Apoptotic Cells Secrete Angiogenic Factors
It is a medical mystery why approaches such as extracorporeal ozone therapy or even photopheresis seem to have therapeutic effects in certain situations. One possibility is that stressing of cells outside of the body causes formation of apoptotic bodies, with the apoptotic bodies having a therapeutic effect.
The possibility of apoptotic bodies mediating therapeutic effects has been previously suggested in the context of inflammation. In a recent paper (Herr et al. The supernatant of apoptotic cells causes transcriptional activation of HIF-1... [Read more]
Hair Stem Cells for Injured Nerves
Sagamihara, Japan -
Hair follicle stem cells have previously been demonstrated to possess various characteristics of other stem cells, including migration to SDF-1, thus potentially allowing intravenous injection. Also this stem cell population has been proposed, along with adipose stem cells, to have immune modulatory activities.
In a recent paper (Amoh et al. Human hair follicle pluripotent stem (hfPS) cells promote regeneration of peripheral-nerve injury: An advantageous alternative to ES and iPS... [Read more]
Pulmonary Fibrosis Treated by Mesenchymal Stem Cells
Melbourne, Australia -
Systemic administration of stem cells is usually associated with preferential localization into the lung and liver. Lung conditions such as acute respiratory distress syndrome have no cure with exception of transplantation, which is limited to a small number of patients. The rationale of using mesenchymal stem cells for pulmonary diseases comes from their ability to inhibit fibrosis, which has been previously reported in liver failure, their ability to differentiate into pulmonary cells, and... [Read more]
Free bone allograft prevents acute immune reaction
London, Canada -
Antibody-mediated acute vascular rejection (AVR) is a major problem in organ transplantation. The C3H to BALB/c heterotopic (second heart) cardiac transplant model resembles the human condition of AVR. When recipients are given a course of the conventionally used immune suppressant agent cyclosporin A, grafts survive 15 days. This is approximately 8 days more than if left untreated.
A recent study (Wang et al. Free bone graft attenuates acute rejection and in combination with cyclosporin a leads to indefinite cardiac allograft survival. J... [Read more]