Stem Cell

Friday, February 1, 2008

Signaling Update contents for 1 February 2008

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Signaling Gateway - 1 February 2008
http://ealerts.nature.com/cgi-bin24/DM/y/eiw40Xztnp0H2W0M40Er
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Signaling Update is a one-stop online resource designed to keep you
in touch with the latest and most exciting research in cell
signaling. New content is uploaded every Friday.

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In Signaling Update this week:

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Featured Article
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SIGNALING CROSS-TALK: PYK-ING THE PATHWAY FOR STAT ACTIVATION

The calcium-dependent kinase Pyk2 coordinates both interferon-alpha
signaling and calcium signaling in the regulation of Jak1 and STAT1
activation.

Original research paper: Nature Immunology 9, 186-193 (2008)

http://ealerts.nature.com/cgi-bin24/DM/y/eiw40Xztnp0H2W0vP0E1

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Molecule Pages
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The Molecule Pages: A comprehensive, relational, signaling database.
Each week we highlight an expert-authored, peer-reviewed Molecule Page.
http://ealerts.nature.com/cgi-bin24/DM/y/eiw40Xztnp0H2W0HIE0EI

Mst1
http://ealerts.nature.com/cgi-bin24/DM/y/eiw40Xztnp0H2W0BmlD0EZ

Mst1 (also called Stk4) is a widely expressed serine/threonine kinase
that is activated by extreme cellular stressors. Mst1 induces
apoptosis by phosphorylating H2B at Ser 14, an event that is
associated with chromatin condensation. Mst1 is cleaved during
apoptosis by caspase 3. Cleavage at Asp 326 releases the N-terminal
kinase domain, which is much more active than the parent holoprotein.

Also published this week:
Mst2
http://ealerts.nature.com/cgi-bin24/DM/y/eiw40Xztnp0H2W0BmlE0Ea

Search the Molecule Pages
http://ealerts.nature.com/cgi-bin24/DM/y/eiw40Xztnp0H2W0BUuz0EE

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Selected Updates
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CELL POLARITY: HEADS OR TAILS?
The Wnt/beta-catenin signaling pathway maintains the anterioposterior
identity of flatworms during regeneration and homeostasis; inhibiting
this pathway following tail amputation results in the regeneration of
a head in the tail position.
Original research paper: Science 319, 323-327 (2008)
http://ealerts.nature.com/cgi-bin24/DM/y/eiw40Xztnp0H2W0BmlF0Eb

DRUG RESISTANCE: DESTABILIZING INFLUENCE
Low expression of TGFBI corresponds to resistance to the drug
paclitaxel in an ovarian cancer cell line, suggesting that TGFBI
could be used as a biomarker for predicting chemotherapy response.
Original research paper: Cancer Cell 12, 514–527 (2007)
http://ealerts.nature.com/cgi-bin24/DM/y/eiw40Xztnp0H2W0BmlG0Ec

SENSORY PERCEPTION: ONE TRPM8 FITS ALL
Neuronal expression studies on the TRPM8 ion channel reveal that the
ability of TRPM8 to convey different sensations of cold depends on
its expression in several discrete types of sensory neurons.
Original research paper: J. Neurosci. 27, 14147–14157 (2007)
http://ealerts.nature.com/cgi-bin24/DM/y/eiw40Xztnp0H2W0BmlH0Ed

More Updates:
http://ealerts.nature.com/cgi-bin24/DM/y/eiw40Xztnp0H2W0BmlI0Ee

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Research Library
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MACROPHAGE MIGRATION INHIBITORY FACTOR STIMULATES AMP-ACTIVATED
PROTEIN KINASE IN THE ISCHAEMIC HEART
Nature 451, 578-582 (2008)
http://ealerts.nature.com/cgi-bin24/DM/y/eiw40Xztnp0H2W0BmlJ0Ef

DEFICIENCY OR INHIBITION OF OXYGEN SENSOR Phd1 INDUCES HYPOXIA
TOLERANCE BY REPROGRAMMING BASAL METABOLISM
Nature Genetics 40, 170-180 (2008)
http://ealerts.nature.com/cgi-bin24/DM/y/eiw40Xztnp0H2W0BmlK0Eg

EPHRIN-B REVERSE SIGNALING PROMOTES STRUCTURAL AND FUNCTIONAL
SYNAPTIC MATURATION IN VIVO
Nature Neuroscience 11, 160-169 (2008)
http://ealerts.nature.com/cgi-bin24/DM/y/eiw40Xztnp0H2W0BmlL0Eh

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Signaling News
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NATURE NEWS: NAKED MOLE-RATS DON'T FEEL THE BURN
http://ealerts.nature.com/cgi-bin24/DM/y/eiw40Xztnp0H2W0BmTC0EA

Naked mole-rats are sensitive to mechanical pain caused by pinching,
but are insensitive to the burning sensation of capsaicin.
Researchers have now shown that this effect is due to the absence of
substance P in these animals. Exogenous expression of substance P
sensitizes naked mole-rats to capsaicin, suggesting that inhibition
of substance P could have an analgesic effect.

