Fat Cells for Soft Tissue Reconstruction
Monday, 22 February 2010 17:32

February 22, 2010

While current reconstructive procedures can move soft tissue from other areas of the body, there remains an unmet need for new modalities that are less invasive & more precise. Adipose tissue is the component necessary for soft tissue reconstruction.

Plastic surgeons in Japan, Europe, and Israel are harvesting fat and stem cells from hips and thighs to sculpt bigger, shapelier breasts without the leaks, slippage, and short shelf life that often accompany saline and silicone implants. At least that's the claim. The procedure is controversial among researchers in the United States (it's not available there...yet-human studies could begin in the next 3 to 5 years.

"These are adult stem cells, not embryonic cells, so the concern isn't an ethical one about an embryonic source," says McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine faculty member J. Peter Rubin, MD (pictured), Associate Professor of Plastic Surgery at the University of Pittsburgh, co-director of the Adipose Stem Cell Center at the University of Pittsburgh, and co-founder and chairman of the International Federation of Adipose Therapeutics and Science. "Stem cells from fat tissue can turn into blood vessels and make new fat cells, so they could create long-lasting tissue for breast augmentation and reconstruction. But there are safety issues."

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Athersys Receives U.S. Patent Covering Adult Stem Cell Composition & Production
Thursday, 11 February 2010 16:33
Athersys Also Granted European Patent for Non-Embryonic, Pluripotent Stem Cells

February 10, 2010: 06:30 AM ET

CLEVELAND, Feb. 10, 2010 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Athersys, Inc. (Nasdaq:ATHX) announced today that it has been granted U.S. patent 7,659,118 that covers non-embryonic multipotent stem cells, their isolation and expansion, and related pharmaceutical compositions. Athersys also announced that it has been granted - and the opposition period has cleared - EP patent EP1218489B1 that covers non-embryonic pluripotent stem cells, their isolation, expansion, and usage.

The issued patents cover Athersys' proprietary scalable MultiStem® technology, which is an investigational stem cell therapy that has demonstrated therapeutic potential to treat a broad range of diseases and indications, including acute myocardial infarction, inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), bone marrow transplant support and ischemic stroke. Athersys announced in December 2009 a strategic partnership with Pfizer under which the companies will jointly develop MultiStem for IBD.

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Singapore scientists discover new concoction to reprogram differentiated cells into pluripotent stem cells
Tuesday, 26 January 2010 14:18
PRESS RELEASE
January 21, 2010 (Thursday), 1200 hrs, EST, USA
January 22, 2010 (Friday), 0100 hrs, Singapore

Scientists from the Genome Institute of Singapore (GIS), a biomedical research institute of the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), and the National University of Singapore (NUS), have discovered a transcription factor, known as Nr5a2, which is responsible for the reprogramming of differentiated cells into stem cells. Stem cells generated from differentiated cells are known as induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS cells). This find, published on January 21, 2010 in the prestigious journal Cell Stem Cell, is especially crucial in the area of cell therapy-based medicine.

The reprogramming of differentiated cells into iPS has been one of the most important breakthroughs in stem cell research recently. iPS cells behave like embryonic stem cells (ESCs) in that they give rise to all other differentiated cell types that make up the human body. As such, they are important starting points for the creation of organs for replacement or transplantation.

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Cell Medica announces R&D Framework Agreement with the Center for Cell and Gene Therapy at Baylor College of Medicine
Tuesday, 12 January 2010 14:44
LONDON-7 January, 2010: Cell Medica, a clinical cellular therapeutics company developing proven cell therapies which address important unmet clinical needs in oncology and infectious diseases, announced today the signing of an R&D agreement with the Center for Cell and Gene Therapy, a joint program of Baylor College of Medicine, Texas Children's Hospital and The Methodist Hospital, Houston, Texas. The agreement forms the basis of an extensive collaboration effort aimed at commercializing clinically proven cell therapies which have been pioneered by Baylor and which address human diseases for which no current treatment is available.

Consistent with its corporate strategy, Cell Medica will utilize its commercialization expertise in the regulatory, reimbursement and production aspects of cell therapies to ensure that potential life-saving treatments developed by the Center can be introduced for broad clinical use as soon as possible. The safety and efficacy of these new therapies have been developed up to the Phase I/II stage by the Center.

Cell Medica and the Center for Cell and Gene Therapy have identified specific areas of interest involving the use of cell therapies for the treatment of infectious diseases in patients who are profoundly immunosuppressed following bone marrow transplants. The senior researchers at the Center have been instrumental in demonstrating the clinical effectiveness of cell therapies in this patient setting. This approach also has the potential for the treatment of certain hematological malignancies associated with oncogenic viruses.

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Stem cell therapies for hearts inching closer to wide use
Monday, 28 December 2009 15:58
By Elizabeth Landau, CNN
December 18, 2009 9:34 a.m. EST

(CNN) -- If you've just had your first heart attack, doctors may one day be able to reverse the damage done with stem cell therapy.

An intravenous method of injecting stem cells into patients who had experienced heart attacks within the previous 10 days suggested that this method works to repair -- not just manage -- heart damage, a recent study found.

