Category Archives: Adult Stem Cells

Stem Cell Assay Market Expected to Witness a Sustainable Growth over 2025 – Filmi Baba

Stem Cell Assay Market: Snapshot

Stem cell assay refers to the procedure of measuring the potency of antineoplastic drugs, on the basis of their capability of retarding the growth of human tumor cells. The assay consists of qualitative or quantitative analysis or testing of affected tissues and tumors, wherein their toxicity, impurity, and other aspects are studied.

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With the growing number of successful stem cell therapy treatment cases, the global market for stem cell assays will gain substantial momentum. A number of research and development projects are lending a hand to the growth of the market. For instance, the University of Washingtons Institute for Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine (ISCRM) has attempted to manipulate stem cells to heal eye, kidney, and heart injuries. A number of diseases such as Alzheimers, spinal cord injury, Parkinsons, diabetes, stroke, retinal disease, cancer, rheumatoid arthritis, and neurological diseases can be successfully treated via stem cell therapy. Therefore, stem cell assays will exhibit growing demand.

Another key development in the stem cell assay market is the development of innovative stem cell therapies. In April 2017, for instance, the first participant in an innovative clinical trial at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health was successfully treated with stem cell therapy. CardiAMP, the investigational therapy, has been designed to direct a large dose of the patients own bone-marrow cells to the point of cardiac injury, stimulating the natural healing response of the body.

Newer areas of application in medicine are being explored constantly. Consequently, stem cell assays are likely to play a key role in the formulation of treatments of a number of diseases.

Global Stem Cell Assay Market: Overview

The increasing investment in research and development of novel therapeutics owing to the rising incidence of chronic diseases has led to immense growth in the global stem cell assay market. In the next couple of years, the market is expected to spawn into a multi-billion dollar industry as healthcare sector and governments around the world increase their research spending.

The report analyzes the prevalent opportunities for the markets growth and those that companies should capitalize in the near future to strengthen their position in the market. It presents insights into the growth drivers and lists down the major restraints. Additionally, the report gauges the effect of Porters five forces on the overall stem cell assay market.

Global Stem Cell Assay Market: Key Market Segments

For the purpose of the study, the report segments the global stem cell assay market based on various parameters. For instance, in terms of assay type, the market can be segmented into isolation and purification, viability, cell identification, differentiation, proliferation, apoptosis, and function. By kit, the market can be bifurcated into human embryonic stem cell kits and adult stem cell kits. Based on instruments, flow cytometer, cell imaging systems, automated cell counter, and micro electrode arrays could be the key market segments.

In terms of application, the market can be segmented into drug discovery and development, clinical research, and regenerative medicine and therapy. The growth witnessed across the aforementioned application segments will be influenced by the increasing incidence of chronic ailments which will translate into the rising demand for regenerative medicines. Finally, based on end users, research institutes and industry research constitute the key market segments.

The report includes a detailed assessment of the various factors influencing the markets expansion across its key segments. The ones holding the most lucrative prospects are analyzed, and the factors restraining its trajectory across key segments are also discussed at length.

Global Stem Cell Assay Market: Regional Analysis

Regionally, the market is expected to witness heightened demand in the developed countries across Europe and North America. The increasing incidence of chronic ailments and the subsequently expanding patient population are the chief drivers of the stem cell assay market in North America. Besides this, the market is also expected to witness lucrative opportunities in Asia Pacific and Rest of the World.

Global Stem Cell Assay Market: Vendor Landscape

A major inclusion in the report is the detailed assessment of the markets vendor landscape. For the purpose of the study the report therefore profiles some of the leading players having influence on the overall market dynamics. It also conducts SWOT analysis to study the strengths and weaknesses of the companies profiled and identify threats and opportunities that these enterprises are forecast to witness over the course of the reports forecast period.

Some of the most prominent enterprises operating in the global stem cell assay market are Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc (U.S.), Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (U.S.), GE Healthcare (U.K.), Hemogenix Inc. (U.S.), Promega Corporation (U.S.), Bio-Techne Corporation (U.S.), Merck KGaA (Germany), STEMCELL Technologies Inc. (CA), Cell Biolabs, Inc. (U.S.), and Cellular Dynamics International, Inc. (U.S.).

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Stem Cell Assay Market Expected to Witness a Sustainable Growth over 2025 - Filmi Baba

The ethics of lab-grown "minibrains" – Quartz

For Alexander Fleming, leaving a petri dish out in the air led to his now famous discovery of antibiotics. For Madeline Lancaster, leaving stem cells in a shaker led to the discovery of a new model for neuroscience: brain organoids. These blobs of tissue, grown from human stem cells, resemble some of the essential parts of the human brain. Although they are as small as apple seeds, brain organoids may hold the key to understanding one of lifes great mysteries: the human brain.

Our brain is, arguably, the organ that most makes humans what we are. Our cerebral cortex, the outermost layer of the brain, underpins human cognition. When things go wrong in the cerebral cortex, either as we develop or as we age, this can cause neurological or psychiatric diseases. Neuroscientists have been trying to understand brain development and disease, but they have run into a pretty basic problem: We (usually) cannot collect brain tissue from living people. So neuroscientists arelimitedto studying tissue that is donated by those who have died or observing a living brain behave in an MRI.

