Muscle regeneration. Rejuvenation. “… niche factors, growth factors, and other stem cells, which are involved in skeletal muscle regeneration.”

  • “Skeletal muscle regeneration is a complex process, which is not yet completely understood.”1
  • “Satellite cells, the skeletal muscle stem cells, become activated after trauma, proliferate, and migrate to the site of injury.”

Researchers from Department of Orthodontics and Oral Biology, Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre, Nijmegen, the Netherlands; have presented an article titled: “Regulatory factors and cell populations involved in skeletal muscle regeneration.”
The researchers from Department of Orthodontics and Oral Biology, Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre, Nijmegen, the Netherlands; have also noted:

  • “Depending on the severity of the myotrauma, activated satellite cells form new multinucleated myofibers or fuse to damaged myofibers.”
  • “The specific microenvironment of the satellite cells, the niche, controls their behavior.”
  • “The niche contains several components that maintain satellite cells quiescence until they are activated.”
  • “In addition, a great diversity of stimulatory and inhibitory growth factors such as IGF-1 and TGF-beta1 regulate their activity.”
  • “Donor-derived satellite cells are able to improve muscle regeneration, but their migration through the muscle tissue and across endothelial layers is limited.”
  • “Less than 1% of their progeny, the myoblasts, survive the first days upon intra-muscular injection.”
  • “However, a range of other multipotent muscle- and non-muscle-derived stem cells are involved in skeletal muscle regeneration.”
  • “These stem cells can occupy the satellite cell niche and show great potential for the treatment of skeletal muscle injuries and diseases.”
  • “The aim of this review is to discuss the niche factors, growth factors, and other stem cells, which are involved in skeletal muscle regeneration.”
  • “Knowledge about the factors regulating satellite cell activity and skeletal muscle regeneration can be used to improve the treatment of muscle injuries and diseases.”
(1) Ten Broek RW, Grefte S, Von den Hoff JW: Regulatory factors and cell populations involved in skeletal muscle regeneration. J Cell Physiol. 2010 Mar 15; (Article in Press)

Microbubble stem cell treatment. “… the bubble prevents the body’s immune system from reaching and attacking the transplanted cells.”

Frank Wacker MD, Interventional Radiologist from Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland, has said:

  • “Bone marrow stem cells, which have the ability to renew themselves, could unlock the door to treat peripheral arterial disease (PAD) with cell-based methods.”
  • “They offer a future novel method to help PAD patients by increasing the number of blood vessels to replace or augment those choked off by plaque buildup …”

Veterinary Radiologist Dara L Kraitchman VMD PhD, Associate Professor from Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, has indicated:

  • “The future hope is to use adult stem cells extracted from a healthy donor’s bone marrow and inject the cells into the patients’ legs where circulation problems exist, stimulating the growth of new or more blood vessels in the leg, thus improving circulation …”
  • “Using an animal model, we found that stem cells in X-ray-visible microbubbles dramatically improve the ability to build new blood vessels when a blood vessel in the upper leg has been suddenly closed or occluded …”
  • “With this treatment, the body was able to provide a more normal blood supply to the toes–possibly offering the hope of dramatically reducing–or avoiding–amputation.”
  • “Treatment could also be personalized for individual patients …”
  • “We are continuing to test the treatment in animals and attempting to perfect methods using non-invasive imaging, such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), ultrasound and blood pressure measurements, which could be used to follow up patients without exposing them to X-rays or needing to enter a blood vessel to inject dye to see the newly formed vessels …”
  • “We are also fusing the X-ray imaging results with other imaging techniques like MRI to provide a better picture of where to place the stem cells …”

    More from a Release dated March 16, sourced from Society of Interventional Radiology:
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Pluripotent cells. “… reprogramming of cultured, terminally differentiated amniotic fluid cells results …. much easier, faster and more efficient than reprogramming neonatal and adult cells.”

Dr Katalin Polgar, Assistant Professor of Medicine, Cardiology and Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Science, from the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, has said:

  • “There remains today a need in stem cell research for an easily reprogrammable cell type …”
  • “Our study shows that reprogramming of cultured, terminally differentiated amniotic fluid cells results in pluripotent stem cells that are identical to human embryonic stem cells, and that it is much easier, faster and more efficient than reprogramming neonatal and adult cells.”

More from a Release dated March 15, sourced from The Mount Sinai Hospital / Mount Sinai School of Medicine:
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Hair. Skin. Rejuvenation. Cutaneous mesenchymal stem cells.

  • “Within the next decade stem cell-based therapies can be expected to be part of clinical medicine.”1
  • “In regard to the skin, the focus of stem cell research is on the epidermis and the hair follicle.”

Researchers from Department of Dermatology, Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Nelson Dermatopathology Associates, Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Institut für Dermatohistologie, Heidelberg, Germany. have presented an article titled: “Cutaneous mesenchymal stem cells : Current status of research and potential clinical applications.”

