Multiple route bone marrow stem cell injections show promise to treat spinal cord injury

Tampa, Fla. (Mar. 12, 2009) Researchers from DaVinci Biosciences, Costa Mesa, California, in collaboration with Hospital Luis Vernaza in Ecuador, have determined that injecting a patient's own bone marrow-derived stem cells (autologous BMCs) directly into the spinal column using multiple routes c...

Transplanted fat cells restore function after spinal cord injury

Tampa, Fla. (Dec. 10, 2008) A study published in the current issue of CELL TRANSPLANTATION (Vol.17, No. 8) suggests that mature adipocytes - fat cells - could become a source for cell replacement therapy to treat central nervous system disorders. According to the study's lead researcher, Dr. ...

New technology enhances therapeutic potential of cord blood stem cells

A CD26 Inhibitor increases the efficiency and responsiveness of umbilical cord blood for bone marrow transplants and may improve care for blood cancer patients according to research from Rush University Medical Center being presented at the 6th Annual International Umbilical Cord Blood Transplanta...

Promising new nanotechnology for spinal cord injury

CHICAGO -- A spinal cord injury often leads to permanent paralysis and loss of sensation below the site of the injury because the damaged nerve fibers can't regenerate. The nerve fibers or axons have the capacity to grow again, but dont because they're blocked by scar tissue that develops around t...

Umbilical cord blood cell therapy may reduce signs and symptoms of Alzheimer's disease

Tampa, FL (March 26, 2008) Targeted immune suppression using human umbilical cord blood cells may improve the pathology associated with Alzheimers disease, a new study in a mouse model of this currently untreatable neurodegenerative condition reports. The study, led by researchers at the Univers...

Umbilical cord blood cell therapy in an animal model of Alzheimer's disease

New Rochelle, NY, March 26, 2008A novel strategy based on targeted immune suppression using human umbilical cord blood cells may improve the pathology and cognitive decline associated with Alzheimers disease, based on the results of a study in a mouse model of this currently untreatable neurodegen...

Researchers take first steps towards spinal cord reconstruction following injury

This release is also available in French . Montreal, November 12, 2007 - A new study has identified what may be a pivotal first step towards the regeneration of nerve cells following spinal cord injury, using the bodys own stem cells. This seminal study, published in this weeks Procee...

Jefferson urologists studying regenerated neo-bladder to help spinal cord injury patients

Urologists at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital are studying whether a neo-bladder construct grown from a patients own cells can improve bladder function for adult spinal cord injury patients. Jefferson is only one of six sites in the U.S. enrolling participants in this clinical trial for th...

U of M begins nation's first clinical trial using T-reg cells from cord blood in leukemia treatment

University of Minnesota researchers have initiated a ground breaking clinical trial to determine the optimal dose and safety of T regulatory cells (T-regs) to decrease the risk of immune reactions common in patients undergoing blood and marrow transplantation. Ultimately, the researchers hope the...

Intraspinal implant of mesenchymal stem cells may not heal the demyelinated spinal cord

Tampa, Fla. (Nov. 12, 2008) Multiple sclerosis is a disease caused by the loss of the myelinated sheath surrounding the nerve fibers of the spinal cord. Therapeutic hope for curing multiple sclerosis and other demyelinating diseases has included the possibility that stem cell transplants could he...

Research shows cord blood comparable to matched bone marrow

University of Minnesota researchers report that umbilical cord blood transplants may offer blood cancer patients better outcomes than bone marrow transplants, according to an analysis of outcome data performed at the Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research (CIBMTR), Medical C...

Adult stem cells from human cord umbilical cord blood successfully engineered to make insulin

In a fundamental discovery that someday may help cure type 1 diabetes by allowing people to grow their own insulin-producing cells for a damaged or defective pancreas, medical researchers here have reported that they have engineered adult stem cells derived from human umbilical cord blood to prod...

Researchers use MRI to predict recovery after spinal cord injury

Using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), radiologists can better predict the likelihood of full or partial recovery of patients with acute spinal cord injuries (SCI), according to a study published in the June issue of the journal Radiology. "Our study demonstrates that the possibility and exten...

