones by suitable materials and stem
cells," says Yan Jin of the Fourth Military Medical University, lead
author of the study.

*Artificial Organs is the official journal of the International
Federation for Artificial Organs (IFAO), the The International
Faculty for Artificial Organs (INFA) and the International Society
for Rotary Blood Pumps (ISRBP).

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

Journal reference:

Liu et al. Tissue-Engineered Skin Containing Mesenchymal Stem Cells
Improves Burn Wounds. Artificial Organs, 2008; 32 (12): 925 DOI:
10.1111/j.1525-1594.2008.00654.x
Adapted from materials provided by Wiley-Blackwell.
Email or share this story:
Need to cite this story in your essay, paper, or report? Use one of
the following formats:
APA

MLA Wiley-Blackwell (2009, January 19). Bone Marrow Stem Cells Used
To Regenerate Skin. ScienceDaily. Retrieved January 31, 2009, from
http://www.sciencedaily.com /releases/2009/01/090114160548.htm

__._,_.___

Messages in this topic (1) Reply (via web post) | Start a new topic

Messages

____________________________________________
«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
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
____________________________________________
«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯

MARKETPLACE

From kitchen basics to easy recipes - join the Group from Kraft Foods

Change settings via the Web (Yahoo! ID required)
Change settings via email: Switch delivery to Daily Digest | Switch format to Traditional
Visit Your Group | Yahoo! Groups Terms of Use | Unsubscribe

__,_._,___

[StemCells] Mesenchymal + Nanotubes for Bone Growth

HomeNovel method for accelerated bone growth developed
Submitted by Mohit Joshi on Sat, 01/31/2009 - 10:52. Featured Science
News United States
Washington, Jan 31 : Using nanotubes and stem cells, engineers at the
University of California at San Diego have developed a new method to
help accelerate bone growth.

The finding could lead to quicker and better recovery, for example,
for patients who undergo orthopedic surgery.

In the study, the group of UC San Diego bioengineers and material
science experts used a nano-bio technology method of placing
mesenchymal stem cells on top of very thin titanium oxide nanotubes
in order to control the conversion paths, called differentiation,
into osteoblasts or bone building cells.

Mesenchymal stem cells, which are different from embryonic stem
cells, can be extracted and directly supplied from a patient''s own
bone marrow.

"If you break your knee or leg from skiing, for example, an
orthopedic surgeon will implant a titanium rod, and you will be on
crutches for about three months," said Sungho Jin, co-author of the
PNAS paper and a materials science professor at the Jacobs School of
Engineering.

Jin added: "But what we anticipate through our research is that if
the surgeon uses titanium oxide nanotubes with stem cells, the bone
healing could be accelerated and a patient may be able to walk in one
month instead of being on crunches for three months.

"Our in-vitro and in-vivo data indicate that such advantages can
occur by using the titanium oxide nanotube treated implants, which
can reduce the loosening of bones, one of the major orthopedic
problems that necessitate re-surgery operations for hip and other
implants for patients.

"Such a major re-surgery, especially for older people, is a health
risk and significant inconvenience, and is also undesirable from the
cost point of view."

This is the first study of its kind using stem cells attached to
titanium oxide nanotube implants.

The researchers said that the precise change in nanotube diameter
could be controlled to induce selective differentiation of stem cells
into osteoblast (bone-forming) cells.

According to this breakthrough research, nanotubes with a larger
diameter cause cells growing on their surface to elongate much more
than those with a small diameter. The larger diameter nanotube
promotes quicker and stronger bone growth.

Scientists said that introducing chemicals into the human body can
sometimes have undesirable side effects.

"What we have accomplished here is a way to introduce desirable
guided differentiation using only nanostructures instead of resorting
to chemicals," said Seunghan
(Brian) Oh, who is the lead author of the study.

"Our research in this area has pointed to a novel way by which we can
modulate the stem cell differentiation, which is very important in
regenerative medicine. This will lead to a truly interdisciplinary
approach between engineering and medicine to getting novel treatments
to the clinic to benefit the patients," said one of the authors of
the study.