More News
http://ealerts.nature.com/cgi-bin24/DM/y/eiw40Xztnp0H2W0Crw0Ei

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Gateway Updates
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NEUROSCIENCE GATEWAY UPDATE
http://ealerts.nature.com/cgi-bin24/DM/y/eiw40Xztnp0H2W0BmlM0Ei

The Neuroscience Gateway is a comprehensive FREE online resource to
keep you abreast of the latest findings in the field.

This month's update features:

Pair of a kind
http://ealerts.nature.com/cgi-bin24/DM/y/eiw40Xztnp0H2W0Bl3z0EV

Backhanded complement
http://ealerts.nature.com/cgi-bin24/DM/y/eiw40Xztnp0H2W0Bk6t0ER

Sign up to receive the table of contents e-alert for the
Neuroscience Update.
http://ealerts.nature.com/cgi-bin24/DM/y/eiw40Xztnp0H2W0BmlN0Ej

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Signaling Job of the Week
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Biotherapeutics Positions
Employer: Pfizer
Location: Sandwich, United Kingdom
http://ealerts.nature.com/cgi-bin24/DM/y/eiw40Xztnp0H2W0BmlO0Ek

Pfizer Biotherapeutics Research is seeking experienced professionals
to create a center of biotherapeutics innovation at their facility
in Sandwich, UK. Positions are available for scientists with
expertise in therapeutic antibodies or proteins, drug discovery,
hybridomas, viral vectors, molecular biology, cell trafficking and
bioanalytics. To learn more about these positions, please visit
Pfizer Biotherapeutics

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More Jobs:
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To advertize a job in this spot, please contact Naturejobs.
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[StemCells] Neurons for human brains developed

ITRC develops Neurons for human brain cells
Sanjay M Johri, 17 November 2007, Saturday
Views:: 858 Comments: 1
The ITRC, Lucknow developed neurons for human brain cells.
Hopefully, Alzheimer and Parkinson's diseases will become curable.
But scientists at ITRC maintain that `it is too early to say
anything'. Stem cell research may cure dreaded diseases.

IN WHAT IS considered as significant progress in stem cell research,
the Lucknow-based Industrial Toxicological Research Centre (ITRC) has
achieved success by developing neurons for human brain cells, raising
hopes that the dreaded Alzheimer and Parkinson's diseases may find
cure.

"It is too early to say anything", says Dr. A.B. Pant, the scientist
at the In-Vitro Toxicology Lab of ITRC adding, "We have succeeded in
isolating stem cells from umbilical cord and trying to ascertain
which of the gene gets affected with the pesticides".

This is for the first time that such a research has been initiated by
one of the prestigious laboratories in India under the Council of
Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR).

"We have developed technology to grow and develop neurons and results
might prove beneficial for treating diseases based on neuro-
deficiencies and deformities", Dr. Pant explained. "We are looking at
which part of the brain in an embryo (foetus development) gets
affected most and which of the particular area in the embryonic brain
gets deformed by the ninth month of the pregnancy", he said while
speaking to Merinews.

He said since embryo development took place in the fourth month of
the pregnancy, research was directed to ascertain in which stage of
embryonic development, the neurons get affected by pesticides.
Generally, it is the toxicity of chemicals which retards embryonic
development and results in stillbirths in the country.

"We have seen that pesticides alter the structure of genes and often
we find a child suffering from serious neurological disorder since
birth, Dr. Pant said and added that the ongoing research would also
tell something about the damaging effects of drugs and other
chemicals. In the process, the stem cell research might provide an
answer to many a dreaded disease, he said.

Scientists across the globe have been able to experiment with human
embryonic stem cells (HESC) only since 1998, when a group led by Dr.
James Thomson at the University of Wisconsin developed a technique to
isolate and grow the cells. Stem cell research is thought to offer
potential cures and therapies for many devastating diseases but
research into using them is still in its early stages.

Doctors have been transferring HSCs in bone marrow transplants for
over 40 years. More advanced techniques of collecting,
or "harvesting" HSCs are now used in order to treat leukaemia,
lymphoma and several inherited blood disorders.

Stem cells have a remarkable potential to develop into many different
cell types in the body. Serving as a sort of repair system for the
body, they can theoretically divide without limit to replenish other
cells as long as the person or animal is alive. When a stem cell
divides, each new cell has the potential to either remain a stem cell
or become another type of cell with a more specialized function, such
as a muscle cell, a red blood cell, or a brain cell.

http://www.merinews.com/catFull.jsp?articleID=127766

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StemCells subscribers may also be interested in these sites:

Children's Neurobiological Solutions
http://www.CNSfoundation.org/

Cord Blood Registry
http://www.CordBlood.com/at.cgi?a=150123

The CNS Healing Group
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CNS_Healing
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[StemCells] Frogs, Regeneration, & Transforming Growth Factor Beta 3

Nature's tiny wonders heal human scars
The secret powers of frogs are being exploited by scientists to
create drugs that will correct disfiguring facial scars and could one
day help in the regrowth of amputated arms and legs
Robin McKie, science editor The Observer, Sunday November 18 2007

This article appeared in the Observer on Sunday November 18 2007 on
p16 of the News section. It was last updated at 23:53 on November 17
2007. The secret powers of frogs are being exploited by scientists to
create drugs that will correct disfiguring facial scars and could one
day help in the regrowth of amputated arms and legs.

