Monthly Archives: February 2012

For the first time, researchers have used stem cells from a patient’s own heart to repair the damage to the muscle that occurs during heart attack. Dr. Eduardo Marban, director of the Cedars Sinai Heart Institute, and his team report in the journal Lancet that 17 patients who received an injection of their own heart cells grown from their stem cells saw the scarring on their hearts shrivel by 50% over a year. Eight patients who received usual care had no change. During a heart attack, some of the heart’s muscle is cut off from its oxygen supply, so within seconds these cells start to die. The body’s immune system treats the change like a trauma and begins to wall off the dying tissue, creating an ever-thickening layer of scarring; eventually, the scar tissue hampers the heart’s ability to pump blood efficiently throughout the body. Keeping this scarring to a minimum, or even reversing it is the Holy Grail of heart attack research: maintaining as much healthy and active heart muscle as possible increases patients’ chances of recovering quickly and completely. “Heart disease is still the number one killer of men and women, so there is a dire need for … Continue reading →

ANN ARBOR — The University of Michigan’s first human embryonic stem cell line will be placed on the U.S. National Institutes of Health’s registry, making the cells available for federally funded research. It is the first of the stem cell lines derived at the University of Michigan to be placed on the registry. The line, known as UM4-6, is a genetically normal line, derived in October 2010 from a cluster of about 30 cells removed from a donated five-day-old embryo roughly the size of the period at the end of this sentence. That embryo was created for reproduction through in-vitro fertilization but was no longer needed for that purpose and was therefore about to be discarded. “This is significant, because acceptance of these cells on the registry demonstrates our attention to details of proper oversight, consenting, and following of NIH guidelines established in 2009,” says Gary Smith, who derived the line and also is co-director of the U-M Consortium for Stem Cell Therapies, part of the A. Alfred Taubman Medical Research Institute. “It now makes the line available to researchers who can apply for federal funding to use it in their work; this is an important step.” The line is … Continue reading →

A Michigan stem cell line developed from a 5-day-old embryo has been approved by the U.S. National Institutes of Health for federally-funded research ? a move that strengthens Michigan?s foothold in the growing field of embryonic stem cell science. At the University of Michigan, the line known as UM4-6 was cultivated by Gary Smith, co-director of the U-M Consortium for Stem Cell Therapies ? part of the A. Alfred Taubman Medical Research Institute. In October 2010, Smith took the tiny clump of about 30 cells from a 5-day-old embryo that had been created for reproduction but was no longer needed, according to U-M. Nurtured in what Smith has called "a very precise culture and the right nutrients,? those cells continued to replicate into millions, even as they remained in their embryonic state. The line was approved Feb. 2 and now appears on the NIH registry, listed as the 147th stem cell line. UM4-6 is believed to be disease-free. Though other stem cell lines have been derived elsewhere, only those available on the registry are approved for federally-funded research. Michigan voters approved a constitutional amendment in November 2008 permitting researchers to use surplus embryonic stem cells in research. That cleared the … Continue reading →

Newswise — ANN ARBOR, Mich. – The University of Michigan’s first human embryonic stem cell line will be placed on the U.S. National Institutes of Health’s registry, making the cells available for federally-funded research. It is the first of the stem cell lines derived at the University of Michigan to be placed on the registry. The line, known as UM4-6, is a genetically normal line, derived in October 2010 from a cluster of about 30 cells removed from a donated five-day-old embryo roughly the size of the period at the end of this sentence. That embryo was created for reproduction but was no longer needed for that purpose and was therefore about to be discarded. “This is significant, because acceptance of these cells on the registry demonstrates our attention to details of proper oversight, consenting, and following of NIH guidelines established in 2009,” says Gary Smith, Ph.D., who derived the line and also is co-director of the U-M Consortium for Stem Cell Therapies, part of the A. Alfred Taubman Medical Research Institute. “It now makes the line available to researchers who can apply for federal funding to use it in their work; this is an important step.” The line is … Continue reading →