To help fill in the gaps in our knowledge of the brain, scientists have turned to the proverbial lab rats (which are actually mice). Mice, rats, primates, and other animals have given scientists the chance to tease apart the roles of genes, molecules, and cells in brain development and disease. Some important insights were gained from these animals. Genetically engineered mice helped researchers understand how a protein called alpha-synucleincan misfold and clump together in theParkinsons-diseased brain, potentially injuring nerve cells. Research intoAlzheimers disease got a boost by mice that were genetically engineered to have mutations linked to Alzheimers. These mice have helped scientists understand how misfolded beta-amyloid proteins stick together in plaques in the brain, a hallmark of the disease.

But a mouse is not a human: mice do not behave as humans do; mouse brains are simpler than human brains; and the mouse genome is not the human genome. Researchers argue that modified mice or other animals do not reflect the complexity of humans, let alone the complexity of neurological or psychiatric conditions. For many conditions, researchers do not even know which gene defects are part of the underlying cause. Instead of creating a mouse that has the same gene defect as that found in human patients, researchers have had to make do with animal models that behave similarly to humans.

In one test for depression-like behavior, researchers hold mice upside down by their tail and measure how long they struggle against it. Mice that give up sooner are judged to show greater despair. But researchers are rightly skeptical. We can make models by challenging mice in different ways and looking at their behavior but its not at all clear that these animals have the same disease that we do, the neuroscientist Fred H. Gage, President of the Salk Institute for Biological Studies,said.

What then? Four millimeter brain organoids might seem an unlikely source for finding therapeutic breakthroughs for complex diseases. But much hope has been put into them since Madeline Lancasterpresented the first such minibrains in 2013. As with many scientific developments, her discovery had an element of serendipity, but cant be reduced to it.

Lancaster, then a postdoc in a Vienna laboratory, wanted to understand how developing brain cells switch from dividing, when they make more of themselves, to differentiation, when they turn into neurons or glia cells. To start off, Lancaster used techniques to coax stem cells, which can develop into pretty much any tissue, towards becoming neurons. But she had also been intrigued by the success of another research team, which grew mini-guts in Matrigel, a gelatinous protein mixture. So once Lancaster had coaxed the stem cells into becoming neural cells, she took clusters of them and put them into a drop of Matrigel. This gave the cells enough support to grow into larger and more complex structures.

Gently shaking the cells in a bioreactor, caused them to specialize into recognizable rudiments of the human brain. Within about two months, the brain organoids had grown structures similar to those found in the human brain, including the cerebral cortex, the seat of human cognition. Organoids also havegenetic similaritieswith the developing human brain. Moreover, many of the neurons in the organoids fired off electrical signals, the messages with which brain cells communicate.

Lancaster immediately realized one of the big promises of brain organoids: As stem cells are their starting material, researchers can take skin samples from adults and re-program those cells into stem cells. These then provide material for a personalized brain organoid. In their first presentation of organoids, the researchers grew personalized organoids from the skin cells of a person with microcephaly. Microcephaly, a condition where the brain is smaller than normal, is difficult to study using mouse models. The researchers took a step toward figuring out why neuron-producing cells stop their job too soon, which could ultimately result in too few neurons. When they added a copy of the faulty gene, the researchers grew organoids with more neuron-producing cells and, ultimately, more nerves.

Brain organoids certainly have their limitations: No two organoids are the same, potentially obscuring differences between personalized organoids. A lack of blood supply keeps the organoids small, as it limits the amount of oxygen that can get into their center. With about a couple of million neurons, a brain organoid has twice as many neurons as a cockroach, but far fewer than an adult zebrafish. Nevertheless, organoids have been used to investigate schizophrenia and autism, and scientists hope to use them to study a range of disorders, from Parkinsons to Alzheimers to eye conditions, like macular degeneration.

With time and intensive research, brain organoids are now better understood and being used in more complex experiments.One studyfound that organoids left to develop for 8 months formed neuronal circuits that sparked with activity, and grew light-sensitive neurons that responded when light was shone on them. Another lab has developedorganoids that produce brain waves similar to those of premature human babies.

Other researchers have developed workarounds to overcome the lack of blood supply. Inanother study, led by Fred Gage, neuroscientists transplanted human brain organoids straight into mouse brains. The organoids connected with the mouses blood supply, and connections between the human organoid and the animals brain sprouted.

This brings up ethical questions: the small blobs of brain tissue arent fully fledged brains, sitting in vats thinking about the meaning of life. The brain waves observed in some mature organoids alone are unlikely to be enough to produce complex brain functions. And, isolated from sensory input,it is unclear whether the organoids could even learn cognitive processes.

But implanting brain organoids into the brain of an actual living mouse could link the blob with the animals senses and motor system. These experiments hark to a related debate raging in science, about the creation and use of chimeras (animals into which human cells have been implanted). While in the US, the National Institutes of Health put in place a moratorium on funding research that investigates animal embryos containing human cells in 2015, in March 2019, Japanannounced a reversal of its ban, allowing scientists to grow human cells in animal embryos that are carried to term.

Arecent perspectivepublished inCellposited that, at the moment, the question isnt whether we humanize an animal into which a human brain organoid is implanted. Instead, it is important to ask whether the organoid enhances specific brain functions in the chimera, and at what point this enhancement crosses the line, becoming harmful and unethical. The authors argue that current studies are more likely to worsen brain function than to improve it.

