Stem Cell Clinic

Molecular & Cellular Medicine

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Research in the Molecular and Cellular Medicine department spans a wide range of biological processes, from structure and function of biomolecules to cell physiology. Emphasis is placed on understanding normal and abnormal biological function at the molecular and cellular levels. Using state-of-the-art biophysical technologies, research programs at the molecular level focus on understanding how proteins are synthesized, folded, assembled into functional macromolecules and trafficked throughout the cell. Reverse genetic approaches are used to elucidate the roles of newly discovered proteins and define functional protein domains. Research programs that bridge molecular and cellular levels focus on understanding mechanisms of basic cellular physiology (DNA replication, transcription, translation and protein sorting), molecules that control complex regulatory pathways (signal transduction, gene regulation, epigenetics, development and differentiation) and the molecular basis for cancer. Many faculty members have strong collaborative ties with Texas A&M University research groups in the Chemistry and Biochemistry/Biophysics departments or belong to multi-disciplinary research groups affiliated with Texas A&M University, including programs in Genetics, Neurosciences and Virology.

440 Reynolds Medical Building College Station, TX 77843-1114 Phone: (979) 436-0856 Fax: (979) 847-9481 Toll Free: (800) 298-2260 (U.S. only)

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Molecular & Cellular Medicine

How are stem cells used in medicine today? – HowStuffWorks

From the United States Senate to houses of worship, and even to the satirical television show "South Park," stem cells have been in the spotlight -- though not always in the kindest light. Since early research has focused on the use of embryonic stem cells (cells less than a week old), the very act of extracting these cells has raised a raft of ethical questions for researchers and the medical community at large, with federal funding often hanging in the balance.

However, the advances in stem cell research and the subsequent applications to modern medicine can't be ignored. According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), stem cells are being considered for a wide variety of medical procedures, ranging from cancer treatment to heart disease and cell-based therapies for tissue replacement.

Why? To answer that question, you have to understand what stem cells are. Called "master" cells or "a sort of internal repair system," these remarkable-yet-unspecialized cells are able to divide, seemingly without limits, to help mend or replenish other living cells [sources: Mayo Clinic; NIH]. In short, these cells are the cellular foundation of the entire human body, or literally the body's building blocks.

By studying these cells and how they develop, researchers are closing in on a better understanding of how our bodies grow and mature, and how diseases and other abnormalities take root. The research work that began with mouse embryos in the early 1980s eventually helped scientists devise a way to isolate stem cells from human embryos by the late 1990s.

Embryonic, or pluripotent, stem cells are taken from human embryos that are less than a week old. These cells are wildly versatile, capable of dividing into more stem cells or becoming any type of cell in the human body (roughly 220 types, including muscle, nerve, blood, bone and skin). Researchers have also recently found stem cells in amniotic fluid taken from pregnant women during amniocentesis, a fairly routine procedure used to determine potential complications, such as Down syndrome.

However, recent research has indicated that adult stem cells, once thought to be more limited in their capabilities, are actually much more versatile than originally believed. Though not as "pure" as embryonic stem cells, due to environmental conditions that exist in the real world -- ranging from air pollution to food impurities -- adult stem cells are nonetheless garnering attention, if only because they don't incite the same ethical debate as embryonic stem cells.

So, what are the cutting-edge uses for stem cells?

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How are stem cells used in medicine today? - HowStuffWorks

Sickle cell anemia Treatments and drugs – Mayo Clinic

Bone marrow transplant offers the only potential cure for sickle cell anemia. But finding a donor is difficult and the procedure has serious risks associated with it, including death.

As a result, treatment for sickle cell anemia is usually aimed at avoiding crises, relieving symptoms and preventing complications. If you have sickle cell anemia, you'll need to make regular visits to your doctor to check your red blood cell count and monitor your health. Treatments may include medications to reduce pain and prevent complications, blood transfusions and supplemental oxygen, as well as a bone marrow transplant.

Medications used to treat sickle cell anemia include:

Hydroxyurea (Droxia, Hydrea). When taken daily, hydroxyurea reduces the frequency of painful crises and may reduce the need for blood transfusions. Hydroxyurea seems to work by stimulating production of fetal hemoglobin a type of hemoglobin found in newborns that helps prevent the formation of sickle cells. Hydroxyurea increases your risk of infections, and there is some concern that long-term use of this drug may cause tumors or leukemia in certain people. However, this hasn't yet been seen in studies of the drug.

