Impairment in mitochondrial homeostasis is one of the hallmarks of aging. Despite its importance underlying causes are still unclear and it is poorly understood if this process can be slowed or reversed.  Group of researchers from the USA, Portugal and Australia demonstrated importance of NAD+ in reducing age-related changes in mouse muscle. Article was published in Cell journal. Shift from...

Article proposing use  of mouse models for recreation of patient’s  primary tumor properties and response to treatment  had been published in Nature Medicine in June. Despite intensive study, small-cell lung cancer (SCLC) remains a dire diagnosis with few treatment options and limited prognosis. However, the science and treatment of SCLC has taken a big step forward with a clever application...

Oxytocin,  hormone involved in lactation, parturition and social bonding, also enables old muscles to rejuvenate. Systemic injection of hormone oxytocin into old mice stimulated muscle regeneration. After an injury the muscles in these animals had similar regeneration levels to muscles in young mice. The hormone improves repair by  activating a signalling pathway in muscle stem cells — thereby boosting the...

Biopharmaceutical company BioLineRx received approval to commence Phase 1 Trial for novel stem cell mobilization of stem cells from the bone marrow to the peripheral blood circulation. Stem cell mobilization is a way to collect stem cells from bone marrow without surgical manipulations for autologous use or donation. The Phase 1 study consists of two parts. Part 1 is a...

Celgene Corporation (NASDAQ:CELG) and Acceleron Pharma Inc. (NASDAQ:XLRN) presented  interim data from two studies of candidates from the companies' joint development program in beta-thalassemia. at the 19th European Hematology Association (EHA) annual congress. Companies’ products sotatercept and ACE-536 demonstrated good activity in patients with both transfusion dependent and non-transfusion dependent beta-thalassemia. Significant increase in hemoglobin concentration and reduced iron overload...

Isis Pharmaceuticals announced the final results from its Phase 2 study of ISIS-GCGRRx in patients with type 2 diabetes uncontrolled on stable metformin therapy. This Phase 2 study of ISIS-GCGRRx was a double-blinded, randomized, placebo-controlled study in 75 patients with type 2 diabetes who had uncontrolled blood sugar despite treatment with stable metformin therapy. Patients  in the per protocol population...

Biotechnological company Mesoblast presented positive results of Phase 2 clynical trial accessed use of Mesoblast’s Mesenchymal Precursor Cells (MPCs) in type 2 diabetes patients at American Diabetes Association annual meeting. The Phase 2 randomized, single-blind, placebo-controlled, dose escalation trial was conducted across 18 sites in the United States. The trial evaluated the effects of a single intravenous infusion of 0.3,...

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet leaded by Paolo Macchiarini have developed the new technique of tissue engineering for replacement of damaged esophagus. So far the researches have tested this method only on rats.  They created the bioengineered organs by using esophagi from rats and removing all the cells. This manipulation enabled to get acellular scaffold in which the structure as well...

Thymic involution occurs in adults and is  accompanied by decline in immune function. Consequently, regenerating of thymus would be likely to improve the immune system of adults and elderly people. British researchers demonstrated that  diminished expression of the thymic epithelial cell (TEC)-specific transcription factor Forkhead box N1 (FOXN1) has been implicated as a component of the mechanism regulating age-related involution....

Australian biotechnological company  Living Cell Technologies Limited announced the completion of a strategic restructure of its business. The new organisation strengthens the capability of LCT’s 50% owned joint venture company Diatranz Otsuka Limited (DOL) and enables LCT to focus on development of new clinical products from its existing technology and intellectual property portfolio. LCT will continue its research and development...

Transgene SA (NYSE-Euronext: TNG), Lee’s Pharmaceuticals (HKEx: 0950) and SillaJen announced plan of late-stage development for Pexa-Vec (JX-594/TG6006). The companies plan to  initiate a global Phase 3 study in the first-line treatment of advanced hepatocellular carcinoma patients and some Phase 1/2 trials in different cancers as a single agent or in combination with other medicines. According with Phase 2 study,...

Bioheart, Inc, biotechnology company focused on autologous cell therapy, released 6 month data from its phase I ANGEL Trial. Fully funded by Bioheart, the trial is being conducted in Mexico at the Hospital Angeles in conjunction with the Regenerative Medicine Institute (RMI). This phase I study will provide necessary safety and preliminary efficacy of adipose derived stem cells (AdipoCell™) in...

Celladon Corporation (Nasdaq:CLDN), a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on developing novel therapies based of SERCA enzymes,announced it has completed enrollment and randomized 250 patients in the phase 2b trial titled "Calcium Up-Regulation by Percutaneous Administration of Gene Therapy In Cardiac Disease," known as CUPID 2, which is evaluating the efficacy and safety of MYDICAR (AAV1/SERCA2a) in patients with NYHA class...