At the moment, researchers need to make a surgical cavity to accommodate the organoid, which likely harms brain function. Once organoids can make up this deficit, which would be a notable achievement from a clinical perspective, and brain functions are enhanced above a critical threshold, perhaps the chimera should be given a higher moral status. This could go as far as giving the chimera the right of self-determination, the authors argue. Where this critical threshold lies is left open for debate, but the mirror test could be used to test for self-awareness in animals after organoid transplantation.

With brain organoids, the scientific community could be in danger of crossing yet another ethical line, some researchers warn. At this years meeting of the Society for Neuroscience, the largest annual meeting of neuroscientists, a group of scientists sounded the warning bell that research is coming close to creating sentient brain blobs in the lab, while some may have done so already.

The question here is at what point organoids, all on their own, develop consciousness or experience sentiments like pain. In 2018, a group of scientists, lawyers, ethicists, and philosophers, writing inNature,advocated for an ethical debate on brain organoids. With their initiative, they wanted to get ahead of the science, establishing guidelines before brain organoid research could raise immediate concerns.

At the meeting of the Society for Neuroscience, Elan Ohayon, director and founder of the Green Neuroscience Laboratory in San Diego, and his colleagues argued that serious concerns already have become reality. Ohayon presented a computer model which he believes helps to pinpoint when sentience is likely to arise. He suggests that some of the activity seen in organoids is reminiscent of the activity seen in developing animals and thatorganoid cultures may be capable of supporting sentient activity and behavior. Ohayon calls for a set of criteria to be applied to organoids that could help determine sentience and set ethical rules.

Brain organoids likely have a long way to go until they develop consciousness. And there is also likely a long way to go until they help researchers achieve therapeutic benefits. However, the promise of these blobs is so great that giving up brain organoid research altogethergiven the suffering caused by neurological and psychiatric diseases, and the lack of other modelscould itself be unethical. Whether or not any ethical lines have been crossed already, it is high time that neuroscientists, and society, come to terms with the question: What will organoids be able to tell us, and are we prepared to pay the price?

This article originally appeared on JSTOR Daily. Read the original here.

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The ethics of lab-grown "minibrains" - Quartz

What is HLH, and what role did it play in the death of a healthy 34-year-old ESPN reporter? – 11Alive.com WXIA

ATLANTA How does a healthy 34-year-old die after being diagnosed with pneumonia?

That's the question at the heart of the tragic and sudden death of an ESPN reporter earlier this week.

According to college football reporter Edward Aschoff's fiance, Katy Berteau, about a week after being diagnosed with a severe form of pneumonia, he began treatment for a "presumed diagnosed" of hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH). Three days after being moved to the ICU, Berteau tweeted from Aschoff's account on Thursday night, he died.

RELATED: Edward Aschoff's fiance releases new information about ESPN reporter's sudden death, memorable life

HLH is a rare and complicated condition that's not entirely well-understood by researchers, but it basically stems from your immune system severely overreacting to an infection (such as pneumonia) or another illness.

"It just gets overworked and starts fighting regular tissues, so usually those tissues are organs, like your spleen or your liver," Atlanta area doctor Will Epps said. "So it can result in liver failure or organ failure and unfortunately end up expiring from it."

Here's a general outline:

According to the Genetic and Rare Diseases Information Center at the National Institutes of Health, HLH comes in two forms: A genetic form and an acquired form.

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital says the genetic form is more common in young children, while the acquired form, sometimes called the secondary form, usually affects older children and adults, such as Aschoff.

What happens, broadly, is this: Faced with a severe infection, such as pneumonia (or other severe conditions like cancer), a person's immune system overreacts and, as the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine describes it, certain while blood cells called histiocytes and lymphocytes "attack your other blood cells."

"These abnormal blood cells collect in your spleen and liver, causing these organs to enlarge," Johns Hopkins says.

(According to the NIH, HLH may also be associated with a separate genetic condition X-linked lymphoproliferative disease - XLP - when it results from an inappropriate immune response.)

It can cause death in a matter of weeks, according to researchers.

A 2012 paper in the medical journal "Clinical Advances in Hematology & Oncology,"outlines adult HLH extensively.

"It is useful to think of HLH as the severe end of a spectrum of hyperinflammatory diseases in which the immune system causes damage to host tissues," the paper's authors, Dr. Roman Leonid Kleynberg and Dr Gary J. Schiller, wrote.

That paper estimated HLH occurs in only 1.2 cases per one million individuals every year, making it extremely rare.

Specifically amongst children, St. Jude estimates HLH is diagnosed in fewer than 1 out of every 50,000 - 100,000 children per year.

The condition's mortality rate is difficult to pin down because it can fluctuate based on what caused it. Many sources say a common cause is Epstein-Barr virus, for example, and the 2012 paper reported the mortality rate associated with that 18-24 percent. Other causes can have lower mortality rates.

Generally, doctors try both to treat the underlying trigger for HLH and address the immune response.

"Treating that is tamping that down, either through steroids or with a chemotherapeutic agent which tends to attack or lower that immune system," Epps said.

John Hopkins Medicine also details antibiotic and antiviral drugs being used, or if drug treatment fails doctors may turn to stem cell transplants.