Manchester University researchers are exploiting the ability of some
amphibians to regrow limbs. 'Human and amphibian proteins are very
similar,' said one of the researchers, Professor Enrique Amaya. 'That
means the lessons you learn from frogs and salamanders are applicable
to humans. Their embryos - spawn - are also easier to study.'

The Manchester work on tissue regeneration began 10 years ago, when
Professor Mark Ferguson discovered most animals' embryos recover more
fully from cuts than adult animals. The latter are often left
scarred, but not embryos.

'The protein responsible for this recovery is known as Transforming
Growth Factor Beta 3,' said Ferguson. 'It is present in small amounts
in adults, but in large amounts in embryos, where it plays a key role
in helping skin to multiply inside in a rapidly growing embryo.'
Ferguson's team has since isolated the protein, TGF Beta 3, and has
developed ways to manufacture it artificially. The result is a drug
called Juvista. Its development has been taken over by a university
spin-off company, Renovo, which is now in phase two clinical trials.
Juvista could soon be used as a treatment for alleviating scarring
during surgery, added Ferguson. 'After surgery for really severe
accidents, patients can be left with disfiguring scars. Using
Juvista, which you inject into the skin during the operation, we've
found we can reduce scarring by a significant amount.'

Researchers at both centres are now working on ways to make further
improvement in drugs to help scars heal after surgery. 'We are not
doing this to help women who want to remove bags from under their
eyes,' said Amaya. 'We want to help people who suffered really nasty
facial deformities after accidents.'

A key to this work is Manchester's research on amphibians. Spawn -
usually from the genus Xenopus - is used to search for other
biochemical agents that aid scar recovery. In addition, some species
of amphibians, mainly salamanders, are known to grow replacement
limbs.

If the biochemical agents and growth factors involved in limb growth
can be discovered, then it could have profoundly important medical
implications, said Professor Cay Kielty. 'Limb regrowth involves
blood, bone and muscle tissue growing in a very ordered manner. If
you can learn how that it happens in amphibians, you could think of
replicating it in humans.'

Researchers envisage erecting bio-degradable scaffolding on a limb
site, lacing these with a patient's stem cells and then adding
biochemical agents developed from their amphibian work. The stem
cells would evolve into blood, muscle and bone under the direction of
these agents, while the scaffold disintegrates slowly - to form a new
limb.

'It is encouraging, but it will take many years to realise,' added
Ferguson. 'However, we are close to getting medicines that will
reduce scars in accident victims.'

http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2007/nov/18/drugs.medicalresearch

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[StemCells] Overseas Treatments - Risks studied

("The study reported "no clinically useful improvements" — even
though most patients believed they were better. Five developed
complications such as meningitis."

China Offers Unproven Medical Treatments
Published 01/5/2008 | January 2008
By CHRISTOPHER BODEEN and ALAN SCHER ZAGIER

BEIJING (AP) — They're paralyzed from diving accidents and car
crashes, disabled by Parkinson's, or blind. With few options
available at home in America, they search the Internet for
experimental treatments — and often land on Web sites promoting stem
cell treatments in China.

They mortgage their houses and their hometowns hold fundraisers as
they scrape together the tens of thousands of dollars needed for
travel and the hope for a miracle cure.

Paralyzed after a diving accident almost a year ago, 15-year-old
Celine Lyon receiving treatment at the Tiantan Puhua Hospital in
Beijing, China, Thursday, May 24, 2007. Tiantan Puhua, a joint
venture between Asia's largest neurological hospital and American
Pacific Medical Group, specialize in using stem cells injections to
treat diseases ranging from stroke and spinal cord injuries to
cerebral palsy and Ataxia. Since opening its treatment to foreigners
last year, the hospital has been attracting increasing interest from
overseas patients, the latest breed of medical tourists. (AP Photo/Ng
Han Guan)

Kazakstan's Serik Ananchiev, 27, right receiving treatment at the
Tiantan Puhua Hospital in Beijing, China, Thursday, May 24, 2007.
Tiantan Puhua, a joint venture between Asia's largest neurological
hospital and American Pacific Medical Group, specialize in using stem
cells injections to treat diseases ranging from stroke and spinal
cord injuries to cerebral palsy and ataxia. Since opening its
treatment to foreigners last year, the hospital has been attracting
increasing interest from overseas patients, the latest breed of
medical tourists.(AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

Kazakstan's Serik Ananchiev, 27, left paralysed in a car accident and
Zhao Jionghao, 2 at right receiving treatment at the Tiantan Puhua
Hospital in Beijing, China, Thursday, May 24, 2007. Tiantan Puhua, a
joint venture between Asia's largest neurological hospital and
American Pacific Medical Group, specializes in using stem cells
injections to treat diseases ranging from stroke and spinal cord
injuries to cerebral palsy and ataxia. Since opening its treatment to
foreigners last year, the hospital has been attracting increasing
interest from overseas patients, the latest breed of medical tourists.
(AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