Fast and slow -- How the spinal cord controls the speed of movement

Using a state-of-the-art technique to map neurons in the spinal cord of a larval zebrafish, Cornell University scientists have found a surprising pattern of activity that regulates the speed of the fish’s movement. The research may have long-term implications for treating injured human spinal cords...

Elderly spinal cord injuries increase five-fold in 30 years, Jefferson neurosurgeons find

The number of spinal cord injuries among senior citizens (age 70 and above) has increased five times in the past 30 years, as compared with younger spinal cord injury patients, researchers at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital and Jefferson's Regional Spinal Cord Injury Center of the Delaware Val...

U of MN researchers turn cord blood into lung cells

Researchers at the University of Minnesota have, for the first time, coaxed umbilical cord blood stem cells to differentiate into a type of lung cell. The cord blood cells differentiated into a type of lung cell called type II alveolar cells. These cells are responsible for secreting surfactant,...

Spinal cord bridge bypasses injury to restore mobility

The body's spinal cord is like a super highway of nerves. When an injury occurs, the body's policing defenses put up a roadblock in the form of a scar to prevent further injury, but it stops all neural traffic from moving forward. Researchers from Case Western Reserve University, Drexel Univ...

Researchers identify new cord blood stem cell

Researchers at the University of Minnesota Medical School have discovered a new population of cells in human umbilical cord blood that have properties of primitive stem cells. Umbilical cord blood is generally known to contain hematopoietic stem cells that can only produce cells found in blood....

One small step means giant leap for spinal cord research

A new device developed at the University of Toronto that stimulates the muscles of patients with spinal cord injuries helps to increase walking function in those whose condition is not expected to improve. U of T researchers have found that functional electrical stimulation (FES), a process that...

Researchers make 'embryonic-like' stem cells from umbilical cord blood

A breakthrough in human stem cell research, producing embryonic-like cells from umbilical cord blood may substantially speed up the development of treatments for life-threatening illnesses, injuries and disabilities. The discovery made during a project undertaken with experts from the University of...

Purdue scientists may have found key to halting spinal cord damage

Purdue University researchers may have isolated the substance most responsible for the tissue damage that follows initial spinal cord injury, a discovery that could also improve treatments for a host of other neurodegenerative conditions. A research team led by Riyi Shi (REE-yee SHEE) has found t...

Combination therapy leads to partial recovery from spinal cord injury in rats

Combining partially differentiated stem cells with gene therapy can promote the growth of new "insulation" around nerve fibers in the damaged spinal cords of rats, a new study shows. The treatment, which mimics the activity of two nerve growth factors, also improves the animals' motor function and ...

Stem cell treatment improves mobility after spinal cord injury

A treatment derived from human embryonic stem cells improves mobility in rats with spinal cord injuries, providing the first physical evidence that the therapeutic use of these cells can help restore motor skills lost from acute spinal cord tissue damage. Hans Keirstead and his colleagues in the ...

Infants with Rare Genetic Disease Saved By Cord Blood Stem Cells

Children with a fatal genetic disorder called Krabbe Disease can be saved and their brain development preserved if they receive stem cells from umbilical cord blood before symptoms of the disease develop, according to a study published in the May 19, 2005, issue of the New England Journal of Medici...

Infants With Rare Genetic Disease Saved by Cord Blood Stem Cells

Children with a fatal genetic disorder called Krabbe disease can be saved and their brain development preserved if they receive stem cells from umbilical cord blood before symptoms of the disease develop, according to a study published in the May 19, 2005, issue of the New England Journal of Medici...

Stem cell research: From molecular physiology to therapeutic applications

...ctioning or damaged cells and tissues in patients. Recent studies have shown that pluripotent stem cells derived from adult bone marrow, the umbilical cord and the placenta could also be induced to differentiate into a variety of different tissues. In this issue, we have invited several scientists in Chin...

Researchers design first model motor nerve system that's insulated and organized like the human body

...ls are located in the body. In the central nervous system (CNS), the spinal cord and brain are surrounded by cerebrospinal fluid that contains only trace am... unmyelinated nerves to reveal how nerves malfunction as well as for spinal cord injury studies. "Being able to study these fully developed structures means...

Wood stoves -- a viable home heat source?

