Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Biotech / Medical : Stem Cell Research -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: SnowShredder who wrote (118)	6/27/2005 2:53:33 PM
From: zeta1961	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 495

Adult stem cell research at CHOP.. Breakthrough Study Finds Adult Stem Cells Show Same Ability To Self-Renew As Embryonic 6/27/2005 Pittsburgh, PA - In a ground-breaking study, scientists at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh have discovered that adult, or post- natal, stem cells have the same ability as embryonic stem cells to multiply, a previously unknown characteristic indicating that post-natal stem cells may play an important therapeutic role. Adult and post-natal stem cells are often overlooked in favor of embryonic stem cells in the national debate over the therapeutic use of stem cells. Until now, it has been generally believed that embryonic stem cells had a greater capacity to multiply than post-natal stem cells, making them more desirable to research as a potential treatment, according to Johnny Huard, PhD, director of the Growth and Development Laboratory at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh. "Scientists have typically believed that adult or post-natal stem cells grow old and die much sooner than embryonic stem cells, but this study demonstrates that is not the case," said Dr. Huard, senior author of the study. "The entire world is closely following the advances in stem cell research, and everyone is interested in the potential of stem cells to treat everything from diabetes to Parkinson's disease. But there are also many ethical concerns surrounding the use of embryonic stem cells, concerns that you don't have with post-natal or adult stem cells. My belief is that this study should erase doubts scientists may have had about the potential effectiveness of post-natal stem cells." Researchers from Children's and the University of Pittsburgh in Dr. Huard's laboratory were able to expand post-natal stem cells to a population level comparable to that reached by researchers using embryonic stem cells. Previous research has found that embryonic stem cells could undergo more than 200 population doublings before the cells began to die. A population doubling is a method of measuring the age of a population of cells. Bridget Deasy, PhD, a scientist in Dr. Huard's laboratory, was first author of the study. Dr. Deasy, a research assistant professor in the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, discovered that a unique population of muscle-derived stem cells was able to undergo more than 200 population doublings, as well. These post-natal cells were able to undergo population doublings while maintaining their ability to regenerate muscle in an animal model, a key finding indicating that they could maintain their treatment potential. This ability to self-replenish is significant because in order for stem cells to be used for treatment, a large quantity of the cells would be required. The findings are published in the July 1, 2005, issue of Molecular Biology of the Cell, published by the American Society for Cell Biology. The paper is under consideration for Molecular Biology of Cell paper of the year. There also may be important advantages to post-natal stem cells when it comes to autoimmunity, according to Dr. Huard, deputy director of the McGowan Institute of Regenerative Medicine and associate professor of Orthopaedic Surgery, Molecular Genetics and Biochemistry, and Bioengineering at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. The use of embryonic stem cells could be complicated by issues of rejection, with the recipient's immune system rejecting the foreign embryonic stem cells. With post-natal stem cells taken from the recipient and then reintroduced in an autologous manner, rejection would not be an issue. Dr. Huard is one of the world's top cell biologists researching the potential therapeutic use of stem cells. He currently is working with the stem cells he discovered while searching for a cure for Duchene muscular dystrophy (DMD), a genetic disease that is estimated to affect one in every 3,500 boys. DMD is the most common form of muscular dystrophy affecting children and patients often die in early adulthood because of heart damage. In addition to searching for a cure for DMD, Dr. Huard's laboratory also is researching the use of stem cells to repair injured muscle following sports-related injuries, as well as to treat cardiac, joint and bone injuries. His work with these stem cells has potential implications ranging from repairing heart muscle damaged by heart attack or disease to the prevention of rejection during organ and tissue transplantation. The study was supported by the Muscular Dystrophy Association, the National Institutes of Health, the William F. and Jean W. Donaldson Chair at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh and the Henry J. Mankin Chair at the University of Pittsburgh. For more information on Dr. Huard's research and Children's, please visit the hospital's Web site at chp.edu. SOURCE: Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh

To: SnowShredder who wrote (118)	6/27/2005 3:45:52 PM
From: SnowShredder	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 495

A Phase I Clinical Trial of the Treatment of Crohn's Fistula by Adipose Mesenchymal Stem Cell Transplantation. fwiw..just parking for future reference. Best of Luck, SS ncbi.nlm.nih.gov >>>>> Dis Colon Rectum. 2005 May 17; [Epub ahead of print] A Phase I Clinical Trial of the Treatment of Crohn's Fistula by Adipose Mesenchymal Stem Cell Transplantation. Garcia-Olmo D, Garcia-Arranz M, Herreros D, Pascual I, Peiro C, Rodriguez-Montes JA. Department of General Surgery, "La Paz" University Hospital, Madrid, Spain. PURPOSE: The effective management of fistulas in patients with Crohn's disease presents an extremely challenging problem. Mesenchymal adult stem cells extracted from certain tissues, such as adipose tissue, can differentiate into various cell types. Therefore, we have tried to use such cells to stimulate healing of Crohn's fistulas. METHODS: We designed a prospective Phase I clinical trial, involving five patients with Crohn's disease, to test the feasibility and safety of autologous stem cells transplantation in the treatment of fistulas. We also studied the expression of various cell markers and the growth rates of the lipoaspirate-derived cells that were used for transplantation. RESULTS: One patient was excluded because of bacterial contamination of cultured cells. We inoculated nine fistulas in four patients with autologous adipose tissue-derived stem cells at Passage 3 or earlier. Eight inoculated fistulas were followed weekly for at least eight weeks. In six fistulas, the external opening was covered with epithelium at the end of Week 8, and, thus, these fistulas were considered healed (75 percent). In the other two fistulas, there was only incomplete closure of the external opening, with a decrease in output flow (not healed; 25 percent). No adverse effects were observed in any patient at the end of the follow-up period (minimum follow-up,12 months; maximum follow-up, 30 months; follow-up average, 22 months). CONCLUSIONS: To our knowledge, this is the first report of a clinical trial of cell therapy using autologous stem cells obtained from a lipoaspirate. Our results indicate that our protocol is feasible and safe for the treatment of fistulas in Crohn's disease. The number of patients included and the uncontrolled nature of Phase I clinical trials do not allow demonstration of the effectiveness of the treatment. However, the results of the present study encourage to perform further studies in Phase II. PMID: 15933795 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]