Angela Im at right looks over as her husband, William T. Gillespie ,
left talks about her treatment to repair damage to her Brain stem
caused initially by lupus at the Tiantan Puhua Hospital in Beijing,
China, Thursday, May 24, 2007. Tiantan Puhua, a joint venture between
Asia's largest neurological hospital and American Pacific Medical
Group, specializes in using stem cells injections to treat diseases
ranging from stroke and spinal cord injuries to cerebral palsy and
ataxia. Since opening its treatment to foreigners last year, the
hospital has been attracting increasing interest from overseas
patients, the latest breed of medical tourists.(AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

Chris Hrabik, 21, works on his customized 1993 Nissan 240SX as his
wheelchair sits near by Thursday, Aug. 2, 2007, in Oak Ridge, Mo.
More than a year after his return from China where he received stem
cell therapy, Hrabik says he has nearly complete use of his left hand
and improvement in the right, reversing paralysis caused by a car
accident near his 18th birthday. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

A number of these medical tourists claim some success when they
return home:

Jim Savage, a Houston man with paralysis from a spinal cord injury,
says he can move his right arm. Penny Thomas of Hawaii says her
Parkinson's tremors are mostly gone. The parents of 6-year-old Rylea
Barlett of Missouri, born with an optical defect, say she can see.

But documentation is mostly lacking, and Western doctors warn that
patients are serving as guinea pigs in a country that isn't doing the
rigorous lab and human tests that are needed to prove a treatment is
safe and effective.

Noting the lack of evidence, three Western doctors, undertook their
own limited study. It involved seven patients with spinal cord
injuries who chose to get fetal brain tissue injections at one
hospital in China. The study reported "no clinically useful
improvements" — even though most patients believed they were better.
Five developed complications such as meningitis.

Experts in the West have theories about why some people think they've
improved when the evidence is thin. Some are often getting intensive
physical therapy, along with the mysterious injections; the placebo
effect may also be a factor.

John Steeves, a professor at the University of British Columbia who
heads an international group that monitors spinal cord treatments,
has another theory. Some patients may be influenced by the amount of
money they paid and the help they got from those who donated or
helped raise money.

"Needless to say, when they come back, what are they going to report
to their friends and neighbors? That it didn't work?" said
Steeves. "Nobody wants to hear that."

He and other experts have written a booklet advising patients who are
considering such treatments.

Western doctors discourage their patients from seeking such
treatments. They note that it's impossible to gauge the safety and
effectiveness of the treatments, or even know what's in the
injections put into brains and spinal cords.

Patients and their families say they accept those risks. They simply
don't have time to wait for more conclusive evidence. For many, the
trip to China is a journey of hope.

"It's one of the only games in town," said Savage, 44, a lawyer who
suffered severe spinal cord injuries after a canoe trip 25 years ago.

Savage spent 2 1/2 months in late 2006 and early 2007 at a hospital
in the southern China city of Shenzhen to get what he was told were
stem cell injections in his spine from umbilical cord blood. He made
the arrangements through Beike Biotechnology Co., which offers the
treatments at a number of hospitals in China.

Afterward, Savage said he was able to move his right arm for the
first time since his diving accident; a video made at the hospital
appears to show slight movement. He also said he noticed greater
strength in his abdomen and more sensation on his skin.

Just how many foreigners like Savage are coming to China for
treatment isn't known; and China is only one of several countries
where such techniques are being offered.

Many Chinese doctors don't wait for results of rigorous testing
before treating patients and they offer what they say are stem cell
or other cell treatments to those willing to pay.

What is known about the procedures being performed comes from
material on their Web sites or from patients who give detailed
accounts of their visits. Little has been published in scientific
journals for other doctors to scrutinize.

The use of stem cells for treatments isn't new. For decades, doctors
around the world have been using adult stem cells from blood and bone
marrow — and more recently from umbilical cord blood — to treat
cancers of the blood like leukemia and lymphoma and blood diseases
like sickle cell anemia.

Scientists have been exploring whether such adult stem cells and
other cells such as those from the retina or fetal brain tissue could
be used to replace cells lost because of injury or disease. And they
are trying to figure out if there's a way to stimulate the body's own
stem cells to make repairs.

But those strategies are still being investigated in the lab in
animals; there have been very limited tests in people.

Whether any clinics in China are using the more controversial
embryonic stem cells — doctors in some other countries claim to be —
isn't clear. These stem cells are taken from days-old embryos. They
can develop into all types of cells, but research into their
usefulness is in early stages.

Patients seek out these unproven treatments after hearing about them
from other patients, patient groups or Web sites for the medical
companies. The patients' stories posted on the Internet usually tell
of some kind of improvement from the treatments — slight movements in
arms or legs, fewer spasms or tremors, a feeling of sensation, an
ability to sweat.

Chris Hrabik, 21, has been disabled since a 2004 car crash left him
with limited use of his hands and legs. His father took out a second
mortgage on their Oak Ridge, Mo., home to help pay for $20,000 worth
of stem cell injections at a Beike facility in China.