The researchers from Cleveland, Atlanta and Heidelberg, have also noted:

  • “In 2001, mesenchymal stem cells residing within the dermis were first isolated which have the capacity to differentiate into adipocytes, smooth muscle cells, osteocytes, chondrocytes and even neurons and glia as well as hematopoietic cells of myeloid and erythroid lineage.”
  • “The perifollicular connective tissue sheath and the papilla represent the likely anatomical niche for these multipotent dermal cells.”
  • “They have the potential to function as an easily accessible, autologous source for future stem cell transplantation.”
  • “Potential therapeutic applications include the treatment of acute and steroid-refractory graft-versus-host disease, systemic lupus erythematosus, idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and arthritis.”
  • “The neuronal differentiation potential of cutaneous mesenchymal stem cells may also be exploited in the treatment of neurodegenerative disorders and traumatic spinal injury.”
  • “The most immediate impact can be expected in the field of wound healing.”
(1) Sellheyer K, Krahl D: [Cutaneous mesenchymal stem cells : Current status of research and potential clinical applications.] Hautarzt. 2010 Mar 11; (Article in Press)

Congenital central hypoventilation syndrome.

Debra E Weese-Mayer MD, Professor of Pediatrics from Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, has informed:

  • “This discovery confirmed what we had long believed to be true: first, that CCHS is a genetic disorder; second, that the gene responsible for CCHS has a key role in the early embryology of the ANS; third, that inheritance of CCHS and the PHOX2B mutation is autosomal dominant; fourth, that the nature of the PHOX2B mutations can explain the spectrum of the CCHS phenotype; and so much more …”
  • “The discovery that PHOX2B is the gene that defines CCHS offers endless opportunities in terms of basic science inquiry and clinical care– all with the long-term goal to improve quality of life for these patients.”

More from a Release dated March 12, sourced from American Thoracic Society:
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Hair follicles. Stem cells.

A Release dated March 12, sourced from American Association for the Advancement of Science has informed:

  • ‘The stem cell that gives rise to all the different cells of the skin actually lives in the hair follicle, researchers report in the March 12 issue of Science. It may therefore be possible to harness these stem cells to help with wound repair or skin transplants, for example, for burn victims.’

More from the Release dated March 12, sourced from American Association for the Advancement of Science:
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Stem cell functions. “… basis for a new generation of bioengineered vascular grafts.”

Guillermo Ameer, Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering and Surgery from Northwestern University, has said:

  • “Normally, stem cells are not studied in the context of improving vascular grafts for bypass surgery. Therefore, we had to develop new tests to assess their use in this application …”
  • “We looked at the function of the cells on a citric acid-based polymer, which will be the basis for a new generation of bioengineered vascular grafts.”

More from a Release dated March 11, sourced from Northwestern University:
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Rapid culture method. Adipocyte differentiation. Bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells. Saitama, Japan.

  • “Human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) derived from bone marrow are multipotent stem cells that can regenerate mesenchymal tissues such as adipose, bone or muscle.”1

Researchers from Translational Research Center, Saitama International Medical Center, Saitama, Japan; and Division of Functional Genomics and Systems Medicine, Research Center for Genomic Medicine, Saitama Medical University, Saitama, Japan; have presented an article titled: “Development of a rapid culture method to induce adipocyte differentiation of human bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells.”

The researchers from Translational Research Center, Saitama International Medical Center, Saitama, Japan; and Division of Functional Genomics and Systems Medicine, Research Center for Genomic Medicine, Saitama Medical University, Saitama, Japan; have also noted:

  • “It is thought that hMSCs can be utilized as a cell resource for tissue engineering and as human models to study cell differentiation mechanisms, such as adipogenesis, osteoblastogenesis and so on.”
  • “Since it takes 2-3 weeks for hMSCs to differentiate into adipocytes using conventional culture methods, the development of methods to induce faster differentiation into adipocytes is required.”
  • “In this study we optimized the culture conditions for adipocyte induction to achieve a shorter cultivation time for the induction of adipocyte differentiation in bone marrow-derived hMSCs.”
  • “Briefly, we used a cocktail of dexamethasone, insulin, metylisobutylxanthine (DIM) plus a peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma agonist, rosiglitazone (DIMRo) as a new adipogenic differentiation medium.”
  • “We successfully shortened the period of cultivation to 7-8 days from 2-3 weeks.”
  • “We also found that rosiglitazone alone was unable to induce adipocyte differentiation from hMSCs in vitro.”
  • “However, rosiglitazone appears to enhance hMSC adipogenesis in the presence of other hormones and/or compounds, such as DIM.”
  • “Furthermore, the inhibitory activity of TGF on adipogenesis could be investigated using DIMRo-treated hMSCs.”
  • “We conclude that our rapid new culture method is very useful in measuring the effect of molecules that affect adipogenesis in hMSCs.”
(1) Ninomiya Y, Sugahara-Yamashita Y, Nakachi Y, Tokuzawa Y, Okazaki Y, Nishiyama M: Development of a rapid culture method to induce adipocyte differentiation of human bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells. Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 2010 Mar 2; (Article in Press)

Stroke. “… injections of beta-hCG, a hormone that triggers the growth of neural stem cells.”

A Release from the University of California – Irvine has informed:

  • “A clinical research trial of a new treatment to restore brain cells damaged by stroke has passed an important safety stage, according to the UC Irvine neurologist who led the effort.”

    More from the Release dated March 10, sourced from University of California – Irvine:
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Artificial periosteum. “The sock-like sheath on the outside of the bone is a habitat for stem cells …”

Melissa Knothe Tate, Professor of Biomedical Engineering and Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering from Case Western Reserve University, and Ulf Knothe, Orthopedic Surgeon from the Cleveland Clinic, have reported the development of ‘… an artificial sleeve that spurs fast healing when a car wreck, bomb blast or disease leaves too little cover.’

More from a Release dated March 9, sourced from Case Western Reserve University:
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