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Are you or a loved one interested in receiving stem cell treatment? For free information, please fill out our treatment form or email me don@repairstemcells.org and just put TREATMENT in the subject box and the MEDICAL CONDITION in the message.

Researchers Turn Skin Cells Into Beating Heart Cells

February 16th, 2011 by Peter Murray

Dr. Sheng Ding pioneered a method by which skin cells are converted to heart cells without going through an induced pluripotent stem cell state.

It’s faster, more powerful, and user-friendly. No, I’m not talking about the latest generation tablet, I’m talking about the latest upgrade in stem cell research. The transformation of adult cells from one type to another is common enough. We’ve reported on researchers successfully transforming skin cells into heart, blood, and intestinal cells. This process typically involves converting the adult cell to a pluripotent, stem cell state, from which it can differentiate into one of the specialized forms. As if the cell one day realized that it never really wanted to grow up to be a skin cell, scientists could help revert it back to its infant—or, embryonic—state so it could have another go at life. A recent study by scientists at the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, Californiashowcases a different method that bypasses this initial transformation to the stem cell state. Apparently you can teach an old dog new tricks.

Over the last decade scientists have had increasing success in converting skin cells and other types of cells into something different, including heart and blood cells. Efforts are underway across the world to improve the techniques and clinical viability of these cell conversions. The work by Dr. Sheng Ding and his colleagues at Scripps qualifies as a major improvement. The road ahead still requires much work, but it’s clear that each day mankind moves closer to producing cells of every type, custom made for your body.

Faster

The novelty of the new research coming out of Scripps is not going from skin cells to heart cells beating in a dish—that stuff’s becoming old hat—but that they accomplished it in just 11 days. It is normally a two step process that requires four to five weeks. It also requires a lot more work, owing to the step where the skin cells are converted to induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS). This is done by introducing four genes recently discovered to reprogram differentiated adult cells to embryonic stem cell-like pluripotency. The four genes encodetranscription factors, proteins in the cell nucleus that regulate the expression of other genes. Typically the four genes are active for two to four weeks before the differentiated cell is converted to an iPS cell. Ding’s group modified this protocol by allowing the genes to work for as little as four days before deactivating them. The result are skin cells “pushed” in the direction of the induced stem cell state without actually becoming iPS cells. Turns out that’s enough, which, aside from saving time, reveals something new about stem cell biology. The current work was performed using skin cells from mice and it remains to be seen if the shortcut can be applied to human skin cells. Nevertheless, to render the iPS cell stage unnecessary is a major paradigm change for the field and it will be interesting to see if the new paradigm bolsters progress in the near future.

You can see the beating cells in a video below from newsy.com’s coverage of the study:

More Powerful

In addition to being faster, Ding’s protocol boosts efficiency. The old protocol yields anestimated maximum of approximately 0.2 heart cells for every skin cell plated. Skipping the iPS cell stage yields a whopping 1.2 heart cells per skin cell. In the paper the team speculates that the increased efficiency is due to the generation of mitotically active cells which are able to divide and multiply. Resembling heart precursor cells, they speculate further that “these intermediate cells, if successfully isolated and stabilized in culture, could become an expandable and renewable source for not just cardiomyocytes, but many other terminally differentiated cardiovascular cells as well.” In the paper they extend this thought, suggesting that the principle of a versatile intermediate might be important, not only for creating the numerous types of cells that go into making a heart, but for stem cell applications in all tissues.

User Friendly

The four genes that researchers use to produce the iPS cells is risky because these same genes can turn cells into tumors. Inactivating them after only a few days instead of a couple weeks reduces this risk. And, like any self-respecting technology, an upgrade is in the making. Because they can turn cells cancerous, stem cell researchers have been searching for a way to reprogram differentiated cells into iPS cells without using the four genes altogether. Demonstrating that the genes are only needed for a few days instead of weeks simplifies the problem and makes the genes easier to replace.

To be sure, stem cell research has a lot of ground to cover before it becomes an effective treatment for disease. For example, the current study was done in mice and it remains to be seen whether or not the shortened protocol produces the same results in human cells. I find it impressive, however, that the four genes widely used by researchers to convert fully-differentiated, adult cells into embryonic-like, pluripotent stem cells were discovered less than five years ago. Since then iPS cells have been gotten by converting other cells besides skin, including cells from the stomach and liver. The current study was the first that we are aware of to bypass the iPS cell stage for differentiation to heart cells, but this shortcut has already been taken for differentiation into blood cells. It is exciting to note that human cells were used in that study.