More than a year after returning home, Hrabik says he has nearly
complete use of his left hand, with improvement in the right. He can
work on his customized 1993 Nissan 240SX, a modified number complete
with hand controls and racing seats.

He said he was able to move his left fingers within days of that
first injection of umbilical cord stem cells into his spinal cord.
There's been little progress since he left China, but he called the
incremental changes significant.

"I just wanted something back, no matter what it was," said Hrabik,
who attributes some of the changes to the Physical Therapy that he
had in China.

Beike founder Sean Hu, who returned from abroad in 1999 with a
doctorate in biochemistry, said the company has treated more than
1,000 patients, including 300 foreigners from 40 different countries.
The only side effects have been slight fevers and headaches among a
small percentage of patients, according to Hu.

He said patients with trauma injuries experience the most dramatic
improvements; those with degenerative diseases such as ALS, also
known as Lou Gehrig's disease, tend to improve initially but then
slide back to their former condition within months.

"Patients shouldn't have their expectations too high," Hu said. "For
patients to think they can walk again may be too much at this stage,"
he said.

He's now seeking venture capital to expand his web of treatment
centers, labs and doctors and adapt proprietary techniques from
researchers overseas.

"There is real potential here for China to take the lead in stem
cells," Hu said.

Also offering treatments is Tiantan Puhua in Beijing, a joint venture
between Asia's largest neurological hospital and an American medical
group. Tiantan's sunny, sparkling rooms are a far cry from the dour
facilities and staff at most Chinese hospitals. Diseases treated
there range from stroke and spinal cord injuries to cerebral palsy
and ataxia, a rare neurological condition that can cause slurred
speech.

The hospital says its stem cell injections are combined with daily,
three-hour doses of intravenous drugs designed to stimulate
production of the patient's own stem cells. Physical Rehabilitation
and Chinese medicine are also part of the plan. A standard two-month
course of treatment costs $30,000 to $35,000.

"We want to see actual improvements," said Dr. Sherwood Yang, head of
the hospital's management team. "We are giving them another option at
the highest level of safety."

Yang contends that 90 percent of patients show some results, with the
rest suffering disabilities that are too far advanced to respond to
treatment.

"We are making no promises," he added. "It's impossible to say
exactly how any given patient will respond."

Western experts point to the lack of documented evidence that cell
treatments have any benefit for spinal cord injuries or degenerative
diseases like Parkinson's.

"All of us in the so-called Western world, if there was something
valid, we'd be the first to be offering it," said Steeves, the
Canadian professor and director of the International Collaboration on
Repair Discoveries, known as ICORD.

Three other experts were involved in the study that found no
improvement in the seven spinal cord injury patients who went for
fetal brain tissue injections in China. The patients were evaluated
before and after their surgery.

The doctors stressed their observations were no substitute for a
larger, more strict investigation.

"People are looking for a cure," said Dr. Bruce Dobkin, a neurology
professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, School of
Medicine, one of the study's authors. "They may come to do something
based more on a gut feeling. It's like looking for a religious
miracle."

Along with the patients' booklet of advice about exploring
experimental treatments, Steeves and other researchers have drawn up
a set of guidelines on how to do research in spinal cord injuries.
Another researcher, Dr. Wise Young of Rutgers University, is
assembling a network of Chinese medical centers and universities to
train researchers and conduct studies that meet international
standards.

Dr. Michael Okun, medical director of the National Parkinson
Foundation, said his group discourages patients from seeking out
experimental treatments unless they're being done under the most
rigorous research protocols.

"Stem cell therapy ... is a really interesting area that has a lot of
promise for therapeutic approaches. But we're just not ready to be
putting stem cells into people's brains at this point in time," said
Okun.

But such warnings don't dissuade people like Penny Thomas of Captain
Cook, Hawaii. She sought treatment for Parkinson's disease at
Tiantan, where doctors drilled into her skull and injected what she
was told were cells from a donor's retina. One year later, she said
her tremors are almost gone and her medication has been cut to one-
half of a single pill.

"I have no regrets and would do it all over again if need be," said
Thomas, 53.

So would the parents of Rylea Barlett of Webb City, Mo. The family
raised nearly $40,000 from friends and neighbors to spend a month in
China at a Beike facility last summer, hoping treatments would cure
their daughter's blindness. The child was born with an optic nerve
disorder.

Dawn Barlett said her daughter responded to lights shone in her eyes
within a week after the first of a series of five stem cell
injections and can now make out blurry images on TV.

"She had no vision whatsoever before we left," the mother
said. "There was no hope otherwise."

The girl's optometrist, Larry Brothers, said: "It truly is a miracle."

But when pressed for details, he said he detected "subtle
differences" in Rylea's optic nerve after her return from China.
Asked if he would characterize her progress as incremental, he said
that "might be too optimistic."