There is no known way to prevent HLH.

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What is HLH, and what role did it play in the death of a healthy 34-year-old ESPN reporter? - 11Alive.com WXIA

New technology being used to heal serious wounds – WWLTV.com

NEW ORLEANS Nancy Van Den Akker went through a difficult time.

Compressed discs caused pain shooting down her leg. In May, she had surgery to fix that. Then there was another problem.

"Was about ready to start physical therapy when apparently some of the stitches in the side opened up. I had kind of these gaping holes there," said Nancy Van Den Akker.

It's harder for diabetics like Nancy to heal, so even with standard wound medicine the incision stayed open for three months. Then Tulane reconstructive plastic surgeon Dr. Abigail Chaffin asked Nancy to try new technology.

"What we're talking about today is living tissue. These are donated placentas from healthy mothers, undergoing planned C-sections, that give consent to donate tissue that would otherwise be discarded," explained Dr. Abigail Chaffin, a reconstructive plastic surgeon specializing in wound medicine who is the Medical Director of the MedCentris Wound Healing Institute at Tulane.

The tissue comes in many sizes. Dr. Chaffin spreads it out over the wound, then it's bandaged for a week. The tissue bathes the wound in growth factors and stem cells helping regenerate your own tissue, faster.

"These can be used for many different type of wounds, from diabetic ulcers, venous ulcers, non-healing surgical wounds, over any area of the body," said Dr. Chaffin.

This can keep people out of the operating room with anesthesia and from having a painful skin graft that leaves a big scar. It can also help prevent infection and limb amputation. She even used it successfully before surgery on a young patient whose wound did not heal for 10 years.

Nancy healed in four weeks with the treatment.

"It's all healed up. I don't even feel it. Within just a couple of weeks, I was able to start physical therapy," said Nancy Van Den Akker.

Every time someone is finished with the treatment the medical team rings a big bell hanging in the center.

Now that her medical team has declared Nancy healed, she can't wait to take the senior dog she rescued out for walks again.

Here are more before and after pictures:

The MedCentris Wound Healing Institute is doing a study at Tulane on the effectiveness of the new technology.

It's for any child or adult who has an open wound for at least four weeks.It is through your insurance and co-pay.

For more call 504-399-3605 or toll free, 1-855-HEAL-DAT.

Get breaking news from your neighborhood delivered directly to you by downloading the new FREE WWL-TV News app now in theIOS App StoreorGoogle Play.

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New technology being used to heal serious wounds - WWLTV.com

Five hot topics in autism research in 2019 – Spectrum

This year, researchers unearthed clues to the causes of autism and how to treat it from a variety of sources.

Advances in tiny models of the human brain bared new details about the biology of autism and provided possible platforms for testing therapies. Studies of heart rate put a spotlight on the autonomic nervous system as a potential wellspring of autism traits. And others forged a controversial connection between the gut microbiome and autism.

A few studies revealed important information about the time points at which different forms of autism are amenable to therapy. This year also saw scrutiny of tests used for screening and diagnosis, revealing gaps and limitations in the system for identifying autistic children.

Here are the years top five topics in autism research.

Brain organoids start as mere clusters of stem cells, which then are coaxed to mature into brain cells. This year, the life span of these brains-in-a-dish grew to one year and then nearly two, enabling them to mature and mimic some aspects of the human brain. In the longest-lived organoids, researchers tracked changes in the expression of autism genes. Organoids derived from the skin cells of autistic people have a shortage of cells that suppress brain activity, they found. The finding supports the signaling imbalance theory of autism, which holds that the brains of autistic people are hyper-excitable.

This year, scientists also built tiny replicas of two brain areas bridged by a long fiber tract that might reveal how long-range connections are altered in the brains of people with autism.

Brain organoids spun from people with fragile X syndrome may help explain why some experimental fragile X drugs work in mice but not in people and generate leads for effective therapies. Organoids could provide a platform for testing treatments, too, as researchers can now churn out hundreds of these brain-like blobs in parallel and make them uniform in shape and composition.

More distant applications include studies of consciousness and the effects of microgravity on the brain. In a fledgling sign of the former, brain organoids showed synchronized neuronal firing patterns, some aspects of which look like those in preterm infants.

New evidence emerged tying autism to the workings of the autonomic nervous system, which controls breathing, heart rate and digestion. Differences in the system could explain a range of autism traits, including social difficulties and sensory sensitivity, as well as heart problems and digestive issues.

Many of these differences show up in the heart rate. Heart rate remains steady in autistic people as they breathe instead of the typical pattern of slowing slightly on exhale and quickening on inhale. This discrepancy arises after 18 months of age, around the same time that the conditions core traits emerge. Children with Rett syndrome also have unusual heart-rate patterns.

These differences may persist beyond childhood. One study showed that autistic adults resting heart rates rarely vary; an even heart rate suggests a lack of flexibility in responding to environmental changes.

Autistic children are unusually prone to gastrointestinal problems. This association may not be a coincidence: Certain genetic mutations or alterations in the microbiome the mix of microbes in the intestines may contribute to both autism and gut problems.

Four mouse studies in 2019 offered up fresh evidence some of it controversial to support this idea. In one study, researchers replaced the gut microbes in mice with those from autistic boys. The mice have repetitive behaviors, make fewer vocalizations and spend less time socializing than controls do, providing the first evidence that gut microbes contribute to autism traits.