But in case you hadn’t heard, stem cells have already been used in tissue replacement therapies. We’ve previously reported on tracheal transplants of two women. This involved a donor trachea (from a cadaver) that was coated with a layer of the patients’ stem cells which fostered regrowth of the trachea. Because the new layer of cells originated from the patient the risk of an immune response against the new trachea was minimized.

From my vantage point, it seems that stem cell therapies are inevitable. I also believe that the day is long in coming. Unfortunately it seems that many people have been set up to hope for miracles after the hyperbolic political battles over stem cell research in the past. But therapies rarely come from sudden miracles. Instead it is the incremental advances and shifts in paradigm, such as that achieved by Ding and his colleagues, that will bring us the stem cell therapies we are hoping for.

[image credit: The Scripps Research Institute]

[video credits: newsy.com]

Scientists at the Scripps Research Institute needed just eleven days to convert skin cells in beating heart cells.

“To find the best stem cell treatment facility in the world for your particular condition; fill out the treatment request form at the Repair Stem Cell Institute website:http://repairstemcells.org/Treatment/Treatment-Request.aspx?d=Heart%20Disease You will then be guided to the top treatment center(s) in the world for treating heart disease and educated regarding information, costs, etc. There is no cost for treatment request and info.”

Posted: 2/21/2011 9:47:52 AM by Don Margolis | with 0 comments

Stem cell transplants help kidney damage

“Transplanting autologous renal progenitor cells (RPCs), (kidney stem cells derived from self-donors), into rat models with kidney damage from pyelonephritis – a type of urinary infection that has reached the kidney – has been found to improve kidney structure and function.”

Stem cell transplants help kidney damage

http://galileo.phys.virginia.edu/classes/304/kidney.gif

Tampa, Fla. (Feb. 14, 2011) – Transplanting autologous renal progenitor cells (RPCs), (kidney stem cells derived from self-donors), into rat models with kidney damage from pyelonephritis – a type of urinary infection that has reached the kidney – has been found to improve kidney structure and function. The study, authored by a research team from the Tehran University of Medical Sciences, is published in the current issue of Cell Medicine [1(3)] and is freely available on-line at: http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/cog/cm .

“Advancements in stem cell therapies and tissue engineering hold great promise for regenerative nephrology,” said Dr. Abdol-Mohammad Kajbafzadeh, corresponding author. “Our RPC transplant study demonstrated benefits for pyelonephritis, a disease characterized by severe inflammation, renal function impairment and eventual scarring, and which remains a major cause of end-stage-renal disease worldwide.”

The researchers divided 27 rats into three groups, two of which were modeled with an induced pyelonephritis in their right kidneys, while the third group did not have induced disease. RPCs were obtained from the diseased animals’ left kidneys and injected into the right kidney six weeks later. Two weeks after injection, tubular atrophy was reduced. After four weeks, fibrosis was reduced and after sixty days, right renal tissue integrity was “significantly improved.”

“We propose that kidney augmentation was mainly due to functional tissue regeneration following cellular transplantation,” said Dr. Kajbafzadeh. “Kidney-specific stem/progenitor cells might be the most appropriate candidates for transplantation because of their inherent organ-specific differentiation and their capacity to modulate tissue remodeling in chronic nephropathies.”

The researchers concluded that because renal fibrosis is a common and ultimate pathway leading to end-stage renal disease, amelioration of fibrosis might be of major clinical relevance.

“Transplanting RPCs showed the potential for partial augmentation of kidney structure and function in pyelonephritis,” said Dr. Kajbafzadeh. “This is one of the first studies to demonstrate improved renal function after cell transplantation. The translation of this study into larger clinical models will be very relevant to validate the success of this small animal study.” said Dr. Amit Patel, Section Editor Cell Medicine, Associate Professor of Surgery, University of Utah.