Associated Press Writer Alan Scher Zagier reported from Missouri; AP
writer Stephanie Nano in New York also contributed to this report.

http://www.thescizone.com/news/articles/1496/1/China-Offers-Unproven-
Medical-Treatments/1.html

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[StemCells] 'Embryonic' from skin - even easier, now

Scientists create stem cells from skin tissue
Date: February 01, 2008

The two research teams of Cheju National University and Konkuk
University succeded in producing stem cells out of skin tissue and
applied for patents as announced on Friday (Feb. 1).Korean scientists
said Friday (Feb. 1) that they have successfully produced stem cells
from the skin tissue of laboratory animals without relying on the use
of ovum.

The move, which may skirt ethical controversy surrounding the use of
ovum in laboratories, is the third of its kind after scientists in
Japan and the United States announced similar breakthroughs in 2006
and 2007.

The use of eggs has drawn fire become some pro-life and religious
groups claim that using the cells is the equivalent of taking a life.

The team led by Park Se-pill, a life engineering professor at Cheju
National University, said it created the stem cell from somatic cell
samples of mice, possibly opening new opportunities for the creation
of patient-specific stem cells.

Theoretically, patient-specific cells could be designed to grow into
replacement organs, nerves and muscle that are not rejected by the
body's immune system. They could also be used to treat such diseases
as Alzheimer's and diabetes and help people suffering from paralysis
of limbs caused by damaged vertebrae.

Park said the overall process of making the stem cells is similar to
those by U.S. and Japanese scientists, there has been a marked
improvement in the success rate.

"Foreign scientists used the so-called retrovirus, but we made
headway by attaching the lentivirus to the transporting vector, and
inserted it into the somatic cell of the lab animal," he said.

This process resulted in a stem cell being confirmed by a fluorescent
microscope.

The team claimed it was able to push these stem cells to
differentiate into liver, nerve and muscle tissues.

They said efforts are underway to recreate the process using human
somatic cells.

Park, who is also the leading researcher at Mirae Biotech Research
Institute in Seoul, said the discovery has been submitted for both
domestic and international patents.

He stressed that because the latest process was more efficient in
stem cell production, it could give local engineers a competitive
edge in the eventual development of patient-specific stem cells.

In 2006, Kyoto University scientist Shinya Yamanaka said he created
stem cells from the somatic cell of mice. Last year, the Japanese
stem cell expert and James Thomson of the University of Wisconsin
announced they successfully made stem cells from skin tissue.

Both developments drew considerable attention from the scientific
community that has been hampered by moves by governments to prevent
the use of ova to make stem cells.

"Just as former cloning expert Hwang Woo-suk helped Korea reach the
forefront of animal cloning, the latest breakthrough should help the
country take the lead in the race to make viable stem cells that can
be used for treatment," Park said.

He added the research results have been submitted to international
scientific journals for publishing.

http://www.kois.go.kr/news/news/newsView.asp?
serial_no=20080201032&part=107&SearchDay=&page=1

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[StemCells] Sperm made from womyn marrow

Death of the father: British scientists discover how to turn women's
bone marrow into sperm
By FIONA MACRAE - More by this author »
Last updated at 09:28am on 31st January 2008

Bye bye baby: The new science means the biological role of the father
is under threat
British scientists are ready to turn female bone marrow into sperm,
cutting men out of the process of creating life.

The breakthrough paves the way for lesbian couples to have children
that are biologically their own.

Gay men could follow suit by using the technique to make eggs from
male bone marrow.

Researchers at Newcastle upon Tyne University say their technique
will help lead to new treatments for infertility.

But critics warn that it sidelines men and raises the prospect of
babies being born through entirely artificial means.

The research centres around stem cells - the body's 'mother' cells
which can turn into any other type of cell.

According to New Scientist magazine, the scientists want to take stem
cells from a woman donor's bone marrow and transform them into sperm
through the use of special chemicals and vitamins.

Newcastle professor Karim Nayernia has applied for permission to
carry out the work and is ready to start the experiments within two
months.

The biologist, who pioneered the technique with mice, believes early-
stage 'female sperm' could be produced inside two years. Mature sperm
capable of fertilising eggs might take three more years.

Early-stage sperm have already been produced from male bone marrow.

Taking stem cells from an adult donor - possibly a cancer patient -
removes the ethical problems associated with using embryos.

The race to find a cure for infertility is global.

Greg Aharonian, a U.S. analyst who is trying to patent the
technologies behind female sperm and male eggs, said he wants to
undermine the argument that heterosexual marriage is superior because
it is aimed at procreation. "I'm a troublemaker," he said.

I was the daughter of a sperm donor - shame no-one told me
Scientists discover a way to reverse memory loss

Researchers at the Butantan Institute in Brazil, meanwhile, claim to
have turned embryonic stem cells from male mice into both sperm and
eggs. They are now working on skin cells.

If their experiments succeed, the stage would be set for a gay man to
donate skin cells that could be used to make eggs.

These could then be fertilised by his partner's sperm and placed into
the womb of a surrogate mother.

Irina Kerkis, a researcher at the Brazilian centre, said this
development is possible, but raises ethical questions.

Laboratory-grown sperm and eggs offer hope for those left infertile
by radiotherapy treatment when they were young.

