Every day, researchers are working hard to develop new therapies and treatments designed to treat symptoms, slow progression, and repair damage to the spinal cord. One of these treatments involves the use of stem cells.

Supporters and Detractors of Stem Cell Research

Because stem cells may have the potential to generate cells designed to replace or repair cells damaged by spinal cord injury, supporters feel it’s possible the benefits may far outweigh the negatives. Detractors of stem cell research focus on the moral and ethical dilemmas related to the fact that stem cells are harvested from embryos and fetal tissue. As a matter of fact, it’s difficult to turn on the television, flip through a magazine, or read the newspaper without encountering the controversy surrounding stem cell research and treatment.

The New Miracle Cure?

The jury is still out regarding whether stem cell treatment could be the miracle cure for spinal cord injury and paralysis. While scientists and researchers are hopeful, there just hasn’t been enough research to substantiate any particular result. Currently, most of the research on stem cells has been done on mice, which have significantly different cells than humans.

Human Trials

The political and moral debate surrounding stem cells continues to hamper research. There are also some legitimate concerns regarding the safety of stem cell research on human patients, including concerns related to the immune response to a cellular transplant. The biomedical company Geron received the green light to conduct the first human clinical trial of the treatment of spinal cord injury with embryonic stem cell transplants and drug therapy earlier in the year, but the process was recently halted by the FDA for unknown reasons.

Q: Is the United States the only country that has been hesitant to use Embryonic Stem Cells (ES cells) for research purposes such as spinal cord injury (SCI) repair?

A: As may be expected, each country has determined its own laws and regulations regarding the use of ES cells in medical research. In the United States, President George Bush mandated that any program in the US or abroad using federal funding could not produce new ES cell lines, but may use those produced before 2001. While this is law has limited some research, each state has the ability to regulate the use of ES cells by creating their own specific policies. For instance, New York and California actively pursue this research while South Dakota forbids any type regardless of the source (aborted or miscarried embryos, unused in vitro fertilized embryos and cloned embryos).

Because of a variance between ethical viewpoints in different countries, there are a wide array of laws and reasons for them. In Europe, each Member State has the responsibility to either allow or forbid the use of ES cells. France, for example, allows a case-by-case approval process while Germany forbids their use except for in some well controlled exceptions that are on ES cell lines made before 2002.

Israel, however, has a view towards this type of research that is rooted in their Jewish beliefs. They believe that up until the moment of birth the mother’s health takes precedence over that of the embryo. Also, they don’t believe that the embryo acquires a soul until after the first trimester. This allows about 120 days in which the research on ES cells are considered to be ethically acceptable to those following the Islamic tradition. They also place an emphasis on consent, respect of human dignity and the liberty of the donors.

Africa, Central Asia, Asia and South America all allow research on ES cell lines. For an excellent map of permissive countries, visit this link.

Israel National Council for Bioethics

With all of the recent breakthroughs in stem cell research, next month’s World Stem Cell Summit is bound to be an interesting event.

The gathering will be held on September 22 through 23 in Madison, Wisconsin and is expected to have scientists, ethicists, investors and corporate heads from around the world in attendance…”the event brings together the founding visionary researchers, clinicians, business pathfinders, key policy-makers, regulators, advocates, experts in law and ethics to present compelling presentations, share information, and together chart the future of regenerative medicine.”

Participants will be able to hear the full details of the latest research and development in stem cell studies and applications. Not only that, but government funding and company financial backing will be disclosed in an effort to work with those who have ethical objections to this area of research.

For more information, visit the World Stem Cell Summit’s Website.

According to a Washington Post article, scientists have figured out how to turn one type of adult stem cell into another. What makes this development even more interesting is that it wasn’t done in a petri dish - this change was created inside of a living animal.

This breakthrough will potentially lead to cures for currently un-fixable illnesses and injuries such as spinal cord injuries (SCI) while bypassing the ethical objections that are now hindering stem cell research.

Research on mice by Harvard Stem Cell Institute (HSCI) co-director Douglas A. Melton, and colleagues, found three molecular switches that were able to turn a common cell in the pancreas into one that can produce insulin. This has the potential to benefit people suffering from diabetes, heart disease and other illnesses.

Imagine being able to cure your illness or heal your body through the flip of a cell switch - a process that would save both time and money that is currently spent on drugs and other ongoing therapies.

“I see no moral problem in this basic technique,” said Richard Doerflinger of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, a leading opponent of embryonic stems cell research. “This is a ‘win-win’ situation for medicine and ethics.”

While researchers warn that “many years of research lay ahead” before they will be able to prove that this innovation will be of use for curing disease and injuries, it is another big step made by science towards creating health and longevity.

As of today this study hasn’t been posted on the HSCI Website, but for those interested, here is the HSCI list of research projects.

Click here for the original article.

Stem cell research is moving along at a fantastic pace these days, with non-controversial sources being discovered at a seemingly increasing rate.

An important development came to our attention on BrightSurf.com’s news site. Dr. Noboru Sato, an assistant professor of biochemistry at UC Riverside, has created a way to grow human embryonic stem cells (hESCs), cells that can produce any type of adult cells in humans, without the use of animal-derived material.

Currently, the majority of researchers use animal-based materials for cell cultures, risking the transmission of viruses and pathogens to the growing hESCs. Sato has figured out how to use poly-D-lysine, a chemically synthesized extracellular matrix that the hESCs attach to, instead of the animal-derived Matrigel-coated culture plates typically in use now.

Not only is the poly-D-lysine cleaner, it is easier to work with and has a high rate of pluripotency, a term meaning that it helps hESCs with the ability to divide into specialized cells.