But within hours of the studys publication, several experts criticized its small sample size and highly variable results. Others found a possible statistical error.

In an unrelated study, researchers revealed that oral doses of Lactobacillus reuteri, a type of gut bacteria found in yogurt and breast milk, boost social behavior in three mouse models of autism. And two other sets of findings suggested that mutations in NLGN3, a high-confidence autism gene, alter gut function. One of them showed that a mutation in this gene disrupts the mices microbiome.

Drugs for autism may be most effective when given during a critical period of brain development. Researchers delineated the windows for treating autism traits in mouse and rat models of the condition.

One study revealed that by the time mice reach adulthood, they have lost their ability to learn from social experiences. Giving adult mice an injection of 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), the active ingredient in ecstasy, reopens the critical window for learning.

In another study, researchers fed the cholesterol drug lovastatin to rat models of fragile X syndrome. The treatment, if given at 4 weeks of age (the rat equivalent of childhood), prevents cognitive problems, the researchers found.

The timing of treatments may be more important for some forms of autism than for others. A study of mice missing UBE3A, the gene mutated in Angelman syndrome, showed that the earlier in life the gene is restored, the more the mice improve.

By contrast, a mutation in the autism gene SCN2A has many of the same effects on neurons when introduced into adolescent mice as it does when it is present from conception. And unpublished results show that correcting an SCN2A mutation in adulthood reverses these problems.

A series of studies this year called into question the accuracy of early screening and revealed racial disparities in autism diagnoses.

Some studies cast doubt on the utility of a widely used screening tool, the Modified Checklist for Autism in Toddlers: The test identifies less than 40 percent of autistic children, and 85 percent of those it does flag do not have autism.

Of the toddlers the test flags, most do not receive follow-up evaluations. And for those who are seen again, a definitive diagnosis may not be possible right away. Some children who screen negative at age 3 meet the diagnostic criteria for autism only after age 5.

Not all children have equal access to autism evaluations, with black and Hispanic children at a disadvantage in several U.S. states. In New Jersey, black children are half as likely as white children to receive an autism assessment by age 3.

About 9 percent of autistic children may outgrow an autism diagnosis but still have other conditions that require support, highlighting the need for continued observation to adapt to their evolving needs.

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Five hot topics in autism research in 2019 - Spectrum

Humans may be Able to Regrow Teeth in the Future – NullTX

Scientific developments can have a major impact on society. It now appears that human teeth can simply be regrown through a relatively simple medical procedure.

When an adult human loses a tooth, it will never come back.

The only option to fill the gap is by using a fake tooth, or implant.

Unfortunately, those problems only grow bigger as humans grow older.

Addressing the loss of teeth has proven challenging, albeit a solution may have been discovered.

Gaining the ability to regrow teeth would certainly be beneficial to society as a whole.

Research into this matter is underway, resulting in some promising options to explore.

It appears the patients own stem cells can be used to regrow lost or damaged teeth.

That is the working theory, at least, as human trials have not been conducted yet.

When human trials will officially begin, has not been announced at this time.

A lot more research and development is needed to deem such trials safe.

Until then, tooth loss will need to be remedied with implants.

That solution has worked well for several decades, as they can serve as genuine teeth.

The downside is how the healing process associated with implants is rather lengthy, and the costs remain relatively high.

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Humans may be Able to Regrow Teeth in the Future - NullTX

adult stem cells: the history of the research

Anadult stem cellis anundifferentiatedcell, found among differentiated cells in tissue or an organ. The adult stem cell can renew itself and can differentiate to yield some or all of the major specialized cell types of the tissue or organ. The primary role of adult stem cells in a living organism is to maintain and repair the tissue in which they are found. Scientists also use the termsomatic stem cellto describe adult stem cells, where somatic refers to cells of the body (not the germ cells, sperm or eggs). Unlikeembryonic stem cells, which are defined by their origin (cells from the preimplantation-stage embryo), the origin of adult stem cells in some mature tissues is still under investigation.

Research on adult stem cells has generated a great deal of excitement. Scientists have found adult stem cells in many more tissues than they once thought possible. This finding has led researchers and clinicians to consider whether adult stem cells could be used for transplants. In fact, adult hematopoieticor blood-formingstem cells from bone marrow have been used in transplants for more than 40 years. Scientists now have evidence that stem cells exist in the brain and the heart, two locations where adult stem cells were not at firstexpected to reside. If the differentiation of adult stem cells can be controlled in the laboratory, these cells may become the basis of transplantation-based therapies.

The history of research on adult stem cells began more than 60 years ago. In the 1950s, researchers discovered that the bone marrow contains at least two kinds of stem cells. Hematopoietic stem cells form all the types of blood cells in the body. Bone Marrow stromal stem cells are a multipotent subset of bone marrow stromal cells that are able to form bone, cartilage, stromal cells that support blood formation, fat, and fibrous tissue.

Bone marrow stem cells are also called mesenchymal stem cells, and were discovered a few years later. These non-hematopoietic stem cells make up a small proportion of thestromal cellpopulation in the bone marrow and can generate bone, cartilage, and fat cells that support the formation of blood and fibrous connective tissue.