The experiments could also provide an invaluable insight into dealing
with infertility, a little understood condition that affects one in
six couples.

Other scientists warn however that the research is still in its
infancy and any treatment is still many years away from use in
hospitals and clinics.

There are also fears that children born from artificial eggs and
sperm will suffer severe health problems, like the mice in the
Newcastle experiments.

Couples who have children from artificial sperm created from women
would be able to have girls only. This is because the female sperm
would lack the Y-chromosome needed for boys.

Robin Lovell-Badge, of the National Institute for Medical Research in
London, said the creation of female sperm is at least a decade away.

Josephine Quintavalle, of Comment on Reproductive Ethics, a campaign
group, said: "We are looking at absurd solutions to very obscure
situations and not addressing the main issue. Nobody is interested in
looking at what is causing infertility - social reasons such as
obesity, smoking and age.

"All these things would provide solutions which wouldn't grab the
headlines, but a lot more people would get the response they want -
which is to be able to have their own children."

Mike Judge, of the Christian Institute faith group, said the
Newcastle project flies in the face of research showing that children
do best when raised by a married mixed- sex couple.

"Children need male and female role models in their lives," he
added. "Yes, there are children raised by single parents through all
sorts of circumstances, but when you are talking about deliberately
creating children in that way, that is morally wrong."

Debra Matthews, a U.S. bioethicist, said: "People want children and
no one wants anyone else to tell them they can't have them."

An update of Britain's ageing fertility laws is going through
Parliament and is likely to allow the use of artificial sperm and
eggs in IVF treatment - but only for heterosexual couples.

The Newcastle research also paves the way for a woman to grow her own
sperm and use it to fertilise her natural eggs, creating a child to
which she is both mother and father.

Similarly, a man could be both father and mother to a child created
with his own sperm and a lab-grown egg. Such children would be at
high risk of genetic abnormality.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/technology/technology.h
tml?in_article_id=511391&in_page_id=1965

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Oncogene Table of Contents alert Volume 27 Issue 6

ONCOGENE

January 2008 Volume 27 Number 6, pp 721 - 876

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to read the latest articles from Oncogene Reviews!

----------------------
ORIGINAL ARTICLES
----------------------
A pivotal role for Mcl-1 in Bortezomib-induced apoptosis
K Podar, S L Gouill, J Zhang, J T Opferman, E Zorn, Y-T Tai, T
Hideshima, M Amiot, D Chauhan, J-L Harousseau and K C Anderson
Abstract: http://ealerts.nature.com/cgi-bin24/DM/y/eiv30Xztnp0Hjk0Bmdk0EK
Article: http://ealerts.nature.com/cgi-bin24/DM/y/eiv30Xztnp0Hjk0Bmdl0EL

Histone deacetylase inhibitors and hydroxyurea modulate the cell cycle
and cooperatively induce apoptosis
O H Kramer, S K Knauer, D Zimmermann, R H Stauber and T Heinzel
Abstract: http://ealerts.nature.com/cgi-bin24/DM/y/eiv30Xztnp0Hjk0Bmdm0EM
Article: http://ealerts.nature.com/cgi-bin24/DM/y/eiv30Xztnp0Hjk0Bmdn0EN

Stress via p53 pathway causes apoptosis by mitochondrial Noxa
upregulation in doxorubicin-treated neuroblastoma cells
K Kurata, R Yanagisawa, M Ohira, M Kitagawa, A Nakagawara and T Kamijo
Abstract: http://ealerts.nature.com/cgi-bin24/DM/y/eiv30Xztnp0Hjk0Bmdo0EO
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Eukaryotic initiation factor 6 selectively regulates Wnt signaling and
[beta]-catenin protein synthesis
Y Ji, S Shah, K Soanes, M N Islam, B Hoxter, S Biffo, T Heslip and S
Byers
Abstract: http://ealerts.nature.com/cgi-bin24/DM/y/eiv30Xztnp0Hjk0Bmdq0EQ
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MnSOD protects colorectal cancer cells from TRAIL-induced apoptosis by
inhibition of Smac//DIABLO release
A Mohr, C Buneker, R P Gough and R M Zwacka
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Article: http://ealerts.nature.com/cgi-bin24/DM/y/eiv30Xztnp0Hjk0Bmdt0ET

Quantitative monitoring by polymerase colony assay of known mutations
resistant to ABL kinase inhibitors
V Nardi, T Raz, X Cao, C J Wu, R M Stone, J Cortes, M W N Deininger, G
Church, J Zhu and G Q Daley
Abstract: http://ealerts.nature.com/cgi-bin24/DM/y/eiv30Xztnp0Hjk0Bmdu0EU
Article: http://ealerts.nature.com/cgi-bin24/DM/y/eiv30Xztnp0Hjk0Bmdv0EV