The study is a step forward in a field in which a lot of approaches have been tried in animals and preliminary human trials, but none has been approved for widespread clinical use for heart patients.

The new results are a milestone in stem cell research, and for patients, said Jeffrey Karp, a researcher at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts, who runs a stem cell biology lab at Harvard University. He was not involved in the study.

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Doctors restore normal look to soldiers' faces
Monday, 14 December 2009 14:55
By MARK ROTH
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Published: Sunday, December 6, 2009 at 4:01 a.m.
Last Modified: Sunday, December 6, 2009 at 2:03 a.m.

In the fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, more than a quarter of all wounded American soldiers have suffered facial injuries, many of them severe.

Surviving those wounds is one challenge. Coming home is another.

"Any visible facial disfigurement can certainly impair the ability of a returning soldier to integrate back into society," said Dr. J. Peter Rubin, a plastic surgeon at the University of Pittsburgh. "How is their family going to respond? How are their children going to respond? How are job interviewers or people in the grocery store going to respond?"

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IUPUI Faculty Leveraged Federal Grants through Venture Fund
Tuesday, 01 December 2009 13:56
In the summer of 2009,Dr. Keith March, Professor of Medicine, Cryptic Masons Medical Research Foundation Professor, and Director of the Indiana Center for Vascular Biology and Medicine (ICVBM) submitted an extension proposal to the National Institute of Health (NIH) using Venture Fund support as campus match funding (an NIH requirement). If awarded, six postdoctoral students from clinical and basic research backgrounds will conduct immersive fellowships in ICVBM's research programs.

The Solution Center portion of the funding will be used to support graduate student stipends for two students from the School of Public Health who will assist Dr. March in administering the Fellowship program. In addition, the graduate students will work with the program's external advisory board, aid in grant preparation and submission, co-author reports, white papers and articles, and plan a fellows' training orientation. These activities match the goals of the MHA and Public Health programs, to mobilize community partnerships and develop policies and plans that support individual and community health efforts.

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Celling Technologies Signs Exclusive Agreement to Research and Develop Adipose Tissue Stem Cell Technology in Regenerative Medicine Institutes
Monday, 30 November 2009 14:30
(AUSTIN, TX), November 9, 2009- Celling Technologies, a subsidiary of SpineSmith Partners, is collaborating with Tissue Genesis, Inc. to research potential applications for adipose tissue derived adult stem cells. SpineSmith acquired the global rights in spine for Tissue Genesis' adipose (fat) tissue derived stem cell technology in November of 2007. Replacing the prior arrangement, this new exclusive agreement allows Celling Technologies to further research adipose tissue derived stem cells in a variety of human applications, including orthopedics, vascular, trauma, plastics and disease, in certain agreed upon medical institutes.

Celling's team of scientists will collaborate with Tissue Genesis, and its licensees, to research adipose tissue derived stem cell applications at certain medical institutions throughout the world. "We believe adult stem cells will revolutionize modern medicine, and our business development efforts are positioning the company to continue leading the research and development of cellular therapy. The agreement with Tissue Genesis solidifies our position as a leader, and continues to build the opportunity for surgeons and institutions interested in the future of regenerative medicine" says Kevin Were, Director of Business Development for Celling Technologies.

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Your Own Stem Cells Can Treat Heart Disease
Tuesday, 24 November 2009 17:12
November 17, 2009 | Research

Transplanting people's own stem cells into heart lessens pain, improves ability to walk

By Marla Paul
CHICAGO --- The largest national stem cell study for heart disease showed the first evidence that transplanting a potent form of adult stem cells into the heart muscle of subjects with severe angina results in less pain and an improved ability to walk. The transplant subjects also experienced fewer deaths than those who didn't receive stem cells.

In the 12-month Phase II, double-blind trial, subjects' own purified stem cells, called CD34+ cells, were injected into their hearts in an effort to spur the growth of small blood vessels that make up the microcirculation of the heart muscle. Researchers believe the loss of these blood vessels contributes to the pain of chronic, severe angina.

"This is the first study to show significant benefit in pain reduction and improved exercise capacity in this population with very advanced heart disease," said principal investigator Douglas Losordo, M.D., the Eileen M. Foell Professor of Heart Research at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and a cardiologist and director of the program in cardiovascular regenerative medicine at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, the lead site of the study.

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Celling Technologies Signs Exclusive Agreement to Research and Develop Adipose Tissue Stem Cell Technology in Regenerative Medicine Institutes
Tuesday, 10 November 2009 14:29
Posted on : 2009-11-09 | Author : Celling Technologies
News Category : PressRelease

AUSTIN, Texas, Nov. 9 /PRNewswire/ -- Celling Technologies, a subsidiary of SpineSmith Partners, is collaborating with Tissue Genesis, Inc. to research potential applications for adipose tissue derived adult stem cells. SpineSmith acquired the global rights in spine for Tissue Genesis' adipose (fat) tissue derived stem cell technology in November of 2007. Replacing the prior arrangement, this new exclusive agreement allows Celling Technologies to further research adipose tissue derived stem cells in a variety of human applications, including orthopedics, vascular, trauma, plastics and disease, in certain agreed upon medical institutes.

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