The findings of the study ''Stem Cell Fate Dictated Solely by Altered
Nanotube Dimension'' were published in the Proceedings of the
National Academy of Sciences
(PNAS). (ANI)

http://uk.reuters.com/article/UKNews1/idUKTRE50S7LE20090129

__._,_.___

Messages in this topic (1) Reply (via web post) | Start a new topic

Messages

MARKETPLACE

From kitchen basics to easy recipes - join the Group from Kraft Foods

Change settings via the Web (Yahoo! ID required)
Change settings via email: Switch delivery to Daily Digest | Switch format to Traditional
Visit Your Group | Yahoo! Groups Terms of Use | Unsubscribe

__,_._,___

[StemCells] Chicago's Dr. Burt reverses MS 81% of patients w/marrow

Stem cell transplants show promise for MS
Thu Jan 29, 2009 11:49pm GMT Email | Print | Share| Single Page[-]
Text [+] By Julie Steenhuysen

CHICAGO (Reuters) - U.S. researchers have reversed multiple sclerosis
symptoms in early stage patients by using bone marrow stem cell
transplants to reset the immune system, they said on Thursday.

Some 81 percent of patients in the early phase study showed signs of
improvement with the treatment, which used chemotherapy to destroy
the immune system, and injections of the patient's bone marrow cells
taken beforehand to rebuild it.

"We just start over with new cells from the stem cells," said Dr.
Richard Burt of Northwestern University in Chicago, whose study
appears in the journal Lancet Neurology.

Multiple sclerosis occurs when the immune system mistakenly attacks
the myelin sheath protecting nerve cells. It affects 2.5 million
people globally and can cause mild illness in some people and
permanent disability in others.

Symptoms may include numbness or weakness in the limbs, loss of
vision and an unsteady gait.

"MS usually occurs in adults," Burt said in a telephone interview.
Before they get the disease, their immune systems work well, he said,
but something happens to make the immune system attack itself.

His approach is aimed at turning back the clock to a time before the
immune system began attacking itself.

Burt said the approach -- called autologous non-myeloablative
haematopoietic stem-cell transplantation -- is a bit gentler than the
therapy used in cancer patients because rather than destroying the
entire bone marrow, it attacks just the immune system component of
the marrow, making it less toxic.

Burt and colleagues tried the treatment on 21 patients aged 20 to 53
with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis, an earlier stage in the
disease in which symptoms come and go.

Patients in the study were not helped by at least six months of
standard treatment with interferon beta.

After an average follow-up of about three years, 17 patients improved
by at least one measure on a disability scale, and the disease
stabilized in all patients.

Patients continued to improve for up to 24 months after the
transplant procedure, and then stabilized. Many had improvements in
walking, vision, incontinence and limb strength.

"To date, all therapies for MS have been designed and approved
because they slowed the rate of neurological decline. None of them
has ever reversed neurological dysfunction, which is what this has
done," Burt said.

Other teams have seen improvements in patients using a more
aggressive approach. In one study led by Dr. Mark Freedman of the
University of Ottawa last year, 17 MS patients treated with the more
aggressive approach were showing signs of remission two years after
treatment.

Burt stressed that the treatment approach needed to be tested in a
more scientifically rigorous randomized clinical trial, in which half
of the patients get the transplant treatment and the other half get
standard treatment.

That trial is under way.

(Editing by Maggie Fox and Peter Cooney)
http://uk.reuters.com/article/UKNews1/idUKTRE50S7LE20090129

__._,_.___

Messages in this topic (1) Reply (via web post) | Start a new topic

Messages

MARKETPLACE

From kitchen basics to easy recipes - join the Group from Kraft Foods

Change settings via the Web (Yahoo! ID required)
Change settings via email: Switch delivery to Daily Digest | Switch format to Traditional
Visit Your Group | Yahoo! Groups Terms of Use | Unsubscribe

__,_._,___

Monday, January 26, 2009

[StemCells] qPCR NEWS January 2009 - Lab-on-Chip special edition

qPCR NEWS January 2009 - Lab-on-Chip special edition
----------------------------------------------------------

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:

- qPCR 2009 Event => http://www.qPCR2009.net
- we are proud to present 230 scientific contributions (86 talks & 144
posters) have a look on the preliminary online agenda
- http://online-AGENDA.qpcr2009.net/
- Lab on Chip application papers
- PCR efficiency page updated with the newest papers in the field
- Online translation service of the Gene Quantification
=> http://translation.gene-quantification.info/

- European wide qPCR application workshops => register now !
=> qPCR course program spring - summer 2009
=>
http://www.gene-quantification.de/bioeps-courses-spring-summer-2009.pdf