Hydroxyurea was initially used just for adults with severe sickle cell anemia. Studies on children have shown that the drug may prevent some of the serious complications associated with sickle cell anemia. But the long-term effects of the drug on children are still unknown. Your doctor can help you determine if this drug may be beneficial for you or your child.

Using a special ultrasound machine (transcranial), doctors can learn which children have a higher risk of stroke. This test can be used on children as young as 2 years, and those who are found to have a high risk of stroke are then treated with regular blood transfusions.

Childhood vaccinations are important for preventing disease in all children. But, these vaccinations are even more important for children with sickle cell anemia, because infections can be severe in children with sickle cell anemia. Your doctor will make sure your child receives all of the recommended childhood vaccinations. Vaccinations, such as the pneumococcal vaccine and the annual flu shot, are also important for adults with sickle cell anemia.

In a red blood cell transfusion, red blood cells are removed from a supply of donated blood. These donated cells are then given intravenously to a person with sickle cell anemia.

Blood transfusions increase the number of normal red blood cells in circulation, helping to relieve anemia. In children with sickle cell anemia at high risk of stroke, regular blood transfusions can decrease their risk of stroke.

Blood transfusions carry some risk. Blood contains iron. Regular blood transfusions cause an excess amount of iron to build up in your body. Because excess iron can damage your heart, liver and other organs, people who undergo regular transfusions may need treatment to reduce iron levels. Deferasirox (Exjade) is an oral medication that can reduce excess iron levels.

Breathing supplemental oxygen through a breathing mask adds oxygen to your blood and helps you breathe easier. It may be helpful if you have acute chest syndrome or a sickle cell crisis.

A stem cell transplant, also called a bone marrow transplant, involves replacing bone marrow affected by sickle cell anemia with healthy bone marrow from a donor. Because of the risks associated with a stem cell transplant, the procedure is recommended only for people who have significant symptoms and problems from sickle cell anemia.

If a donor is found, the diseased bone marrow in the person with sickle cell anemia is first depleted with radiation or chemotherapy. Healthy stem cells from the donor are filtered from the blood. The healthy stem cells are injected intravenously into the bloodstream of the person with sickle cell anemia, where they migrate to the bone marrow cavities and begin generating new blood cells. The procedure requires a lengthy hospital stay. After the transplant, you'll receive drugs to help prevent rejection of the donated stem cells.

A stem cell transplant carries risks. There's a chance that your body may reject the transplant, leading to life-threatening complications. In addition, not everyone is a candidate for transplantation or can find a suitable donor.

Doctors treat most complications of sickle cell anemia as they occur. Treatment may include antibiotics, vitamins, blood transfusions, pain-relieving medicines, other medications and possibly surgery, such as to correct vision problems or to remove a damaged spleen.

Scientists are studying new treatments for sickle cell anemia, including:

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Sickle cell anemia Treatments and drugs - Mayo Clinic

Sickle Cell Anemia: MedlinePlus – National Library of Medicine

Sickle cell anemia is a disease in which your body produces abnormally shaped red blood cells. The cells are shaped like a crescent or sickle. They don't last as long as normal, round red blood cells. This leads to anemia. The sickle cells also get stuck in blood vessels, blocking blood flow. This can cause pain and organ damage.

A genetic problem causes sickle cell anemia. People with the disease are born with two sickle cell genes, one from each parent. If you only have one sickle cell gene, it's called sickle cell trait. About 1 in 12 African Americans has sickle cell trait.

The most common symptoms are pain and problems from anemia. Anemia can make you feel tired or weak. In addition, you might have shortness of breath, dizziness, headaches, or coldness in the hands and feet.

A blood test can show if you have the trait or anemia. Most states test newborn babies as part of their newborn screening programs.

Sickle cell anemia has no widely available cure. Treatments can help relieve symptoms and lessen complications. Researchers are investigating new treatments such as blood and marrow stem cell transplants, gene therapy, and new medicines.

NIH: National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute

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Sickle Cell Anemia: MedlinePlus - National Library of Medicine

Department of Regenerative Medicine and Cell Biology

Message from the Chair

Welcome to the Department of Regenerative Medicine and Cell Biology. The goal of the department is to apply our knowledge of molecular and cellular biology to understand and reverse human disease. Regenerative medicine is an emerging field that aims to revolutionize the treatment of disease by providing cures rather than treating symptoms. It relies on multidisciplinary approaches that require expertise in diverse areas. Approaches include the use of stem cells to provide limitless supplies of cells for transplant therapy and disease modeling, bioengineering and tissue engineering to generate replacement tissues and organs, and the production of transgenic animals to study the fundamental molecular basis of organ formation and disease. The department has active research programs in tissue fabrication and bioengineering, developmental biology, cardiovascular and liver disease, cancer biology, cell signaling, and drug development. The Department is also heavily involved in biomedical education through the training of medical and graduate students. Regenerative medicine is at a particularly exciting stage, with investigators being poised to make discipline-changing advances of high impact. The field is on the cusp of revolutionizing biomedical science, and as regenerative medicine researchers we are limited only by our imaginations.