In the 1960s, scientists who were studying rats discovered two regions of the brain that contained dividing cells that ultimately become nerve cells, but despite these reports most scientists believed that the adult brain could not generate new nerve cells. It was not until the 1990s that scientists agreed that the adult brain does contain stem cells that are able to generate the brains three major cell typesastrocytesand oligodendrocytes, which are non-neuronal cells, andneurons, or nerve cells.

Adult stem cells have been identified in many organs and tissues, including brain, bone marrow, peripheral blood, blood vessels, skeletal muscle, skin, teeth, heart, gut, liver, ovarian epithelium, and testis. They are thought to reside in a specific area of each tissue (called a stem cell niche). In many tissues, current evidence suggests that some types of stem cells are pericytes, cells that compose the outermost layer of small blood vessels. Stem cells may remain quiescent (non-dividing) for long periods of time until they are activated by a normal need for more cells to maintain tissues, or by disease or tissue injury.

Scientists often use one or more methods to identify adult stem cells: Label the cells in a living tissue with molecular markers and then determine the specialized cell types they generate; Remove the cells from a living animal, label them in cell culture, and transplant them back into another animal to determine whether the cells replace (or repopulate) their tissue of origin.

Importantly, scientists must demonstrate that a single adult stem cell can generate a line of genetically identical cells that then gives rise to all the appropriate differentiated cell types of the tissue. To confirm experimentally that a putative adult stem cell is indeed a stem cell, scientists show either that the cell can give rise to these genetically identical cells in culture, and/or that a purified population of these candidate stem cells can repopulate or reform the tissue after transplant into an animal.

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adult stem cells: the history of the research

A New Gene Therapy Strategy, Courtesy of Mother Nature – Global Health News Wire

3D illustration of cells releasing exosomes

Scientists have developed a new gene-therapy technique by transforming human cells into mass producers of tiny nano-sized particles full of genetic material that has the potential to reverse disease processes.

Though the research was intended as a proof of concept, the experimental therapy slowed tumor growth and prolonged survival in mice with gliomas, which constitute about 80 percent of malignant brain tumors in humans.

The technique takes advantage of exosomes, fluid-filled sacs that cells release as a way to communicate with other cells.

While exosomes are gaining ground as biologically friendly carriers of therapeutic materials because there are a lot of them and they dont prompt an immune response the trick with gene therapy is finding a way to fit those comparatively large genetic instructions inside their tiny bodies on a scale that will have a therapeutic effect.

This new method relies on patented technology that prompts donated human cells such as adult stem cells to spit out millions of exosomes that, after being collected and purified, function as nanocarriers containing a drug. When they are injected into the bloodstream, they know exactly where in the body to find their target even if its in the brain.

Think of them like Christmas gifts: The gift is inside a wrapped container that is postage paid and ready to go, said senior study author L. James Lee, professor emeritus of chemical and biomolecular engineering at The Ohio State University.

And they are gifts that keep on giving, Lee noted: This is a Mother Nature-induced therapeutic nanoparticle.

The study is published in the journal Nature Biomedical Engineering.

In 2017, Lee and colleagues made waves with news of a regenerative medicine discovery called tissue nanotransfection (TNT). The technique uses a nanotechnology-based chip to deliver biological cargo directly into skin, an action that converts adult cells into any cell type of interest for treatment within a patients own body.

By looking further into the mechanism behind TNTs success, scientists in Lees lab discovered that exosomes were the secret to delivering regenerative goods to tissue far below the skins surface.

The technology was adapted in this study into a technique first author Zhaogang Yang, a former Ohio State postdoctoral researcher now at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, termed cellular nanoporation.

The scientists placed about 1 million donated cells (such as mesenchymal cells collected from human fat) on a nano-engineered silicon wafer and used an electrical stimulus to inject synthetic DNA into the donor cells. As a result of this DNA force-feeding, as Lee described it, the cells need to eject unwanted material as part of DNA transcribed messenger RNA and repair holes that have been poked in their membranes.

They kill two birds with one stone: They fix the leakage to the cell membrane and dump the garbage out, Lee said. The garbage bag they throw out is the exosome. Whats expelled from the cell is our drug.

The electrical stimulation had a bonus effect of a thousand-fold increase of therapeutic genes in a large number of exosomes released by the cells, a sign that the technology is scalable to produce enough nanoparticles for use in humans.

Essential to any gene therapy, of course, is knowing what genes need to be delivered to fix a medical problem. For this work, the researchers chose to test the results on glioma brain tumors by delivering a gene called PTEN, a cancer-suppressor gene. Mutations of PTEN that turn off that suppression role can allow cancer cells to grow unchecked.

For Lee, founder of Ohio States Center for Affordable Nanoengineering of Polymeric Biomedical Devices, producing the gene is the easy part. The synthetic DNA force-fed to donor cells is copied into a new molecule consisting of messenger RNA, which contains the instructions needed to produce a specific protein. Each exosome bubble containing messenger RNA is transformed into a nanoparticle ready for transport, with no blood-brain barrier to worry about.

The advantage of this is there is no toxicity, nothing to provoke an immune response, said Lee, also a member of Ohio States Comprehensive Cancer Center. Exosomes go almost everywhere in the body, including passing the blood-brain barrier. Most drugs cant go to the brain.

