In this image, the top row shows the stem cells transplanted into the mouse spinal cord. The lower row shows a close-up of the stem cells (brown). By day 7 post-transplant, the stem cells are no longer detectable. Within this short period of time, the stem cells have sent chemical signals to the mouses own cells, enabling them to repair the nerve damage caused by MS. (image: Lu Chen) For patients with multiple sclerosis (MS), current treatment options only address early-stage symptoms of the debilitating disease. Now, new research has found a potential treatment that could both stop disease progression and repair existing damage. In a study published in Stem Cell Reports, researchers utilized a group of paralyzed mice genetically engineered to have an MS-like condition. Initially, the researchers set out to study the mechanisms of stem cell rejection in the mice. However, two weeks after injecting the mice with human neural stem cells, the researchers made the unexpected discovery that the mice had regained their ability to walk. This had a lot of luck to do with it; right place, right time co-senior author Jeanne Loring, director of the Center for Regenerative Medicine at The Scripps Research Institute in … Continue reading →

Mice have been poked, prodded, injected and dissected in the name of science. But there are limits to what mice can teach us especially when it comes to stem cell therapies. For the first time, researchers haveturned skin cells into bone in a creature more closely related to humans: monkeys. In a study published Thursday in the journal Cell Reports, scientists report that they regrew bone in 25rhesus macaques using induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) taken from the creatures skin. Since macaques are more closely related to humans, their discovery could help push stem cell therapies into early clinical trials in humans. While this is the good news, the bad news is that iPSCs can also seed tumors in monkeys; however, the tumors grew at a far slower rate than in previous studies in mice. This finding further emphasizes the key role primates likely will play in testing the safety of potential stem cell therapies. Repairing Bone Researchers used a common procedure to reprogram macaque skin cells, and coaxed them into pluripotent cells that were capable of building bone. They seeded these cells into ceramic scaffolds, which are already used by surgeons used to reconstruct bone. The cells took, and … Continue reading →

Contact Information Available for logged-in reporters only Newswise LA JOLLA, CAMay 15, 2014Mice crippled by an autoimmune disease similar to multiple sclerosis (MS) regained the ability to walk and run after a team of researchers led by scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI), University of Utah and University of California (UC), Irvine implanted human stem cells into their injured spinal cords. Remarkably, the mice recovered even after their bodies rejected the human stem cells. When we implanted the human cells into mice that were paralyzed, they got up and started walking a couple of weeks later, and they completely recovered over the next several months, said study co-leader Jeanne Loring, a professor of developmental neurobiology at TSRI. Thomas Lane, an immunologist at the University of Utah who co-led the study with Loring, said he had never seen anything like it. Weve been studying mouse stem cells for a long time, but we never saw the clinical improvement that occurred with the human cells that Dr. Loring's lab provided, said Lane, who began the study at UC Irvine. The mices dramatic recovery, which is reported online ahead of print by the journal Stem Cell Reports, could lead to new ways … Continue reading →

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE: 15-May-2014 Contact: Mary Beth O'Leary moleary@cell.com 617-397-2802 Cell Press Researchers have shown for the first time in an animal that is more closely related to humans that it is possible to make new bone from stem-cell-like induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) made from an individual animal's own skin cells. The study in monkeys reported in the Cell Press journal Cell Reports on May 15th also shows that there is some risk that those iPSCs could seed tumors, but that unfortunate outcome appears to be less likely than studies in immune-compromised mice would suggest. "We have been able to design an animal model for testing of pluripotent stem cell therapies using the rhesus macaque, a small monkey that is readily available and has been validated as being closely related physiologically to humans," said Cynthia Dunbar of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. "We have used this model to demonstrate that tumor formation of a type called a 'teratoma' from undifferentiated autologous iPSCs does occur; however, tumor formation is very slow and requires large numbers of iPSCs given under very hospitable conditions. We have also shown that new bone can be produced from autologous iPSCs, as a model … Continue reading →

Researchers have shown for the first time in an animal that is more closely related to humans that it is possible to make new bone from stem-cell-like induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) made from an individual animal's own skin cells. The study in monkeys reported in the Cell Press journal Cell Reports on May 15th also shows that there is some risk that those iPSCs could seed tumors, but that unfortunate outcome appears to be less likely than studies in immune-compromised mice would suggest. "We have been able to design an animal model for testing of pluripotent stem cell therapies using the rhesus macaque, a small monkey that is readily available and has been validated as being closely related physiologically to humans," said Cynthia Dunbar of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. "We have used this model to demonstrate that tumor formation of a type called a 'teratoma' from undifferentiated autologous iPSCs does occur; however, tumor formation is very slow and requires large numbers of iPSCs given under very hospitable conditions. We have also shown that new bone can be produced from autologous iPSCs, as a model for their possible clinical application." Autologous refers to the fact that the … Continue reading →

, are multipotent stem cells that can differentiate into a variety of cell types. Cell types that MSCs have been shown to differentiate into in vitro or in vivo include osteoblasts, chondrocytes, myocytes, adipocytes, and, as described lately, beta-pancreatic islets cells. MSCs are rare in bone marrow, representing ~1 in 10,000 nucleated cells. Although not immortal, they have the ability to expand manyfold in culture while retaining their growth and multilineage potential. MSCs are identified by the expression of many molecules including CD105 (SH2) and CD73 (SH3/4) and are negative for the hematopoietic markers CD34, CD45, and CD14. The properties of MSCs make these cells potentially ideal candidates for tissue engineering. It has been shown that MSCs, when transplanted systemically, are able to migrate to sites of injury in animals, suggesting that MSCs possess migratory capacity. However, the mechanisms underlying the migration of these cells remain unclear. Chemokine receptors and their ligands and adhesion molecules play an important role in tissue-specific homing of leukocytes and have also been implicated in trafficking of hematopoietic precursors into and through tissue. Several studies have reported the functional expression of various chemokine receptors and adhesion molecules on human MSCs. Harnessing the migratory potential of … Continue reading →