...reduced the mean annual gas cost by 60%; from $2260 to $880. The annual cost of the wood fuel for the woodstove amounted to $1330 for 5 full cords (a cord is 8 feet long by 4 feet high by 4 feet wide - 128ft3 ). This was a yearly savings of $50 at market fossil fuel prices of 2005-2007 without taking in...

Clinical trial shows quadriplegics can operate powered wheelchair with tongue drive system

... be operated by individuals with high-level spinal cord injuries, according to the results of a recently c...uite simple for individuals with high-level spinal cord injuries to use," said Maysam Ghovanloo, an assist...with tetraplegia, as a result of high-level spinal cord injuries (cervical vertebrae C3-C5), to perform ta...

NYC science symposium marks Gruber Prize program 10th anniversary

...k Institute and recipient of the Max Planck Research Prize, whose work may eventually make possible the replacement or enhancement of brain and spinal cord tissue lost or damaged due to neurodegenerative disease or trauma, will speak on "Brain Plasticity and Diversity." Dr. Solomon Snyder, professor i...

CWRU receives $5 million from Ohio Third Frontier Commission

...e its potential to treat a variety of neurodegenerative diseases and spinal cord injury. Pilot programs The pilot projects represent early stage, ...ell Targeting will apply its cell "painting" technology to direct umbilical cord blood stem cells to specific locations in the body to increase cell dosage ...

Children's Hospital Oakland scientists first to discover new source for harvesting stem cells

...far more stem cells in placentas than in umbilical cord blood, and they can be safely extracted for transp...y likely that placental stem cells, like umbilical cord blood and bone marrow stem cells, can be used to c... a red blood cell. Using stem cells from umbilical cord blood, Children's Hospital Oakland physicians have...

Brain-computer interface, developed at Brown, begins new clinical trial

...mate goal of which is to help patients with spinal cord injury, stroke, muscular dystrophy, amyotrophic la...engineering, may help people with brain and spinal cord injuries and diseases," Donoghue said. "We are ...omputer but also to assist people with ALS, spinal cord injury and brainstem stroke to control their envir...

Partnership to accelerate Trudeau Institute discoveries to patient care

...Specific Antigen test ("PSA test"), HIV-1 co-receptor usage test, photodynamic cancer therapy, assistive communication devices for persons with spinal cord injuries, and several pharmaceuticals. "As a basic research institution, discoveries made at the Trudeau Institute often lead to vaccines and ot...

Identification of a key molecular pathway required for brain neural circuit formation

...has made a discovery which could help treat spinal cord injuries and neurodegenerative diseases. This new ...acted as an axonal attractant for brain and spinal cord neurons. "How exactly Shh elicited this effect has... It paves the way to new therapies to treat spinal cord injuries, neurodevelopmental disorders, and neurod...

BIO 2009 -- R&D session: New stem cell research unlocks unknown therapies

...m cell research, currently one of the most exciting areas in science, and how it unravels potential new therapies for Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, spinal cord injury, stroke, heart diseases and other devastating diseases. He is also the scientific founder of NeuroNova, a biopharmaceutical company, develo...

Just in time for spring: Scientists find the cellular on and off switch for allergies and asthma

... these and other related diseases." Ryan and colleagues made this discovery in mouse experiments that examined cells from bone marrow and umbilical cord blood that ultimately help create a type of immune cell (mast cells). Too many mast cells lead to an over-aggressive immune response, which causes al...

Grouping muscles to make controlling limbs easier

... this, it does seem like an approach that can simplify control for a complicated mechanical system, like a limb," said Tresch. "For people with spinal cord injuries, you can put electrodes into their muscles and stimulate them. We can use this synergies approach to make controlling a limb simpler." Nex...

Researchers use brain interface to post to Twitter

...do not work, but whose brains function normally. Among those are people who have amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), brain-stem stroke or high spinal cord injury. Some brain-computer interface systems employ an electrode-studded cap wired to a computer. The electrodes detect electrical signals in the ...

World premiere in stem cell research in Montreal

...will be able to obtain new bone marrow within the next few years. "It could be possible to envision transplants for all adults from existing umbilical cord blood banks. The stem cell content of these blood banks is currently too limited for large-scale use in adults," Dr. Sauvageau affirmed. Organ tr...