Public release date: 10-Apr-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ] Contact: Traci Klein newsbureau@mayo.edu 507-284-5005 Mayo Clinic ROCHESTER, Minn. -- Translating a Mayo Clinic stem-cell discovery, an international team has demonstrated that therapy with cardiopoietic (cardiogenically-instructed) or "smart" stem cells can improve heart health for people suffering from heart failure. This is the first application in patients of lineage-guided stem cells for targeted regeneration of a failing organ, paving the way to development of next generation regenerative medicine solutions. Results of the clinical trial appear online of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. The multi-center, randomized Cardiopoietic stem cell therapy in heart failure (C-CURE) trial involved heart failure patients from Belgium, Switzerland and Serbia. Patients in the control group received standard care for heart failure in accordance with established guidelines. Patients in the cell therapy arm received, in addition to standard care, cardiopoietic stem cells -- a first-in-class biotherapeutic. In this process, bone marrow was harvested from the top of the patient's hip, and isolated stem cells were treated with a protein cocktail to replicate natural cues of heart development. Derived cardiopoietic stem cells were then injected into the patient's heart. "The cells underwent an innovative treatment to … Continue reading →

REDWOOD CITY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- OncoMed Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a clinical-stage company developing novel therapeutics that target cancer stem cells (CSCs), or tumor-initiating cells, today summarized new data highlighting the progress of OncoMeds pipeline of anti-cancer biologics presented this week in an oral presentation and five posters at the Annual Meeting of the American Association of Cancer Research in Washington, DC. As part of the New Drugs on the Horizon Special Session, Timothy Hoey, PhD, OncoMeds Senior Vice President of Cancer Biology, gave an oral presentation titled, Development of FZD8-Fc (OMP-54F28), a Wnt signaling antagonist that inhibits tumor growth and reduces tumor initiating cell frequency. Dr. Hoey said that FZD8-Fc was shown to be a potent blocker of the Wnt pathway and have anti-tumor activity in multiple tumor types, particularly in pancreatic cancer. FZD8-Fc induced differentiation of tumor cells, reduced tumorigenicity, and promoted sensitivity to multiple chemotherapeutic agents. FZD8-Fc is currently in Phase 1 clinical testing in patients with advanced solid tumors and is part of OncoMeds collaboration with Bayer HealthCare. Austin Gurney, PhD, Senior Vice President of Molecular and Cellular Biology at OncoMed, presented poster #218, R-Spondin (RSPO) signaling drives the growth of multiple human tumor types, in the Tumor Biology … Continue reading →

Released: 4/10/2013 9:55 AM EDT Source Newsroom: Mayo Clinic VIDEO ALERT: Audio and video resources are available on the Mayo Clinic News Network. First-in-humans study introduces next generation cell therapy Newswise ROCHESTER, Minn. -- Translating a Mayo Clinic stem-cell discovery, an international team has demonstrated that therapy with cardiopoietic (cardiogenically-instructed) or smart stem cells can improve heart health for people suffering from heart failure. This is the first application in patients of lineage-guided stem cells for targeted regeneration of a failing organ, paving the way to development of next generation regenerative medicine solutions. Results of the clinical trial appear online of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. The multi-center, randomized Cardiopoietic stem cell therapy in heart failure (C-CURE) trial involved heart failure patients from Belgium, Switzerland and Serbia. Patients in the control group received standard care for heart failure in accordance with established guidelines. Patients in the cell therapy arm received, in addition to standard care, cardiopoietic stem cells -- a first-in-class biotherapeutic. In this process, bone marrow was harvested from the top of the patients hip, and isolated stem cells were treated with a protein cocktail to replicate natural cues of heart development. Derived cardiopoietic stem cells … Continue reading →

Apr. 10, 2013 Deep inside your brain, a legion of stem cells lies ready to turn into new brain and nerve cells whenever and wherever you need them most. While they wait, they keep themselves in a state of perpetual readiness -- poised to become any type of nerve cell you might need as your cells age or get damaged. Now, new research from scientists at the University of Michigan Medical School reveals a key way they do this: through a type of internal "spring cleaning" that both clears out garbage within the cells, and keeps them in their stem-cell state. In a paper published online in Nature Neuroscience, the U-M team shows that a particular protein, called FIP200, governs this cleaning process in neural stem cells in mice. Without FIP200, these crucial stem cells suffer damage from their own waste products -- and their ability to turn into other types of cells diminishes. It is the first time that this cellular self-cleaning process, called autophagy, has been shown to be important to neural stem cells. The findings may help explain why aging brains and nervous systems are more prone to disease or permanent damage, as a slowing rate of … Continue reading →

Public release date: 10-Apr-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ] Contact: Traci Klein newsbureau@mayo.edu 507-284-5005 Mayo Clinic ROCHESTER, Minn. -- Translating a Mayo Clinic stem-cell discovery, an international team has demonstrated that therapy with cardiopoietic (cardiogenically-instructed) or "smart" stem cells can improve heart health for people suffering from heart failure. This is the first application in patients of lineage-guided stem cells for targeted regeneration of a failing organ, paving the way to development of next generation regenerative medicine solutions. Results of the clinical trial appear online of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. The multi-center, randomized Cardiopoietic stem cell therapy in heart failure (C-CURE) trial involved heart failure patients from Belgium, Switzerland and Serbia. Patients in the control group received standard care for heart failure in accordance with established guidelines. Patients in the cell therapy arm received, in addition to standard care, cardiopoietic stem cells -- a first-in-class biotherapeutic. In this process, bone marrow was harvested from the top of the patient's hip, and isolated stem cells were treated with a protein cocktail to replicate natural cues of heart development. Derived cardiopoietic stem cells were then injected into the patient's heart. "The cells underwent an innovative treatment to … Continue reading →