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Department of Regenerative Medicine and Cell Biology

Oxidative Medicine and Cellular Longevity An Open Access …

Oxidative Medicine and Cellular Longevity is a unique peer-reviewed, open access journal that publishes original research and review articles dealing with the cellular and molecular mechanisms of oxidative stress in the nervous system and related organ systems in relation to aging, immune function, vascular biology, metabolism, cellular survival and cellular longevity. Oxidative stress impacts almost all acute and chronic progressive disorders and on a cellular basis is intimately linked to aging, cardiovascular disease, cancer, immune function, metabolism and neurodegeneration. The journal fills a significant void in todays scientific literature and serves as an international forum for the scientific community worldwide to translate pioneering bench to bedside research into clinical strategies.

Oxidative Medicine and Cellular Longevity was founded in 2008 by Professor Kenneth Maiese who served as the Editor-in-Chief of the journal between 2008 and 2011.

The most recent Impact Factor for Oxidative Medicine and Cellular Longevity is 3.516 according to 2014 Journal Citation Reports released by Thomson Reuters in 2015.

Oxidative Medicine and Cellular Longevity currently has an acceptance rate of 42%. The average time between submission and final decision is 52 days and the average time between acceptance and publication is 28 days.

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Oxidative Medicine and Cellular Longevity An Open Access ...

Cell Therapy and Regenerative Medicine

Adult (Somatic) stem cells are unspecialized cells that are found in different parts of the body and, depending on the source tissue, have different properties. Adult stem cells are capable of self-renewal and give rise to daughter cells that are specialized to form the cell types found in the original body part.

Adult stem cells are multipotent, meaning that they appear to be limited in the cell types that they can produce based on current evidence. However, recent scientific studies suggest that adult stem cells may have more plasticity than originally thought. Stem cell plasticity is the ability of a stem cell from one tissue to generate the specialized cell type(s) of another tissue. For example, bone marrow stromal cells are known to give rise to bone cells, cartilage cells, fat cells and other types of connective tissue (which is expected), but they may also differentiate into cardiac muscle cells and skeletal muscle cells (this was not initially thought possible).

Hematopoietic stem cells that give rise to all blood and immune cells are today the most understood of the adult stem cells. Hematopoietic stem cells from bone marrow have been providing lifesaving cures for leukemia and other blood disorders for over 40 years. Hematopoietic stem cells are primarily found in the bone marrow but have also been found in the peripheral blood in very low numbers. Compared to adult stem cells from other tissues, hematopoietic stem cells are relatively easy to obtain.

Mesenchymal stem cells are also found in the bone marrow. Mesenchymal stem cells are a mixed population of cells that can form fat cells, bone, cartilage and ligaments, muscle cells, skin cells and nerve cells.

Hematopoietic and stromal stem cell differentiation:4

Umbilical cord blood from newborns is a rich source of hematopoietic stem cells. Research has found that these stem cells are less mature than other adult stem cells, meaning that they are able to proliferate longer in culture and may contribute to a broader range of tissues. Research is ongoing to determine whether umbilical cord stem cells are pluripotent or multipotent and the extent of their plasticity.

Cord blood, which traditionally has been discarded, has emerged as an alternative source of hematopoietic stem cells for the treatment of leukemia, lymphoma and other lethal blood disorders. It has also been used as a life-saving treatment for children with infantile Krabbes disease, a lysosomal storage disease that produces progressive neurological deterioration and death in early childhood.

Regardless of the adult stem cells' source bone marrow, umbilical cord blood or other tissues these cells are present in minute quantities. This makes identification, isolation and purification challenging. Scientists are currently trying to determine how many kinds of adult stem cells exist and where they are located in the body.

