The success in repairing a damaged layer of retinal cells in mice implies that blood stem cells taken from bone marrow can be programmed to restore a variety of cells and tissues, including ones involved in cardiovascular disorders such as atherosclerosis and coronary artery disease.
“To our knowledge, this is the first report using targeted gene manipulation to specifically program an adult stem cell to become a new cell type,” said Dr. Maria B. Grant, a professor of pharmacology and therapeutics at UF’s College of Medicine. “Although we used genes, we also suggest you can do the same thing with drugs — but ultimately you would not give the drugs to the patient, you would give the drugs to their cells. Take the cells out, activate certain chemical pathways, and put the cells back into the patient.”
In a paper slated to appear in the September issue of the journal Molecular Therapy, scientists describe how they used a virus carrying a gene that gently pushed cultured adult stem cells from mice toward a fate as retinal cells. Only after the stem cells were reintroduced into the mice did they completely transform into the desired type of vision cells, apparently taking environmental cues from the damaged retinas.
After studying the cell-transformation process, scientists were able to bypass the gene manipulation step entirely and instead use chemical compounds that mirrored environmental conditions in the body, thus pointing the stem cells toward their ultimate identities as vision cells.
Source : news.ufl.edu/2009/07/30/cell-fate
Research Show How Blood Stem Cells to Become Vision Cells
University of Florida researchers were able to program bone marrow stem cells to repair damaged retinas in mice, suggesting a potential treatment for one of the most common causes of vision loss in older people.
Other articles and science reports on Adult Stem Cells.
Check, E., Cardiologists take heart from stem-cell treatment success, Nature 428(6986):880, 29 April 2004: "Adult stem cells have long been viewed as less flexible than embryonic stem cells, which can divide to produce any cell type in the body. But recent studies of human cells suggest that adult stem cells can also turn into many cell types, including heart, brain and liver cells."
Terada, N. et al., Bone marrow cells adopt the phenotype of other cells by spontaneous cells fusion, Nature (416(6880):542–545, 4 April 2002.
Cohen, P., Stem cells could save sight, New Scientist 175:(2354):18, 3 August 2002.
Stem cells do their stuff for Parkinson’s patient, New Scientist 174(2338):5, 13 April 2002.
Randerson, J., Stem cells fix the damage, New Scientist 177(2377):14, 11 January 2003.
Pluchino, S. et al., Injection of adult neurospheres induces recovery in a chronic model of multiple sclerosis, Nature 422(6933):688–694, 17 April 2003.
Jochen Ringe et al., Stem cells for regenerative medicine: advances in the engineering of tissues and organs, Naturwissenschaften 89(8), August 2002.
About the Formulator of StemEnhance - Christian Drapeau
Mr. Drapeau, a foremost scientist in the study of Aphanizomenon flos-aquae, holds a Masters of Science degree in Neurology and Neurosurgery from the Montreal Neurological Institute, an affiliate of McGill University in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. He has been extensively involved in the study of nutrition, naturopathy, and various natural therapies.
Most significantly, Mr. Drapeau collaborated with many scientists affiliated with Harvard University, McGill University, the University of Illinois, Oregon State University, the University of New Mexico, and the University of Mississippi in the study of the effects of blue-green algae (Aphanizomenon flos-aquae) on human health. Mr. Drapeau continues his involvement in the clinical study of AFA.
Circulating stem cells can reach various organs and become cells of that organ, helping such organ regain and maintain optimal health. Recent studies have suggested that the number of circulating stem cells is a key factor; the higher the number of circulating stem cells the greater is the ability of the body at healing itself. What happens to stem cells if they do not reach a tissue? Stem cells released from the bone marrow that do not reach a tissue simply return to the bone marrow after some timeCheck, E., Cardiologists take heart from stem-cell treatment success, Nature 428(6986):880, 29 April 2004: "Adult stem cells have long been viewed as less flexible than embryonic stem cells, which can divide to produce any cell type in the body. But recent studies of human cells suggest that adult stem cells can also turn into many cell types, including heart, brain and liver cells."
Terada, N. et al., Bone marrow cells adopt the phenotype of other cells by spontaneous cells fusion, Nature (416(6880):542–545, 4 April 2002.
Cohen, P., Stem cells could save sight, New Scientist 175:(2354):18, 3 August 2002.
Stem cells do their stuff for Parkinson’s patient, New Scientist 174(2338):5, 13 April 2002.
Randerson, J., Stem cells fix the damage, New Scientist 177(2377):14, 11 January 2003.
Pluchino, S. et al., Injection of adult neurospheres induces recovery in a chronic model of multiple sclerosis, Nature 422(6933):688–694, 17 April 2003.
Jochen Ringe et al., Stem cells for regenerative medicine: advances in the engineering of tissues and organs, Naturwissenschaften 89(8), August 2002.
About the Formulator of StemEnhance - Christian Drapeau
Mr. Drapeau, a foremost scientist in the study of Aphanizomenon flos-aquae, holds a Masters of Science degree in Neurology and Neurosurgery from the Montreal Neurological Institute, an affiliate of McGill University in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. He has been extensively involved in the study of nutrition, naturopathy, and various natural therapies.
Most significantly, Mr. Drapeau collaborated with many scientists affiliated with Harvard University, McGill University, the University of Illinois, Oregon State University, the University of New Mexico, and the University of Mississippi in the study of the effects of blue-green algae (Aphanizomenon flos-aquae) on human health. Mr. Drapeau continues his involvement in the clinical study of AFA.
United States Patent Patent No.: 6,814,961 B1 Date of Patent: November 9, 2004 Subj: METHOD FOR ENHANCING STEM CELL PHYSIOLOGY Inventors: Gitte S. Jensen and Christian Drapeau