Citation. Kajbafzadeh, A-M.; Elmi, A.; Talab, S. S.; Sadeghi, Z.; Emami, H.; Sotoudeh, M. Autografting of Renal Progenitor Cells Ameliorates Kidney Damage in Experimental Model of Pyelonephritis. Cell Med. 1(3): 115-122; 2010. Stem cell transplants help kidney damage

Posted: 2/18/2011 9:40:20 AM by Don Margolis | with 0 comments

Palos Hills Veterinarian Tries New Treatment For Her Dog

A Palos Hills vet leaned on a colleague for an innovative treatment for her own dog.

By Cristel Mohrman

Credit Cristel Mohrman

As a veterinarian, Leslie Dahl knows the obstacles that aging pets can face. And as a pet owner, she has watched her own dog battle the stairs with arthritic hips.

But if all goes as planned, her dog will soon be walking pain-free. Doodle, a German shepherd, became a guinea pig, so to speak, as the first animal in Illinois to undergo a one-day, in-clinic stem cell procedure.

Dr. Mitch Robbins conducted the procedure on Friday at Buffalo Grove’s Veterinary Specialty Center, where he removed fat tissue from Doodle’s abdominal area and used the center’s newest technology to inject the dog’s hip joints with her own stem cells.

“The reason that it works is that those cells that we’re removing and processing and stimulating are cells that are normally associated with the healing process and the inflammatory process in the body,” Robbins said. “So they go into the joint, they reduce some of the inflammation in the joint, they improve and reduce pain, they improve range of motion, they improve use of the joint.”

While the Buffalo Grove clinic has performed about 40 such regenerative therapy procedures over the past four years, until now the extracted materials were shipped off-site for preparation, resulting in a more drawn out and expensive process.

Last week, Veterinary Specialty Center adopted new technology from Kentucky-based MediVet-America, which allows medical professionals to complete the entire process in-house over the course of just a few hours.

Katherine Wilkie, MediVet-America’s lab services director, guided Buffalo Grove’s team through the process, which involves using machinery to separate stem cells from the rest of the animal’s tissue and cleaning it so that it can be re-injected.

While professionals received instruction, Doodle, still groggy from the tissue extraction, waited in a nearby cage. By the end of the day, she was picked up by Dahl, who brought her back to their Oak Park home.

Over the next few weeks, she is expected to regain her mobility, which has been hindered by bilateral hip dysplasia and osteoarthritis.

“With the stem cells, we’re hoping that they buy her some quality relief and improve her quality of life,” said Dahl, who is a veterinarian at Southwest Animal Care Center in Palos Hills. “I want her to be able to play and the next day not have any of the post-exercise inflammation that she’s having now.”

Robbins emphasized that stem cell treatment will not cure arthritis,but in most cases the procedure eases his four-legged patients’ discomfort. He said the treatment has benefited about 75 percent of his patients, and two-thirds have no longer needed pain medication.

That is especially important to pet owners like Dahl, whose German shepherd’s sensitive stomach won’t tolerate more traditional treatments. Last spring, she brought Doodle to Veterinary Specialty Center for collagen gel injections that noticeably improved the dog’s condition. When Doodle’s discomfort returned in recent months and Dahl learned that the treatment was no longer available, she jumped at the chance to test out the stem cell process.

“We’re going to do what we can to make sure she’s with us as long as possible,” Dahl said.

Robbins said stem cell therapy is generally effective for about 18 months. Extra cells are collected during the initial extraction and stored for subsequent injections, he said.

“They are never going to cure the arthritis, but they should do a very good job of controlling the pain that Doodle has, allowing her to resume a better, more normal quality of life,” he said.

MediVet-America’s technology was introduced in the U.S. May 2010, and it is now being used in 23 states, Wilkie said, with one or two procedures taking place in the U.S. each day.

Doctors report success rates ranging from 75 percent to 90 percent, Wilkie said.

The procedure costs about $1,800; nearly $1,000 less than the expense of a multiple-day procedure, which involves the costs of sending the tissue to outside labs.

Robbins said he expects to use the new technology to benefit 20 to 50 dogs and cats per year.