Cytotoxic drug-induced, p53-mediated upregulation of caspase-8 in
tumor cells
H Ehrhardt, S Hacker, S Wittmann, M Maurer, A Borkhardt, A Toloczko,
K-M Debatin, S Fulda and I Jeremias
Abstract: http://ealerts.nature.com/cgi-bin24/DM/y/eiv30Xztnp0Hjk0Bmdw0EW
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Activation of estrogen signaling pathways collaborates with loss of
Brca1 to promote development of ER[alpha]-negative and
ER[alpha]-positive mammary preneoplasia and cancer
L P Jones, M T Tilli, S Assefnia, K Torre, E D Halama, A Parrish, E M
Rosen and P A Furth
Abstract: http://ealerts.nature.com/cgi-bin24/DM/y/eiv30Xztnp0Hjk0Bmdy0EY
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Expression and sequence analysis of candidates for the 1p36.31 tumor
suppressor gene deleted in neuroblastomas
E R Okawa, T Gotoh, J Manne, J Igarashi, T Fujita, K A Silverman, H
Xhao, Y P Mosse, P S White and G M Brodeur
Abstract: http://ealerts.nature.com/cgi-bin24/DM/y/eiv30Xztnp0Hjk0Bmd10EM
Article: http://ealerts.nature.com/cgi-bin24/DM/y/eiv30Xztnp0Hjk0Bmd20EN

Effects of protein phosphorylation on ubiquitination and stability of
the translational inhibitor protein 4E-BP1
A Elia, C Constantinou and M J Clemens
Abstract: http://ealerts.nature.com/cgi-bin24/DM/y/eiv30Xztnp0Hjk0Bmd30EO
Article: http://ealerts.nature.com/cgi-bin24/DM/y/eiv30Xztnp0Hjk0Bmd40EP

The steroid receptor coactivator-3 is a tumor promoter in a mouse
model of thyroid cancer
H Ying, M C Willingham and S-Y Cheng
Abstract: http://ealerts.nature.com/cgi-bin24/DM/y/eiv30Xztnp0Hjk0Bmd50EQ
Article: http://ealerts.nature.com/cgi-bin24/DM/y/eiv30Xztnp0Hjk0Bmd60ER

Increased mitochondrial DNA induces acquired docetaxel resistance in
head and neck cancer cells
T Mizumachi, S Suzuki, A Naito, J Carcel-Trullols, T T Evans, P M
Spring, N Oridate, Y Furuta, S Fukuda and M Higuchi
Abstract: http://ealerts.nature.com/cgi-bin24/DM/y/eiv30Xztnp0Hjk0Bmd70ES
Article: http://ealerts.nature.com/cgi-bin24/DM/y/eiv30Xztnp0Hjk0Bmd80ET

Physical and functional interaction of Runt-related protein 1 with
hypoxia-inducible factor-1[alpha]
Z G Peng, M Y Zhou, Y Huang, J H Qiu, L S Wang, S H Liao, S Dong and G
Q Chen
Abstract: http://ealerts.nature.com/cgi-bin24/DM/y/eiv30Xztnp0Hjk0BmeA0Ed
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p51//p63 inhibits ultraviolet B-induced apoptosis via Akt activation
E Ogawa, R Okuyama, S Ikawa, H Nagoshi, T Egawa, A Kurihara, M Yabuki,
H Tagami, M Obinata and S Aiba
Abstract: http://ealerts.nature.com/cgi-bin24/DM/y/eiv30Xztnp0Hjk0BmeC0Ef
Article: http://ealerts.nature.com/cgi-bin24/DM/y/eiv30Xztnp0Hjk0BmeD0Eg

----------------------
SHORT COMMUNICATION
----------------------
Detection of polyomaviruses and herpesviruses in human adrenal tumors
L Barzon, M Trevisan, G Masi, M Pacenti, A Sinigaglia, V Macchi, A
Porzionato, R De Caro, G Favia, M Iacobone and G Palu
Abstract: http://ealerts.nature.com/cgi-bin24/DM/y/eiv30Xztnp0Hjk0BmeE0Eh
Article: http://ealerts.nature.com/cgi-bin24/DM/y/eiv30Xztnp0Hjk0BmeF0Ei

----------------------
ONCOGENOMICS
----------------------
The extracellular matrix protein ITIH5 is a novel prognostic marker in
invasive node-negative breast cancer and its aberrant expression is
caused by promoter hypermethylation
J Veeck, M Chorovicer, A Naami, E Breuer, M Zafrakas, N Bektas, M
Durst, G Kristiansen, P J Wild, A Hartmann, R Knuechel and E Dahl
Abstract: http://ealerts.nature.com/cgi-bin24/DM/y/eiv30Xztnp0Hjk0BmeG0Ej
Article: http://ealerts.nature.com/cgi-bin24/DM/y/eiv30Xztnp0Hjk0BmeH0Ek

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World Stem Cell Summit 2010

Friday, February 1, 2008

Signaling Update contents for 1 February 2008

[StemCells] Neurons for human brains developed

[StemCells] Frogs, Regeneration, & Transforming Growth Factor Beta 3

[StemCells] Overseas Treatments - Risks studied

[StemCells] 'Embryonic' from skin - even easier, now

[StemCells] Sperm made from womyn marrow

Oncogene Table of Contents alert Volume 27 Issue 6

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