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[THE INVESTOR] Medipost said on Feb. 5 it has received approval from the US Food and Drug Administration to begin early-stage clinical studies of its stem cell-based therapy for Alzheimer’s disease.

As one of the most common complications of diabetes, diabetic neuropathy often causes foot ulcers and even limb amputations. Inspite of continuous development in antidiabetic drugs, there is still no efficient therapy to cure diabetic neuropathy. Diabetic neuropathy shows declined vascularity in peripheral nerves and lack of angiogenic and neurotrophic factors. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have been indicated as a novel emerging regenerative therapy for diabetic neuropathy because of their multipotency. We will briefly review the pathogenesis of diabetic neuropathy, characteristic of MSCs, effects of MSC therapies for diabetic neuropathy and its related mechanisms.

The results of the study showed that in both normal and stroke-injured brains had improved neurological outcomes as a result of treatment. The researchers say, “the results of this study clearly support the hypothesis that MSC transplantation or injection promotes endogenous neurogenesis and improves behavioral deficits after ischemic stroke.” 

Mesenchymal stem cells are multipotent stem cells that could be gotten from the bone marrow, blood of the umbilical cord, fat tissues, and amniotic fluid. The term “multipotent” means that the mesenchymal cells are capable of differentiating into other forms of the cell. Mesenchymal stem cells can differentiate into bone cells, adipose cells, muscle cells, skin and cartilage cells. Although they are multipotent ins nature, they are not capable of forming hematological cells. Research has shown that the mesenchymal stem cells might be able to form other types of cells apart from the cells of the skeletal tissues. The cells they might be able to form are cardiomyocytes, hepatocytes, and the inner wall of the blood vessels. However, further studies proved that there might have been an error in the earlier researches done. It was concluded that they could only produce various cells of skeletal tissues.

Athletes, the elderly and others who suffer from injuries and arthritis can lose cartilage and experience a lot of pain. Cartilage is a tissue which has very poor regenerative potential. Researchers are now reporting, however, that they have produced found a way to produce the “rubbery” the cartilage tissue with 3-D bioprinting and human cells and have successfully confirmed it in a in vivo mice model. The development could one day lead to precisely printed implants to heal damaged noses, ears and knees.

“This is a minimally invasive procedure. The cell source is accessible, has relatively low processing costs and no ethical conflict,” he said. “It has an extensive track record for safety since it has been used at length in patients with a range of conditions, with no reported adverse effects.”
Figueroa said some scientists believe secretions from the stem cells have regenerative effects on heart tissue. Many scientists also believe the cells are effective in treating heart failure because of the way they decrease damage caused by the immune system.

Application of mesenchymal stem cells derived from bone marrow and umbilical cord in human hair multiplication Volume 60, Issue 2, Pages 74-83 November 2010 Bo-Young Yooa, Youn-Ho Shinb, Hee-Hoon Yoonac, Young-Kwon Seoa, Kye-Yong Songb, Jung-Keug Parkad Abstract

For decades, physicians have relied on stem cell transplants to reset the immune system of patients who have hematologic cancers, such as leukemia and lymphoma. This has led researchers to wonder if stem cell transplants could also reset the immune system so that it would not attack the patient’s own body in autoimmune diseases, such as Multiple Sclerosis, Lupus, and Rheumatoid Arthritis.

Marcos De Lima, Ian McNiece, Simon N. Robinson, Mark Munsell, Mary Eapen, Mary Horowitz, Amin Alousi, Rima Saliba, John D. McMannis, Indreshpal Kaur, Partow Kebriaei, Simrit Parmar, Uday Popat, Chitra Hosing, Richard Champlin, Catherine Bollard, Jeffrey J. Molldrem, Roy B. Jones, Yago Nieto, Borje S. AnderssonShow 12 others

This study demonstrates that UC MSC can differentiate into functional hepatocyte-like cells following the induction of HGF and FGF-4. UC MSC can serve as a favorable cell source for tissue engineering in the treatment of liver disease.

Scientists at the Columbia School of Engineering and Applied Science say they have successfully grown fully functional human cartilage in vitro from human stem cells derived from bone marrow tissue. Their study (“Large, stratified, and mechanically functional human cartilage grown in vitro by mesenchymal condensation”) is published in the early online edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Science.

Abstract Objective: Spinal cord injury results in loss of neurons, degeneration of axons, formation of glial scar, and severe functional impairment. Human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells can be induced to form neural cells in vitro. Thus, these cells have a potential therapeutic role for treating spinal cord injury.

Cord Blood RegistryStem Cell News, Uncategorized

Umbilical cord tissue and the tissue of the placenta are rich sources of mesenchymal stem cells (MSC). Currently MSC are the most popular form of stem cells that are being used in clinical trials and are appearing in published regenerative medicine research. MSC show great promise for treating a wide variety of auto-immune disorders and treating injuries to muscle or bone (heart disease, sports injuries). The MSC from birth sources, such as cord tissue and the placenta, grow faster than MSC from adult donors and have never been exposed to disease.

Reference: Perinatal Stem Cells 2nd edition 2013; book published by Wiley

Original Article

LFLN REF:02112017,p.36

Expert Opin. Biol. Ther. (2015) 15(9):1293-1306

Introduction:

Human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells (HUC-MSCs) are one of the typical adult stem cells; they have superiorities including low immunogenicity, non-invasive harvest procedure, easy expansion in vitro, and ethical access compared with stem cells from other sources.

Our in vivo NIR fluorescence findings suggest that MPC distribution and retention immediately after intracoronary delivery vary depending on cell population and could potentially impact the clinical efficacy of cardiac cell therapy.

Medipost said Monday that it has received U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)’s approval to conduct phase 1 and 2a clinical trials for Neurostem, an Alzheimer's disease treatment.

Neurostem is a drug based on mesenchymal stem cells derived from allogeneic umbilical cord blood.

Mesenchymal cells are multipotent adult stem cells, that are capable of differentiating into various types of cells. They can differentiate it non-hematological cells such as cartilage cells, bone cells, fat cells and specialized muscle cells like cardiac muscle cells etc. Mesenchymal stem cells, because of their special features, recently have been useful in the treatment of some diseases, particularly, the conditions that affect the skeletal and connective tissues. Research is on-going in the other ways mesenchymal stem cells can be used in treating another type of diseases.

Patients in the US have received a bone marrow transplant using umbilical cord blood expanded by a patented 'off-the-shelf' mesenchymal precursor cells (MPCs). The first 18 patients who participated in the trial are at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. The US National Institutes of Health (NIH) has funded treatment in up to 30 patients.