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

Lab-on-a-chip (LOC) is a term for devices that integrate (multiple)
laboratory functions on a single chip of only millimeters to a few
square centimeters in size and that are capable of handling extremely
small fluid volumes down to less than pico liters. Lab-on-a-chip
devices are a subset of MEMS devices and often indicated by "Micro
Total Analysis Systems" (µTAS) as well. Microfluidics is a broader
term that describes also mechanical flow control devices like pumps
and valves or sensors like flowmeters and viscometers. However,
strictly regarded "Lab-on-a-Chip" indicates generally the scaling of
single or multiple lab processes down to chip-format, whereas "µTAS"
is dedicated to the integration of the total sequence of lab processes
to perform chemical analysis. The term "Lab-on-a-Chip" was introduced
later on when it turned out that µTAS technologies were more widely
applicable than only for analysis purposes.
Microfluidics deals with the behavior, precise control and
manipulation of fluids that are geometrically constrained to a small,
typically sub-milimeter, scale. It is a multidisciplinary field
intersecting engineering, physics, chemistry, microtechnology and
biotechnology, with practical applications to the design of systems in
which such small volumes of fluids will be used. Microfluidics has
emerged in the beginning of the 1980s and is used in the development
of inkjet printheads, DNA chips, lab-on-a-chip technology,
micro-propulsion, and micro-thermal technologies.

http://lab-on-chip.gene-quantification.info/

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

- Nanodroplet real-time PCR system with laser assisted heating
- A polymer lab-on-a-chip for reverse transcription (RT)-PCR based
point-of-care clinical diagnostics
- Microchip-based one step DNA extraction and real-time PCR in one
chamber for rapid pathogen identification
- PCR thermal management in an integrated Lab on Chip
- Rapid PCR in a continuous flow device
- Single-molecule DNA amplification and analysis in an integrated
microfluidic device
- Microfabricated PCR-electrochemical device for simultaneous DNA
amplification and detection
- Miniaturized flow-through PCR with different template types in a
silicon chip thermocycler
- Coordinating Multiple Droplets in Planar Array Digital Microfluidic
Systems
- Microcontact Printing of DNA Molecules
- Ultra fast miniaturized real-time PCR: 40 cycles in less than six
minutes
- ITO-coated glass/polydimethylsiloxane continuous-flow PCR chip
- and much more here http://lab-on-chip.gene-quantification.info/

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

LOC technology for total RNA and microRNA quality & quantity control
- Bioanlyzer 2100
- Experion
- RNA integrity measurements
- RIN and RQI algorithms
- find more information and papers here
=> http://rna-integrity.gene-quantification.info/

----------------------------------------------------------
online translation

Since October 2008 we provide an online translation service of the
Gene Quantification pages to several languages. Please recognize this
is an automatic and robotic based translation service, and therefore
we can give NO guarantee about the generated content. It should help
to understand the "rough" content of the Gene Quantification pages,
but still the original is the ENGLISH version:

http://translation.gene-quantification.info/

http://www.gene-quantification.asia
http://chinese.gene-quantification.asia/
http://dutch.gene-quantification.info/
http://french.gene-quantification.info/
http://german.gene-quantification.info/
http://greek.gene-quantification.info/
http://italian.gene-quantification.info/
http://japanese.gene-quantification.asia/
http://korean.gene-quantification.asia/
http://portuguese.gene-quantification.info/
http://russian.gene-quantification.asia/
http://spanish.gene-quantification.info/

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

With the new qPCR INFO PORTAL and all the presented tools we will help
you with to find the right information about qPCR and related topics
in Molecular Biology in the literature and in the World Wide Web.
=> Papers / Protocols / Methods / Databases / Alets / Feeds / Books /
Forums / E-mail / Directory

http://infoportal.gene-quantification.info/

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

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 2009 EVENT - 9 - 13 March 2009

more news here => http://www.qPCR2009.net
download event FLYER =>
http://www.bioeps.com/qpcr2009/qPCR-2009-3rd-announcement.pdf

We are proud to present 230 scientific contributions (86 talks & 144
posters) have a look on the preliminary online agenda =>
http://online-AGENDA.qpcr2009.net/

