Canada Is First Worldwide To Generate Pluripotent Stem Cells From Horses

[Guest guest]

(28 Feb 2011 )

In a world first, pluripotent stem cells have been generated from horses by a

team of researchers led by Dr. Andras Nagy at the Lunenfeld Research

Institute of Mount Sinai Hospital and Dr. Lawrence at the University of

Montreal's Faculty of Veterinary Science. The findings will help enable new

stem-cell based regenerative therapies in veterinary medicine, and because

horses' muscle and tendon systems are similar to our own, aid the development of

preclinical models leading to HUMAN applications. The study was published in the

February 28 issue of the leading journal Stem Cell Reviews and Reports.

These induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells can develop into most other cell

types and are a source of great hope for use in regenerative medicine and the

development of new drugs to prevent and treat various illnesses. One aspect of

regenerative medicine is the process of creating living, functional tissues to

repair or replace tissue or organ function lost due to damage or disease. " To

date, iPS cells have been established from several species, but our study is the

first to report the derivation of these changeable cells from horses, " Dr.

explained.

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/217648.php

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(25 Feb 2011 )

Brain Storm Cell Therapeutics Inc. (OTCBB: BCLI), a leading developer of adult

stem cell technologies and therapeutics, announced that intramuscular

transplantation of autologous, astrocyte-like cells that produce and secrete

neurotrophic factors (NTFs), representing the company's NuOwn™ technology

platform, preserved motor function, significantly inhibited the degeneration of

the neuromuscular junctions (NMJs), and preserved the myelinated motor axons in

an animal sciatic nerve injury model. Results of the study appear in the online

edition of the journal Stem Cell Reviews and Reports.

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/217445.php

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(24 Feb 2011)

Tarix Pharmaceuticals announced enrollment of the first patient in a Phase 2

clinical study of TXA127, a pharmaceutical grade formulation of a naturally

occurring peptide known to stimulate early hematopoietic precursor cells in the

bone marrow. The study is currently enrolling patients undergoing autologous

peripheral blood stem cell transplant to evaluate the safety and efficacy of

TXA127 in accelerating engraftment following transplant.

Following a stem cell transplant, it can typically take several weeks for the

stem cells to repopulate the patient's blood with platelets and other mature

blood cells. During this time the patient is at increased risk of serious

infection and bleeding. There are currently no drugs available that speed up the

engraftment process.

" TXA127 has the potential to reduce the time it takes for blood cell counts to

return to safe levels following stem cell transplant, which may accelerate the

recovery process and reduce some of the health risks associated with stem cell

transplant, " stated Rick lin, CEO of Tarix Pharmaceuticals. " TXA127 is

unique because it directly stimulates transplanted stem cells to replenish

circulating platelets, white blood cells, and red blood cells. "

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/217368.php

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(Feb 24. 2011) Advanced Cell Technology, Inc. ( " ACT " ; OTC Bulletin Board:

ACTC), a leader in the field of regenerative medicine, announced that it has

been issued a patent on its " single-blastomere " technique. Patent Number

7,893,315 broadly covers ACT's proprietary single-blastomere technology that

provides a non-destructive alternative for deriving human embryonic stem cell

(hESC) lines.

" Of the more than 150 patents and patent applications related to stem cell

therapy and regenerative medicine that ACT owns or licenses, this patent on our

single-blastomere technology is one of the most significant, " stated Rabin,

ACT's interim chairman and CEO. " It will help us accelerate our progress on a

number of fronts, including deriving embryonic stem cells which meet the

regulatory standards of the European Medicines Agency and the US Food and Drug

Administration, using the single-blastomere technology. We are currently

developing a collaboration for creating banks of these cells using our

proprietary technique with the United Kingdom's Roslin Cells. This is an example

of the type of potentially revenue-generating future partnership that we think

this IP (intellectual property) protection could help facilitate. "

The single-blastomere technology uses a one-cell biopsy approach similar to

pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD), which is widely used in the in vitro

fertilization (IVF) process and does not interfere with the embryo's

developmental potential. The stem cells generated using this approach are

healthy, completely normal, and differentiate into all the cell types of the

human body, including insulin-producing cells, blood cells, beating heart cells,

cartilage, and other cell types of therapeutic importance. The safety record for

one-cell biopsy as part of PGD now has a 15-year track record, and is carried

out routinely as part of IVF processes around the world. ACT's " embryo-safe "

technique has been published in been peer-reviewed journals such as Nature and

Cell Stem Cell.

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/217371.php

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Transplanting human umbilical cord blood-derived endothelial progenitor cells

(EPCs) has been found to " significantly accelerate " wound closure in diabetic

mouse models, said a team of Korean researchers publishing in the current issue

of Cell Transplantation (19:12), now freely available on-line here.

According to the study's corresponding author, Dr. Wonhee Suh of the CHA

University Stem Cell Institute, diabetes is often associated with impaired wound

healing. While the therapeutic potential of transplanted EPCs has been

demonstrated in animal models and in humans who have suffered stroke, myocardial

infarction and peripheral artery disease, their effect in healing stubborn

wounds has not been studied to the same degree.

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/217273.php

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FYI,

Lottie Duthu