Will Rover outlive Grandma?
http://repairstemcell.wordpress.com/2009/03/01/will-rover-outlive-grandma/

Posted: 2/17/2011 9:53:54 AM by Don Margolis | with 0 comments

The man with a plastic heart

There are four approaches to heart transplants:

1. Wait for a donor heart
2. Insert a plastic heart
3. Implant adult stem cells
4. "More radically, Dr Doris Taylor, of the University of Minnesota, has been using stem cells to actually build new hearts in the laboratory. She has achieved this with a rat heart by stripping it of its cells, then re-populating the resulting perfectly heart-shaped scaffold with stem cells, which adapt into heart tissue, so that in time the heart begins to beat again.

".. the thought would be that we would take a heart, probably from a pig .. wash all the cells out, and then take your cells and grow enough of them to .. build a heart that matches your body and have it transplanted into you. That's the home run," says Dr Taylor.

The man with a plastic heart

By Dr Kevin Fong Consultant Anaesthetist, UCL Hospital A heart operation

The demand for heart transplants cannot keep pace with demand
Heart disease threatens the lives of millions, but with only limited hearts available for transplant, medical science has long yearned for a definitive fix to repair or replace this most vital organ.

Troy Golden, a pastor from Oklahoma, was born with a heart that would one day break. A genetic condition known as Marfan's syndrome has been slowly attacking his body tissue since birth including around his heart and valves.

At the age of 41, he had to undergo life-saving surgery, replacing valves and reshaping his heart's walls. But his condition continued to worsen. In January 2010, he was put on the heart transplant list, but time ran out without a donor.

Troy Golden carries a pump in his backpack for his plastic heart

"Troy's heart was so bad that a traditional heart pump wouldn't be enough," explains Troy's cardiologist Dr Doug Horstmanshof. "So, we decided to try something different - completely replacing the heart."

In September last year, Troy became one of the few people in the US to have his entire heart replaced with a device called the Total Artificial Heart. It's made of plastic and weighs 160 grams and is a little larger than a biological heart. It is powered by a pneumatic pump that you carry around in a rucksack.

Awe inspiring moment

Dr James Long, Troy's surgeon, recalled the moment the heart was implanted into Troy. "It was admittedly rather awe-inspiring," he says. And it was ominous to look inside the chest and know that the only thing keeping him alive was the synthetic pump that we had just replaced his heart with."

Troy has had to get used to the non-stop sound of the pneumatic pump. But he looks and feels remarkably well and is overwhelmed by what has been done for him.

"It's awesome," he said "to be out of the hospital and to be able to come back home and to be able to come back to some normal life."

"You can't even just really comprehend taking your heart out, you know, without a heart you're not alive."

The Total Artificial Heart has done more than buy Troy some time. It has given him his life back and it has given him hope. But this is not a permanent solution. His heart's batteries must be constantly charged, spares must stand at the ready. The risk of infection and clotting add to the constant worry.

Medical challenge

For now Troy must again endure the long wait for a donor heart, but there are other solutions on the horizon. New avenues of research are focussing on efforts to assist, rather than replace the heart.

Dr Kevin Fong presents Horizon: How to Mend a Broken Heart on BBC Two, on Monday 14 February at 2100 GMT

Increasingly, in patients suffering from heart failure, miniaturised pumps are being used to assist heart function. They are about the size of a cigar and are essentially plugged into the main pumping chamber of the heart to help it along.

Unlike Troy's artificial heart, they can be left in place indefinitely. But perhaps more remarkable is the fact that these pumps can sometime be removed, once a damaged heart has recovered.

And it is the potential for hearts to actually recover, after having been damaged, that is being investigated in some of the most exciting research going on today.

Much interest centres on stem cells because they are the closest natural thing to the body' s spare parts and, under the right conditions, they have the potential to transform into a huge number of different cell types with specialised functions. Because of this, they can take part in the process of renewal - replacing diseased and damaged tissues.

Preliminary results are highly controversial, but there is a growing body of evidence that suggests we may in the future be able to harness the heart's potential regenerative capacity for future therapies.

Growing new hearts

More radically, Dr Doris Taylor, of the University of Minnesota, has been using stem cells to actually build new hearts in the laboratory.

She has achieved this with a rat heart by stripping it of its cells, then re-populating the resulting perfectly heart-shaped scaffold with stem cells, which adapt into heart tissue, so that in time the heart begins to beat again.