This study will appear online in the Aug. 20 issue of the Public Library of Science (PLoS) ONE.

In a recent article on PhysOrg.com, MIT researchers are spotlighted for finding stem cells in the spinal cord that may be able to be pushed to turn into healing cells instead of scarring cells. This would help with the development of non-surgical treatments for spinal cord injuries (SCI).

The stem cells under consideration are called ependymal cells. On their own they are slow to proliferate and promote regeneration on their own, but when grown in a lab they have been found to restore some degree of function in paralyzed rodents and primates.

According to the article, the ependymal cells migrate to the injured area of the spine, producing a mass of scar-forming cells along with beneficial healing cells called oligodendrocytes. The oligodendrocytes produce myelin, a nerve coating of sorts that helps to insulate nerves, helping their function to improve.

If you want to read the original study, check out the July issue of PLoS Biology. The article is by Konstantinos Meletis.

With the increasing number of research programs focusing on stem cell research and their application to brain injury and spinal cord injury, today’s facts will help you understand why they are so useful.

Stem cells are basically blank cells that, in most cases, have the ability to become a variety of other cells. They are found in bone marrow, blood, the brain, skeletal muscle, fat and even the skin. While the main controversy exists over embryonic stem cells as they have the ability to become just about any cell, we are still able to utilize adult stem cells in a handful of useful ways.

The idea is that scientists can, with the right research, learn to program stem cells to become new spinal cord tissue or new brain tissue, repairing damage that right now, is irreversible. With more studies coming to light regarding the useful application of adult stem cells, we will hopefully see a day when researchers and anti-stem cell research advocates can find a common ground. In the meantime, keep reading. New applications are being discovered all the time!

A study by BrainStorm Cell Therapeutics, Inc. performed in the W.M. Keck Center for Collaborative Neuroscience at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, found a positive correlation in spinal cord injury recovery and the use of NTF cells. According to the company’s Website, they are “focused on developing NTF cells from the patient’s own bone marrow in order to treat Parkinson, ALS and Spinal Cord Injury.”

This study used rats in which a spinal injury was created, meant to mimic that of paraplegia in humans, and then had Brainstorm’s nuerotrophic factor (NTF) human cells implanted. Scientists found that the addition of the NTF cells in the male rats inspired better recovery.

Their next step will be to use rat cells, instead of human stem cells, to limit rejection by the rat’s body. If this procedure continues to show improvement, then we can expect eventual human trials. For now, this is just another promising study, but as with many things, the knowledge that there is continuous movement forward in spinal injury recovery procedures brings hope to many.

Read the original article here.

We have mentioned before studies that link dementia and eventually Alzheimer’s with a traumatic brain injury, so this recently published study from the University of Rochester Medical Center on BrightSurf.com was of some interest.

Statins, also known as HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors, are a class of drugs used to lower cholesterol levels by inhibiting the enzyme HMG-CoA reductase. While their benefits for cholesterol control are impressive, we are more interested in their effect on brain cells and the possible application to damaged brain cells.

According to this study, neuroscientists have found that statins encourage glial progenitor cells to “shed their flexibility and become one particular type of cell”. Glial cells provide important support and protection for neurons (nerve cells that process and transmit information) by holding them in place, supplying them with oxygen and nutrients while destroying pathogens and removing dead neurons. Basically they take care of your brain’s housekeeping, which allows your communicating cells to work efficiently and without obstruction.

Progenitor cells can be compared to adult stem cells, but according to Wikipedia, they are “in the center” between stem cells and (a) fully differentiated cell”. They are particularly important as they have the ability to self renew and also “mobilize” towards a variety of dead or damaged tissue where they “differentiate” into the target cells creating new growth

So as you can see, glial progenitor cells have a lot of potential benefits to offer the damaged brain. The key researchers named in this article are Steven Goldman, M.D., Ph.D. and Fraser Sim, Ph.D. who found the evidence of statin drugs having an effect on brain cells. Their findings are based on experiments performed on brain cell cultures, but not on people, so there needs to be more research done before they will be able to suggest the use of statins on damaged cells.

They used simvastatin and pravastatin, two commonly used statins, on glial progenitor cells and found that both statins “spur glial progenitor cells to develop into oligodendrocytes”. What does this mean? Oligodendrocytes are basically the providers of insulation (myelin) for the nervous system, which allows for efficient conduction (in simplistic terms!).

To use the author’s example, picture a group of young, talented baseball players - “The Rochester team discovered that statins essentially push most of the raw talent in one direction.” The “direction” is towards becoming oligodendrocytes that, with their production of myelin, have the potential to repair damaged cells.

While “spurring” these cells into oligodendrocytes sounds like a great idea for improving damaged areas of the brain, the researchers note potential problems. These glial progenitor cells hang out in the brain, uncommitted, until they are needed for repairs, but if statins are used to deplete them, scientists don’t know how the brain will respond to their loss. Will more be developed or will this actually cause more damage than it repairs?

These questions need to be considered, and scientists are working on it. For now, it’s good to hear about yet another area of potentially promising research that maybe applied to brain damage.

Stem cell research has been a popular topic of controversy on the news, in politics, religion and in everyday households. These tiny cells are able to help repair the body as they have the ability to divide and become the cells needed to repair damage done to a body part such as the spinal cord.

The controversy comes into play when people disagree over the source for these cells. Abundant in deceased embryos, these cells are much less available in adults, which leads to division among those who would use this potentially healing tissue for research and those who believe it is an act against nature.

When it comes to making a choice for your own treatment, there are various approaches that can be taken, including the potential for them to be harvested from your own body. The possible benefits are huge, and because of this, worth looking deeper into.

For the whole article, please visit Medical News Today.