STEM CELLS FROM SELF SKIN CELL, NO NEED FOR EMBRYONIC CELL

Scientists at the Research Institute for Stem Cell Research at CHA Health Systems in Los Angeles have produced human stem cells from adult cells. The process could lead to new treatments for diseases by using a patient’s own DNA, rather than embryonic stem cells. The findings were published online on April 17 in the journal Cell Stem Cell.
The investigators used a technique known as somatic-cell nuclear transfer, or therapeutic cloning, whereby embryonic cells genetically identical to a donor are created. If confirmed by other studies, it could prove to be a significant advance because many illnesses that might one day be treated with stem cells, such as heart failure and vision loss Patient-specific stem cells would be created from older cells, not infant or fetal ones. Patient-specific cell lines from the  skin cells of two adult men. However, the process needs refinement. Out of 39 attempts, the researchers were successful only once for each donor.

In therapeutic cloning, scientists use a jolt of electricity to fuse a grown cell, usually a skin cell, with an ovum (egg) whose own DNA has been removed. The ovum divides and multiplies, and within five or six days it develops into an embryo. The interior cells are “pluripotent” stem cells, which have the potential to develop into any kind of human cell. The goal is to grow these embryonic stem cells in laboratory dishes and coax them to develop into specialized cells for therapeutic use against an illness the DNA donor has, such as heart disease, Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis or type 1 diabetes. The cells are genetically identical to the donor's; therefore, they would not be rejected by the immune system.
Other researchers have produced pluripotent stem cells from skin cells. In December 2011, scientists at the Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research at UCLA announced that, by using a specially designed facility, they had reprogrammed human skin cells to be pluripotent and then differentiated them into neurons, using animal origin-free reagents and feeder conditions throughout the process. The Broad center researchers also developed a set of standard operating procedures for the process, so other scientists can benefit from the derivation and differentiation techniques performed under Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) protocols. GMP protocols are tightly controlled and regulated so the cells created meet all the standards required for use in human beings. Currently, four significant stem cell projects are underway at UCLA.

Suggested Links

• Four important stem cell projects underway at UCLA
• Another UCLA stem cell breakthrough on skin cancer
• UCLA stem cell researchers conducting human clinical trials
• UCLA physicians treat angina patients with stem cells
• UCLA researchers generate stem cells from human skin

STEM CELL FOR DIABETES TYPE 1 CURE

Stem cell research has brought a possible diabetes cure to within three years.

According to a Thursday story in National Geographic a researcher named Doug Melton is on the brink of curing DIABETES TYPE 1. Melton, a professor at Harvard University, has developed a way to make an unlimited supply of beta cells that the body uses to create INSULIN using  STEM CELLS, and protecting them against the body’s immune system. Insulin processes glucose in the human blood stream that otherwise would be toxic.
About three million Americans suffer from Type 1 Diabetes, a condition that occurs when the body’s immune system attacks and destroys the beta cells in the pancreas. Diabetics are obliged to take regular infusions of insulin, either by injection or through a pump. Nevertheless, people who suffer from the disease are prone to nerve damage that can lead to blindness, foot amputations, and even premature death.

Beta cell transplants have already had limited use for treating diabetes. Unfortunately, since such transplants come from dead donors, recipients are obliged to take anti-rejection medication for the rest of their lives. However, since tissue created by stem cells have the same DNA makeup of the people receiving it, the problem of rejection is avoided.


Stem cells are viewed on a computer screen at the University of Connecticut`s (UConn)
Stem Cell Institute at the UConn Health Center on August 27, 2010 .

Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images

The second part of the cure consists of finding a way to protect the new beta cells so that they will not be destroyed by the body’s immune system once they are implanted. One approach involves an implantable device that would coat the new beta cells with a substance similar to algae so that immune cells would not stick to them. The other approach involves encapsulation, protecting the beta cells in a capsule that admits blood glucose but not immune cells.
The process has worked remarkably well in rodent studies. Government approval of human testing is about a year away. Two years of testing beyond that lays ahead before the treatment can be made widely available. If and when the stem cell treatment is available, millions will be liberated from regular injections of insulin and monitoring of blood glucose levels that are the lot of people with type 1 diabetes.

“We are now just one pre-clinical step away from the finish line,” Melton.stated. "It was gratifying to know that we can do something that we always thought was possible.”
The stem cell-derived beta cells are presently undergoing trials in animal models, including non-human primates, where they are still producing insulin after several months.
Diabetes currently affects more than 347 million people worldwide (10% of whom suffer from Type 1 diabetes developed in childhood)), and can lead to numerous health problems from neuropathy to heart and kidney disease, as well as blindness, etc.
Readers interested in learning more can find Melton’s study published in the journal Cell.

ANTI CANCER STEM CELL

Scientists at Harvard have developed a stem cell that kills cancer.

 

At Harward, a team of scientists have developed a novel way of fighting  cancer,stem cells By using stem cells that have been specially designed to excrete a cancer-killing toxin, a group of researchers have developed a form of treatment that can target only cancer cells without damaging any normal healthy cells. The Independent reported on Saturday that the genetically engineered stem cells proved to be so effective on mice that experts now believe that the treatment could become a major breakthrough in cancer research. The study was published in the journal Stem Cell.

While using toxins to fight cancer is fairly common, the scientists behind the study innovated in their development of a stem cell that not only deploys the right kind of toxin, but doesn’t succumb to the effects of the toxin itself. The toxin is also safe for normal healthy cells to be in contact with. Dr Khalid Shaw, who led the research team which was composed of scientists from both Massachusetts General Hospital and the Harvard Stem Cell Institute, said: “Cancer-killing toxins have been used with great success in a variety of blood cancers, but they don’t work as well in solid tumors because the cancers aren’t as accessible.”

 

In order to get enough of the cancer-killing toxins into affected but inaccessible areas, the team needed to develop a delivery system that could produce the toxins but wouldn’t be harmed by them. “A few years ago we recognized that stem cells could be used to continuously deliver these therapeutic toxins to tumors in the brain, but first we needed to genetically engineer stem cells that could resist being killed themselves by the toxins,” said Shah. Once the team had developed a form of cell that could resist the toxin it produced, the scientists got to work deploying it. To get at the cancer, the scientists first surgically removed the bulk of the tumor before placing the stem cells in a biodegradable gel pouch in the tumor site. After the gel dissolved, the stem cells got to work producing the cancer-killing toxin.

According to BBC, the treatment is getting excited responses from many in the fields of stem cell research and cancer treatment. Nell Barrie, senior science information manager for Cancer Research UK, called the treatment an “ingenious approach,” while Chris Mason, professor of regenerative medicine at University College London, suggested that the research “signals the beginning of the next wave of therapies.” Dr. Shah currently plans to continue testing on mice with different forms of cancer. If that stage goes well, he hopes to move on to clinical trials in the next five years.