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Cell Therapy and Regenerative Medicine

Personalized RegenerativeMedicine : Dr David Steenblock

Personalized Regenerative Medicine

Making sure the bases are covered. That is how Dr David Steenblock and Personalized Regenerative Medicine delivers on its mission is to provide advanced care for chronic and degenerative disease. Our first step is to do a complete physical evaluation, including all appropriate lab work to help us determine what are the issues that each View Article

When a doctor sees a patient for the first time he will ask for copies of medical records as part of gathering information and data that, in combination with taking a medical history and doing relevant exams and tests, helps him arrive at a diagnosis (or confirm previously made ones) and formulate a medical care View Article

Providing advanced care for chronic and degenerative disease often times requires augmenting natures own repair & restoration mechanism with stem cells. This is one way that Dr David Steenblock and Personalized Regenerative Medicine provide comprehensive care it our patients. When diseasesets in and begins to progress the sufferers bodytries to repair the damage by activating View Article

In his decades of private practice, Dr David Steenblock and Personalized Regenerative Medicine has established himself as a pioneer in many fields of medicine. Dr David Steenblock and Personalized Regenerative Medicines mission is to deliver advanced care for chronic and degenerative diseases such as ALS, Stroke, Cerebral Palsy and Cardiac conditions. From stroke care andacute View Article

Putting it all together. This where Dr David Steenblock and Personalized Regenerative Medicine separate themselves from their peers in delivering advanced care for chronic and degenerative disease. Once a patients diagnosis is confirmed, modified or even overturned and the results of all tests ordered are in, Dr. Steenblock formulates a treatment plan. The therapeutic regimen View Article

Researchers in the USA have offered an explanation for the sparse inflammatory responses seen in some fungal infections.This may help physicians netter understand how to treat certain chronic and degenerative diseases, such as ALS. Stephen Klotz at the University of Arizona and co-workers examined autopsy specimens from 15 patients with histological evidence of aspergillosis, mucormycosis, View Article

Supercharged Chelation therapy is now available. If you already have read about or experienced the benefits of chelation but wondering if there was some way to enhance the therapy Dr Steenblock has come up with a better method for re-vitalization of your arteries and your entire body. The secret is STEM CELLS! The most simple View Article

While the promise of stem cell medicine has never been greater, the question of outcomes has long been an issue. Until now. Dr Steenblock has been focused on two critical issues in his career: identifying the causes of disease and treating patients. Over his many years of practice, Dr Steenblock has treated tens of thousands View Article

Dr Steenblock has long believed that Alzheimers Disease is connected to bacteria that enters the nervous system due to trauma. Recent articles have come to show that his ideas and research are correct. Traces of fungus have been discovered in the brains of Alzheimers sufferers, researchers said Thursday, relaunching the question: might the disease be View Article

Chelation therapy, an alternative technique long dismissed by conventional heart doctors, has taken a giant step toward becoming a first-line mainstream medical treatment, thanks to a boost from the National Institutes of Health. Dr Steenblock has been utilizing this powerful therapeutic approach for many years to treat various conditions. The federal health agencys National Center View Article

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Personalized RegenerativeMedicine : Dr David Steenblock

Herbal medicine | Cancer Research UK

Herbal medicine uses plants, or mixtures of plant extracts, to treat illness and promote health. It aims to restore your body's ability to protect, regulate and heal itself. It is a whole body approach, so looks at your physical, mental and emotional well being. It is sometimes called phytomedicine, phytotherapy or botanical medicine.

The two most common types of herbal medicine used in the UK are Western herbal medicine and Chinese herbal medicine. Some herbalists practice less common types of herbal medicine such as Tibetan or Ayurvedic medicine (Indian).

Many modern drugs are made from plants. But herbalists dont extract plant substances in the way the drug industry does. Herbalists believe that the remedy works due to the delicate chemical balance of the whole plant, or mixtures of plants, not one particular active ingredient.

Western herbal medicine focuses on the whole person rather than their illness. So the herbalist looks at your personal health history, family history, diet and lifestyle. Herbalists use remedies made from whole plants, or plant parts, to help your body heal itself or reduce the side effects of medical treatments. Western herbal therapies are usually made from herbs that grow in Europe and North America but also use herbs from China and India.

Chinese herbal medicine is part of a whole system of medicine called Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) which includes

TCM aims to restore the balance of your Qi (pronounced chee). TCM practitioners believe that Qi is the flow of energy in your body, and is essential for good health. Chinese herbalists use plants according to their taste and how they affect a particular part of the body or an energy channel in the body. They may use a mixture of plants and other substances.

The Chinese remedy reference book used by TCM practitioners contains hundreds of medicinal substances. Most of the substances are plants but there are also some minerals and animal products. Practitioners may use different parts of plants such as the leaves, roots, stems, flowers or seeds. Usually, herbs are combined and you take them as teas, capsules, tinctures, or powders.

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Herbal medicine | Cancer Research UK