It is a pleasure to announce the Nobel Prize Laureate Kary Mullis at
the qPCR 2009 event in an own session "25th Anniversary of PCR"

List of confirmed speakers => http://speakers.qpcr2009.net/
An industrial exhibition with the 30 world leading companies will be
held during the qPCR Symposium March 9-11 =>
http://exhibition.qpcr2009.net/

Our sponsors => http://sponsors.qpcr2009.net/

Please register until 31st December to get the early registartion fee
=> http://registration.qpcr2009.net/

Keynote lectures

The Pioneer in PCR Kary B. Mullis 1993 Nobel Prize in Chemistry
- 25th Anniversary of PCR

Stephen A. Bustin
Professor of Molecular Science, Institute of Cell and Molecular
Science, Queen Mary's School of Medicine and Dentistry, University of
London, UK

- A new qPCR assay for the detection of Clostridium difficile
- MIQE- guidelines for publication of qPCR data

Ken Livak
Senior Scientific Fellow, Fluidigm Corporation,San Francisco, CA, US
- Moving from qPCR Assays to qPCR Arrays.

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

qPCR WORKSHOP

BioEPS GmbH / TATAA Biocenter Germany - qPCR Application workshops

At the TATAA Biocenter Germany we offer qPCR application workshops, a
3-day qPCR Core Module and a 2-day qPCR Biostatistics Module. All
courses are held 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 workshops are held in cooperation with BioEPS
GmbH, located at the campus of the Technical University of Munich, in
Freising-Weihenstephan, very close to the Munich Airport (MUC). For
more information and registration, please see our web page:
=> http://TATAA.gene-quantification.info/

Course Occasions 2009:

3-day qPCR Core Module (Mon. - Wed.)
2-day BioStatistics Module (Thu. - Fri.)
3-day single-cell qPCR Module (Mon. - Wed.)
3-day microRNA Module (Mon. - Wed.)

26 - 30th January 2009 (E)
3-day qPCR Core Module (Mon. - Wed.) & 2-day BioStatistics Module
(Thu. - Fri.)

20 - 22 April 2009 (E) NEW microRNA qPCR

20 - 22 April 2009 (E) NEW singel-cell qPCR Application Workshop

11 - 15 May 2009 (Deutsch)
3-day qPCR Core Module (Mon. - Wed.) & 2-day BioStatistics Module
(Thu. - Fri.)

15 - 19 Juni 2009 (E)
3-day qPCR Core Module (Mon. - Wed.) & 2-day BioStatistics Module
(Thu. - Fri.)

13 - 15 Juli 2009 (E) NEW microRNA qPCR

27 - 31 Juli 2009 (E)
3-day qPCR Core Module (Mon. - Wed.) & 2-day BioStatistics Module
(Thu. - Fri.)

=>
http://www.gene-quantification.de/bioeps-courses-spring-summer-2009.pdf

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

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,
please use following link:
http://qpcrnews.gene-quantification.info/

The qPCR NEWS and the Gene Quantification Pages are educational sites
with the only purpose of facilitating access to qPCR related
information on the internet. The qPCR NEWS and the Gene
Quantification Pages are edited by Michael W. Pfaffl.
Copyright © 2005 - 2009 All rights reserved. Any unauthorized use,
reproduction, or transfer of this message or its contents, in any
medium, is strictly prohibited. Disclaimer & Copyrights are displayed
on the homepage www.gene-quantification.com
To subscribe or change your e-mail address in qPCR NEWS, and if you
would like to receive future issues FREE of charge, please send an
e-mail with the subject SUBSCRIBE to
mailto:newsletter@gene-quantification.info?subject=SUBSCRIBE

__._,_.___

Messages in this topic (1) Reply (via web post) | Start a new topic

Messages

MARKETPLACE

From kitchen basics to easy recipes - join the Group from Kraft Foods

Change settings via the Web (Yahoo! ID required)
Change settings via email: Switch delivery to Daily Digest | Switch format to Traditional
Visit Your Group | Yahoo! Groups Terms of Use | Unsubscribe

__,_._,___

Friday, January 23, 2009

[StemCells] FDA approves Genron embryonic SC spinal trials

First Embryonic Stem-Cell Trial Gets Approval From the FDA Article
By RON WINSLOW and ALICIA MUNDY
Jan 23, 2009

In a watershed moment for one of the most contentious areas of
science and American politics, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration
cleared the way for the first-ever human trial of a medical treatment
derived from embryonic stem cells.