So often fatigue is present in older adults with no objective underlying cause and is associated with severe adverse health outcomes. Also fatigue can be a sign of  many diseases and early aging. Researchers have found association between short leucocyte telomere length and increased fatigue level in adults.  It’s supposed to be connected with impaired reactive oxidative species signaling and...

Isis Pharmaceuticals, Inc reports Interim Results from its ongoing open label, multiple dose  ISIS-SMN Rx Phase 2 Study in Infants with Spinal Muscular Atrophy I type. 4 patients with spinal muscular atrophy  are involved. After 6 months of treatment infants are alive and can breath without respiratory support.  To date, all four infants are now approximately nine and a half  to 16 months in...

Regenerative medicine company Mesoblast Limited announced that it has been granted a key patent by the European Patent Office covering its proprietary adult Mesenchymal Precursor Cells (MPCs) for use in the treatment of cardiac and vascular conditions. European patent number EP1613335, entitled ‘Perivascular Mesenchymal Precursor Cell Induced Blood Vessel Formation’, provides Mesoblast with exclusive commercial rights in Europe initially through to 29 March 2024, with potential...

Scientists from Duke university have used lentiviral gene delivery technology to grow new cartilage. Chondrogenesis was induced by combining viral transduction with advanced scaffold design. Lentiviral vector delivering TGF-beta was immobilised to polycaprone films that encreased effectiveness of mesenchymal stem cell transduction in vitro. This stydy was sponsored by Cytex Therapeutics.  link

  The researchers from South Corea developed bacteria-based nanorobot called Bacteriobot able to deliver drugs to cancer tumors. They used attenuated and nonpathogenic bacteria salmonella with high motility and capacity to move towards tumors and deliver drugs to tumor surface and into its core. Some substances secreted by cancer cells attract bacteria. Effectiveness of Bacteriobot was proved in vitro and...

Hadasit Bio-Holdings, the commercialization branch of Hadassah Medical Center based in Israel, has received NIS 25 million (approx. $7.2 million) from the Office of the Chief Scientist. The funds will be directed towards three of Hadasit’s portfolio companies: Cell Cure, KAHR Medical and Enlivex Therapeutics. HBL focuses on funding the preparation for and execution of Phase I and preparation for...

Variety of miRNA isoforms depends on biological context: stage of development, tissue, disease. Article discovering possible role of miRNA modification and changes in RNA-interference was published in January issue of "Genes and Development". Loading of miRNA into Ago2-RISC complex increases during aging comparing to Ago1-RISC complex. Ago2 complex suggests more effective mechanism of RNA-interference and more prominent decrease in target...

A stem cell therapy aimed at treating patients who have had a heart attack has been given approval to begin a Phase 2 clinical trial funded by California’s stem cell agency, the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM).  The treatment, developed by Capricor Therapeutics, Inc., uses unrelated donor-derived stem cells, called cardiosphere-derived cells, that are then infused into a patient’s...

 TiGenix (Euronext Brussels: TIG) announced today that it has signed a structured debt financing agreement of up to EUR 10 million with Kreos Capital (Kreos), Europe's largest and leading provider of growth debt to high-growth companies. Kreos will tranche to TiGenix EUR 5 million in early February 2014; EUR 2.5 million by end of May, 2014; EUR 2.5 million by...

-Dec. 23, 2013-- BioTime, Inc. (NYSE MKT: BTX) and its subsidiary Cell Cure Neurosciences Ltd. (Cell Cure) today announced that Cell Cure has been awarded a grant for 2014 of 6.1 million Shekels (approximately $1.74 million) from Israel’s Office of the Chief Scientist (OCS) to help finance the development of OpRegen®, a therapeutic product based on retinal pigment epithelial cells...

THE WOODLANDS, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Opexa Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: OPXA), a biotechnology company developing Tcelna®, a patient-specific T-cell immunotherapy for the treatment of multiple sclerosis (MS), today announced the closing of the previously announced underwritten public offering of 4,120,000 shares of its common stock, including the full exercise of the over-allotment option granted to the underwriters to purchase an additional 618,000...

British scientists investigated whether inkjet printing technology can be extended to print cells of the adult rat central nervous system (CNS), retinal ganglion cells (RGC) and glia, and the effects on survival and growth of these cells in culture, which is an important step in the development of tissue grafts for regenerative medicine, and may aid in the cure of...

One of the applications of bone marrow stromal cells (BMSCs) that are produced by ex vivo expansion is for use in in vivo bone tissue engineering. Cultured stromal cells are a mixture of cells at different stages of commitment and expansion capability that differ in the potential to form in vivo bone. Group of Dutch researchers  employed single colony-derived BMSC...