We dont want the exosomes to go to the wrong place. Theyre programmed not only to kill cancer cells, but to know where to go to find the cancer cells. You dont want to kill the good guys.

The testing in mice showed the labeled exosomes were far more likely to travel to the brain tumors and slow their growth compared to substances used as controls.

Because of exosomes safe access to the brain, Lee said, this drug-delivery system has promise for future applications in neurological diseases such as Alzheimers and Parkinsons disease.

Hopefully, one day this can be used for medical needs, Lee said. Weve provided the method. If somebody knows what kind of gene combination can cure a certain disease but they need a therapy, here it is.

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A New Gene Therapy Strategy, Courtesy of Mother Nature - Global Health News Wire

GSK announces positive headline results in phase 3 study of Benlysta in patients with lupus nephritis | Antibodies | News Channels -…

DetailsCategory: AntibodiesPublished on Friday, 20 December 2019 13:14Hits: 540

- BLISS-LN achieves primary endpoint and all major secondary endpoints

- On-track for regulatory submission during the first half of 2020

LONDON, UK I December 18, 2019 I GSK today announced positive headline results for intravenous (IV) Benlysta (belimumab) in the largest controlled phase 3 study in active lupus nephritis (LN), an inflammation of the kidneys caused by systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) which can lead to end-stage kidney disease.

The Efficacy and Safety of Belimumab in Patients with Active Lupus Nephritis (BLISS-LN) study, involving 448 patients, met its primary endpoint demonstrating that a statistically significant greater number of patients achieved Primary Efficacy Renal Response (PERR) over two years when treated with belimumab plus standard therapy compared to placebo plus standard therapy in adults with active LN (43% vs 32%, odds ratio (95% CI) 1.55 (1.04, 2.32), p=0.0311).

Dr Hal Barron, Chief Scientific Officer and President R&D, GSK said: "Lupus nephritis is one of the most common and serious complications of SLE, occurring in up to 60% of adult patients. The results of the BLISS-LN study show that Benlysta could make a clinically meaningful improvement to the lives of these patients who currently have limited treatment options."

Dr Richard Furie,Chief of the Division of Rheumatology and Professor at the Feinstein Institutes atNorthwell Health and Lead Investigator of BLISS-LN said: "My journey with Benlysta began nearly twenty years ago when we performed the very first clinical research trial in lupus patients. To see it culminate in a successful phase 3 lupus nephritis study is a key achievement as the inadequate response of our patients with kidney disease to conventional treatment has long been an area in need of major improvement."

Belimumab also demonstrated statistical significance compared to placebo across all four major secondary endpoints: Complete Renal Response (CRR) after two years (the most stringent measure of renal response), Ordinal Renal Response (ORR) after two years, PERR after one year, and the time to death or renal-related event. In BLISS-LN, safety results for patients treated with belimumab were generally comparable to patients treated with placebo plus standard therapy. The safety results are consistent with the known profile of belimumab.

Benlysta is currently not recommended for use in severe active lupus nephritis anywhere in the world because it has not been previously evaluated in these patients. Based on these positive phase 3 data, GSK plans to progress regulatory submissions in the first half of 2020 to seek an update to the prescribing information.

The full results will be submitted for future presentation at upcoming scientific meetings and in peer-reviewed publications.

About lupus nephritisSystemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), the most common form of lupus, is a chronic, incurable, autoimmune disease associated with a range of symptoms that can fluctuate over time including painful or swollen joints, extreme fatigue, unexplained fever, skin rashes and organ damage. In lupus nephritis (LN), SLE causes kidney inflammation, which can lead to end-stage kidney disease. Despite improvements in both diagnosis and treatment over the last few decades, LN remains an indicator of poor prognosis.1,2 Manifestations of LN include proteinuria, elevations in serum creatinine, and the presence of urinary sediment.

About BLISS-LNBLISS-LN,which enrolled 448 adult patients, was a phase 3, 104-week, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled post-approval commitment study to evaluate the efficacy and safety of IV belimumab 10 mg/kg plus standard therapy (mycophenolate mofentil for induction and maintenance, or cyclophosphamide for induction followed by azathioprine for maintenance, plus steroids) compared to placebo plus standard therapy in adult patients with active lupus nephritis. Active lupus nephritis was confirmed by kidney biopsy during screening visit using the 2003 International Society of Nephrology/Renal Pathology Society (ISN/RPS) criteria, and clinically active kidney disease.

The primary endpoint PERR was defined as estimated Glomerular Filtration Rate (eGFR) 60 mL/min/1.73m2 or no decrease in eGFR from pre-flare of > 20%; and urinary protein:creatinine ratio (uPCR) 0.7; and not a treatment failure. The most stringent secondary endpoint CRR was defined as eGFR is no more than 10% below the pre-flare value or within normal range; and uPCR < 0.5; and not a treatment failure. ORR was defined as complete, partial or no response.

About Benlysta (belimumab)Benlysta, a BLyS-specific inhibitor, is a human monoclonal antibody that binds to soluble BLyS. Benlysta does not bind B cells directly. By binding BLyS, Benlysta inhibits the survival of B cells, including autoreactive B cells, and reduces the differentiation of B cells into immunoglobulin-producing plasma cells.