Geron Corp., a Menlo Park, Calif., biotechnology company, is expected
to announce Friday that it received a green light from the agency to
mount a study of its stem-cell treatment for spinal cord injuries in
up to 10 patients. The announcement caps more than a decade of
advances in the company's labs and comes on the cusp of a widely
expected shift in U.S. policy toward support of embryonic stem-cell
research after years of official opposition.

"This is the dawn of a new era in medical therapeutics," said Thomas
B. Okarma, Geron's president and chief executive officer. The hope
that stem-cell therapy will repair and regenerate diseased organs and
tissue "goes beyond what pills and scalpels can ever do."

Limits on stem-cell research, which prevented federal funding and
were imposed by Congress and former President George W. Bush for
ethical and religious reasons, have had a chilling effect on both
academic and corporate research involving such cells. Proponents of
stem-cell research say restrictions have delayed development of
promising new treatments, while critics contend that harvesting stem
cells from embryos destroys human life.

President Barack Obama said during his campaign that overturning
research limits would be a top priority in his administration.

Both Geron and the FDA said the timing of the decision to approve the
study was coincidental. "The FDA looks to the science on these types
of issues, and we approve [such applications] based on a showing of
safety," said Karen Riley, an FDA spokeswoman. "Political
considerations have no role in this process."

Approval of the study is far from a guarantee that stem-cell
treatments will work or make it to the market, but it is likely to be
seen as an indication that opportunities for stem-cell research are
poised to open and will fuel enthusiasm among academic and corporate
researchers.

Mr. Obama's plans for acting on the current research restrictions
haven't been finalized. Shortly after the election, Obama advisers
thrilled biotech companies and investors when they suggested that the
new president could use his executive authority to undo the Bush
administration ban. But in a Jan. 18 interview on CNN, Mr. Obama said
he might let Congress take the lead. "I like the idea of the American
people's representatives expressing their views on an issue like
this," he said.

Regulating stem-cell therapy is new turf for both industry and the
FDA, a major reason why it took the agency nearly a year to review
Geron's 21,000-page application for the trial, which it filed last
March. Approval came in a phone call Wednesday afternoon, Dr. Okarma
said.

The study will focus on the safety of the treatment. At an FDA
hearing in April, several firms' executives and researchers
complained that they were at a loss about what the FDA wanted in
terms of clinical trials involving stem cells because the FDA itself
wasn't sure.

Embryonic stem cells are the building-block cells that help drive
prenatal development. Geron has developed banks of embryonic stem
cells and found a way to coax them into differentiating as they do in
nature into progenitors of specific cells that make spinal-cord
tissue, heart muscle, cartilage and other organs and tissues.

Spinal-cord injury is one of medicine's most debilitating conditions,
typically causing paralysis and other issues for which there are few,
if any, effective treatments. The Geron study will enroll paralyzed
patients who can be treated within 14 days of their injury. Patients
will be evaluated for at least one year, after which, if the
treatment proves safe, the company hopes to increase the dose and
expand the potential candidates for the therapy.

In addition to safety, researchers will look for signs that the
treatment is effective.

Write to Ron Winslow at ron.winslow@wsj.com and Alicia Mundy at
alicia.mundy@wsj.com

Printed in The Wall Street Journal, page A12
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123268485825709415.html

__._,_.___

Messages in this topic (1) Reply (via web post) | Start a new topic

Messages

MARKETPLACE

From kitchen basics to easy recipes - join the Group from Kraft Foods

Change settings via the Web (Yahoo! ID required)
Change settings via email: Switch delivery to Daily Digest | Switch format to Traditional
Visit Your Group | Yahoo! Groups Terms of Use | Unsubscribe

__,_._,___

What is Stem Cell

Saturday, January 31, 2009

[StemCells] Marrow for skin regeneration

[StemCells] Mesenchymal + Nanotubes for Bone Growth

[StemCells] Chicago's Dr. Burt reverses MS 81% of patients w/marrow

Monday, January 26, 2009

[StemCells] qPCR NEWS January 2009 - Lab-on-Chip special edition

Friday, January 23, 2009

[StemCells] FDA approves Genron embryonic SC spinal trials

Do you know about Stem Cells?

stem cell links

Blog Archive

Labels

About Me