".. the thought would be that we would take a heart, probably from a pig .. wash all the cells out, and then take your cells and grow enough of them to .. build a heart that matches your body and have it transplanted into you. That's the home run," says Dr Taylor.

If the clinical application can be made to work, it is a revolutionary if relatively distant possibility.

For Troy and the millions of people like him for whom heart failure is a reality, this work is of vital importance.

There is the very real possibility here that, within our lifetimes, scientists might finally find the cure they're looking for.

While their search for that magic bullet remedy is far from at an end, each new discovery brings them another step closer.

Stem Cell Treatments and Heart Disease - http://repairstemcell.wordpress.com/heart-disease-treatment/

Posted: 2/16/2011 9:47:29 AM by Don Margolis | with 0 comments

71% OF DEFECTIVE LIFE THREATENING PRODUCTS APPROVED BY FDA

INTRODUCING

from a Hint of Halite Productions…in conjunction with a Speck of NaCl…

THE 510(K)

FAST TRACK

REVIEW PROCESS!

Do you have a new product or medical device?

Is it defective “with the potential for life-threatening or serious, permanent harm“?
NO PROBLEM!!

We can still bring it to market!

If you can prove that it is similar to an existing product, we can fast track it using the 510(k) review process!

NOW SHOWING at a HOSPITAL NEAR YOU…

THE 510(K) FAST TRACK REVIEW PROCESS!

LIFE AT FULL THROTTLE!

FAST-TRACKED DEFECTIVE DEVICES!

NO LIMITS!!

http://maverickentblog.files.wordpress.com/2010/01/fast-track.jpg?w=269&h=376

Now here is the good news!

There is NO human testing required on your device!
There is NO manufacturing plant inspections required on your device!

From the article:

“National Research Center for Women & Families looked at medical devices recalled from 2005 to 2009 for defects with the potential for life-threatening or serious, permanent harm. They found 80 out of 113 recalled products, or 71 percent, were cleared through a shorter FDA review process known as 510(K) that was designed for low- and moderate-risk devices. The faster review allows approval if a device is similar to another on the market. The FDA usually does not require human testing or manufacturing plant inspections. Most new devices are cleared through that process.”

——————————————————————–

Dear FDA-

This is great news! I was devastated when my brand new product failed it’s review because it is defective, has been recalled and has the potential for life-threatening or serious, permanent harm! I put so much time and money into it’s development. Your fast track review process is a life saver (yes, I know, an ironic, morbid and bad joke). Please submit my device for review under the 510(k) process as I think you will find that my device is “similar to another on the market.” In fact, it is similar for the following reasons:

It has been recalled, so it is specifically similar to “80 out of 113 recalled products, or 71 percent” that have also been recalled.

It is similar due to it’s being defective like so many defective devices you have approved.

It is similar because it has the potential to be life-threatening.

It is similar because it can cause serious, permanent harm.

I think you will have no recourse other to agree that my new device is similar and should be accepted and reviewed under 510(k) process. When it passes despite the potential for harm that it will almost definitely fulfill, as I’m sure it will, there will be even one more similarity!

Warm regards-

Defective…but now still marketable!

——————————————————————–

Do you know why there is no fast track approval process for adult stem cell treatments? Because adult stem cell treatments are unique in that they can not prove any similarity to pre-existing defective and life threatening devices. Here is why adult stem cells just don’t get along with pre-exiting drugs, products and devices; here is the true “problem” with adult stem cells…

They treat 130+ DISEASES around the world
They have a 60-80% SUCCESS RATE typical therapeutic benefit
There are RIGOROUSLY ASSESSED & SCRUTINIZED treatment centers
There are POTENTIAL CURES of Autism, Parkinson’s, AIDs, Diabetes, Heart Disease and more
They provide HUGE REWARDS of life extension
They provide SIGNIFICANTLY IMPROVED quality of life

There is not ONE pre-existing product, drug, device or treatment that can claim this.

http://www.alunw.freeuk.com/snowflakes.jpg

Adult stem cells are incredibly unique, like a snowflake, so…no fast track review process. Sorry guys!

But if it makes you feel any better, your choices of brand new and improved defective or life threatening products and devices that do slightly different things from previous defective or life threatening products and devices seem to be increasing in leaps and bounds! This SUV comes in red, blue, green and now….black and silver! Hooray!