Loss of neurons after brain injury and in neurodegenerative disease is often accompanied by reactive gliosis and scarring, which are actually irreversible. Recent  article in Cell Stem Cell journal demonstrates that reactive glial cells in the cortex of stab-injured or Alzheimer’s disease (AD) model mice can be directly reprogrammed into functional neurons in vivo using retroviral expression of a single...

Researchers from Standford University described “fractionation, expansion and conversion of primary adult human pancreatic ductal cells into progeny resembling native β-cells in vitro. Expression of the cardinal islet developmental regulators Neurog3, MafA, Pdx1 and Pax6 converted exocrine duct cells into endocrine progeny with hallmark β-cell properties, including the ability to synthesize, process and store insulin, and secrete it in response...

Paolo Macchiarini’s team published a protocol for rat brain decellularization and creating bioengineed brain matrix using microspun gelatine fibers and 1% of decellularized rat brain matrix. This construction suited perfectly for migration, adhesion, proliferation of mesenchymal stem cells and their differentiation into glial cells.

The project, Summit4StemCell.org  is collecting money  for seeking treatment with  autologous induced pluripotent stem cell technology, 2014 could bring the milestone they’ve been anticipating. If all goes well, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration will approve an attempt to replace the brain cells destroyed in Parkinson’s. The new cells, grown from each patient’s own skin cells, are expected to restore...

Today, the European Bioinformatics Institute (EBI) has launched a website — www.surechembl.org — that allows anyone to search through 15 million chemical structures, extracted automatically by data-mining software from world patents.The initiative makes public a 4-terabyte database that until now had been sold on a commercial basis by a software firm, SureChem, which is folding. SureChem has agreed to transfer...

"The Hamner Institutes for Health Sciences today announced a collaborative agreement with Cellular Dynamics International (CDI) to develop predictive in vitro screening assays for chemical, environmental and pharmaceutical toxicology assessments that utilize CDI's human induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cell-derived hepatocytes. CDI will provide iCell® Hepatocytes to The Hamner for use in an on-going program of research, referred to as "Toxicity...

"By transducing two genes (c-MYC and BCL-XL) into iPS cells and ES cells, a Kyoto University research team has succeeded in producing erythrocyte progenitor cells with almost unlimited ability to replicate in vitro, which they then differentiated successfully into mature erythrocytes. Although these erythrocytes consisted mostly of fetal-type hemoglobin, they were confirmed to have oxygen-carrying capacity and to have circulatory...

Methuselah Foundation, a medical charity based in Springfield, VA, announced today at the World Stem Cell Summit in San Diego the official launch of the $1 million New Organ Liver Prize, a five-year international competition to advance the field of tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. The New Organ Liver Prize will award $1,000,000 to the  first team that creates a bioengineered...

"Researchers from the University of Bonn use reprogrammed patient neurons for drug testing Why do certain Alzheimer medications work in animal models but not in clinical trials in humans? A research team from the University of Bonn and the biomedical enterprise LIFE & BRAIN GmbH has been able to show that results of established test methods with animal models and...

The Jain Foundation, a non-profit organization whose mission is to cure muscular dystrophies caused by dysferlin protein deficiency, today announced the signing of a Master Service Agreement with Cellular Dynamics International (CDI) (Nasdaq:ICEL). CDI will create five induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) lines from patients with these dystrophies. As there are currently no effective treatments for these genetic disorders, establishing...

Рапамицин (сиролимус) - антибиотик, иммунодепрессант, применяемый для борьбы с отторжением пересаженных органов и тканей, особенно почек. В клетке рапамицин связывается с цитозольным белком FKBP12, после чего комплекс сиролимус-FKBP12 связывается с серин-тирозиновой киназой mTOR и блокирует её сигнальный путь, регулирующий рост, пролиферацию и подвижность клетки. В 2009 году были опубликованы результаты исследования, показывающие, что добавление рапамицина к рациону пожилых мышей повышало...

Группа испанских ученых опубликовала результаты интересного исследования, показывающего, что старение необходимо для нормального развития мышиных эмбрионов, в частности, при формировании мезонефроса (первичная почка млекопитающих, во взрослом женском организме полностью исчезает, а в мужском – редуцируется до части семявыносящего канатика), и мешочка (часть вестибулярного аппарата внутреннего уха). В обеих структурах старение зависит от белка-регулятора клеточного цикла p21, опосредуется путями TGF-b/SMAD и...

Компания Humacyte, внедряющая аллогенные транспланты сосудов, опубликовала предварительные результаты клинических испытаний на The American Heart Association (AHA) Scientific Sessions 2013. Так, данные по 28 пациентам свидетельствуют, что биоинженерные сосуды не подвергаются окклюзии, не вызывают иммунного ответа, не образуют аневризм. Это открывает дорогу для дальнейших клинических испытаний этого транспланта. Считается, что технология производства сосудов в биореакторах из аллогенных стволовых клеток человека...