The current US and EU indication for Benlysta are summarised below:

In the US, "Benlysta is indicated for the treatment of patients aged 5 years and older with active, autoantibody-positive, systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) who are receiving standard therapy. Limitations of Use: The efficacy of Benlysta has not been evaluated in patients with severe active lupus nephritis or severe active central nervous system lupus. Benlysta has not been studied in combination with other biologics or intravenous cyclophosphamide. Use of Benlysta is not recommended in these situations."

Full US prescribing information including Medication Guide is available at: https://www.gsksource.com/pharma/content/dam/GlaxoSmithKline/US/en/Prescribing_Information/Benlysta/pdf/BENLYSTA-PI-MG.PDF

In the EU, "Benlysta is indicated as "add-on therapy in patients aged 5 years and older with active, autoantibody-positive systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) with a high degree of disease activity (e.g., positive anti-dsDNA and low complement) despite standard therapy."

The Precaution and Warnings for Benlysta includes information that "Benlysta has not been studied in the following adult and paediatric patient groups, and is not recommended: severe active central nervous system lupus; severe active lupus nephritis; HIV; a history of, or current, hepatitis B or C; hypogammaglobulinaenia (IgG < 400mg/dl) or IgA deficiency (IgA < 10 mg/dl); a history of major organ transplant or hematopoietic stem cell/marrow transplant or renal transplant."

The EU Summary of Product Characteristics for Benlysta is available on: http://www.ema.europa.eu

Benlysta is available as an intravenous and a subcutaneous formulation. The Benlysta subcutaneous formulation is not approved for use in children.

GSK's commitment to immunologyGSK is focused on the research and development of medicines for immune-mediated diseases, such as lupus and rheumatoid arthritis, that are responsible for a significant health burden to patients and society. Our world-leading scientists are focusing research on the biology of the immune system with the aim to develop immunological-based medicines that have the potential to alter the course of inflammatory disease. As the only company with a biological treatment approved for adult and paediatric lupus, GSK is leading the way to help patients and their families manage this chronic, inflammatory autoimmune disease. Our aim is to develop transformational medicines that can alter the course of inflammatory disease to help people live their best day, every day.

SOURCE: GlaxoSmithKline

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GSK announces positive headline results in phase 3 study of Benlysta in patients with lupus nephritis | Antibodies | News Channels -...

Umbilical Cord Blood Banking Market to Achieve Massive Growth in the Near Future – Info Street Wire

The Global Umbilical Cord Blood Banking Market Analysis to 2027 is a specialized and in-depth study of the medical device industry with a focus on the global market trend. The report aims to provide an overview of global umbilical cord blood banking market with detailed market segmentation by product, application, end users, and geography. The global umbilical cord blood banking market is expected to witness high growth during the forecast period. The report provides key statistics on the market status of the leading market players and offers key trends and opportunities in the market.

Umbilical cord blood banking or cord blood banking is the practice of preserving blood from the umbilical cord for future use. Such preserved cord blood is used in medical therapies in the similar approach as that of stem cells derived from bone marrow. Umbilical cord blood is collected from the umbilical cord of a newborn baby and also retrieved from the placenta after delivery. It is enriched with adult stem cells and these stem cells play a vital role in regulating all biological activities and in developing tissues in the human body.

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The market of umbilical cord blood banking is anticipated to grow with a significant rate in the coming years, owing to factors such as, increasing prevalence of chronic diseases is the key driver of the umbilical cord blood banking market. Globally, umbilical cord blood banking market is growing rapidly due to, various government associations and initiatives are also supporting the growth of the market. Asia Pacific region are expected to offer growth opportunities for the players operating in the market owing to increasing prevalence of chronic diseases.

The global umbilical cord blood banking market is segmented on the basis of product, application, and end users. The product segment includes, public cord blood banks, and private cord blood banks. The umbilical cord blood banking market based on the application is segmented as, cancer, blood disorders, metabolic disorders, immune disorders, osteoporosis and, others application. Based on the end users, the umbilical cord blood banking market is segmented as, hospitals, pharmaceutical research and, research institutes.

Key Market Players:

1. CBR Systems, Inc.2. Cordlife.3. LifeCell4. StemCyte India Therapeutics Pvt. Ltd.5. Vita 346. Americord Registry LLC.7. ESPERITE N.V8. Global Cord Blood Corporation.9. SMART CELLS PLUS.10. Cord Blood America, Inc.

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North America holds the largest share for umbilical cord blood banking market. This largest share of the region can be attributed to increasing prevalence of chronic diseases and rising awareness about importance of cord blood. However, Asia Pacific is the fastest growing region in the umbilical cord blood banking market over the forecast period. Although the region currently holds a nominal share in the global market, it offers enormous growth potential owing to vast improvement in health care reforms and increasing awareness of stem cell banking in selected countries of Asia Pacific, such as India, China, and Japan.

The report analyzes factors affecting market from both demand and supply side and further evaluates market dynamics effecting the market during the forecast period i.e., drivers, restraints, opportunities, and future trend. The report also provides exhaustive PEST analysis for all five regions namely; North America, Europe, APAC, MEA and South & Central America after evaluating political, economic, social and technological factors effecting the umbilical cord blood banking market in these regions.

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Umbilical Cord Blood Banking Market to Achieve Massive Growth in the Near Future - Info Street Wire