Organ Regeneration



Complete organ transplants are a good way to fix the problem of having a failing organ, but it also causes its own set of problems. People are all different sizes, and the same goes for organs. Even though there may be an available organ, it will not be able to be used if it is too big or too small for the person recieving the transplant. On top of that, the availability of organs is very low because the number of patients far outnumber the number of donors resulting in the death of thousands of patients on the transplant waiting list every year. Even if the patient is lucky enough to find a donor in time and the organ is the right size, there is still the risk of the body rejecting the implanted organ due to immune responses. All of this leaves many patients looking for another alternative. This is where stem cells step in.

Stem cells can be used to make the desperately needed organs. The organs can be made from an artifically made biomaterial scaffold or even from other organs' scaffolds. These scaffolds can be seeded with stem cells to form a new and fully functioning organ without the need for a donor.

Current tailor made organs can cost up to $500,000.

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/stem-cells-bill-weir-nightline-sees-cells-turned/story?id=18252405



Organ Re-cellularization

 * With a specialized soap solution the cells of the organ can be washed away
 * The remaining scaffold can be reseeded with stem cells
 * The new organ is grown in a bio-reactor
 * Perfect for organs that are still in a good condition physically but dead
 * Organs that died before transplantation
 * Organs that failed but didn't lose their physical structure
 * Ones that are physically damaged can be used for ECM
 * This leaves only the ECM protein scaffold behind
 * Signals the cells to migrate and then differentiate into a fully functioning organ

Rejection Free

 * A study at Johns Hopkins showed that stem cells from strangers were as safe and effective at repairing damaged heart tissue after a heart attack as native stem cells
 * If it holds true, it would allow for treatment that can be pre-celularized by a stock stem cell culture
 * Blood for 10 people could be made from a single bone marrow donor
 *  No delay for patients coming in for treatment
 * Could help to guarantee that cells generated will be healthy
 * Need less donors for more treatments

Artificial Kindeys

 * Kidneys are in huge demand
 * ​7,200 alone on waiting lists in the United Kingdom
 * ​A team took cells from a forming kidney called organoids and cultured them
 * They then cultured the cells in vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) that makes blood vessels grow within days
 * VEGF encouraged blood vessel growth within days
 * The organelles developed into functioning subunits that were successfully translplanted
 * Still need to get urine transport down
 * Also for humans, embryo kidneys would not be used

Human Muscle Regrown On Animal Scaffold
Original Article
 * Used on Sgt. Strang to regrow quad muscle
 * Formed using pig extra cellular matrix (ECM)
 * ECM signals the body to grow and repair the damaged tissues
 * Financed by the Defense Department's Office of Technology
 * Scar tissue was removed and ECM was stitched into the wound
 * The ECM was broken down and signaled cells to move in and mobilize local stem cells
 * The body is supposed to have a slight immune response
 * ECM needs to be in contact with healthy tissue
 * Scar tissue has to be removed before the ECM is implanted
 * Stitching it to the muscle ensures the stretching and phisical therapy that tells the cells what to be and what to do
 * The body breaks down the ECM
 * ​The raw material and nartural signals attract local stem cells to migrate and populate the scaffold with progenitor cells that will produce adult cells that will eventually repopulate the scaffold with functioning tissue

Human Stem Cells Let Deaf Gerbils Hear
Original Article
 * The recovery of function was about 46% for 4 weeks
 * The condition treated is similar to auditory neuropathy in humans
 * This is a common form of deafness that affects 15% of those with hearing loss
 * Human stem cells derived otic neurons repopulated the cholea of gerbils
 * They use ABR to assess the recovery of function in the gerbils
 * Still very inconsistent healing in the gerbils treated
 * Still need to asses the long term effects of the treatment

Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells Not As Genetically Unstable As Previously Thought
Original Article
 * iPSCs are not as genetically unstable as previously thought
 * Many of the variations are simple variations that naturally occur within the tissue
 * To test the effectiveness of CNVs the team took skin cells and cultured fibroblasts and produced 20 different stem cell lines

New Patient Friendly Way To Make Stem Cells For FIght Against Heart Disease

 * Scientists found a patient friendly way to make stem cells from blood
 * Getting stem cells form the skin requires a biopsy
 * Grew patient blood in the lab and related 'late outgrowth endothelial progenitor cells' (L-EPCs)
 * Turn these into iPSCs
 * Tissue biopsies are particualarly undesirable in the elderly and children
 * Taking blood is routine
 * Can freeze and store the blood cells until needed
 * This prolongs 'use by date' of patient samples

Blood Sweat And No Tears: Sweat Glands Help Repair Skin

 * Thought that skin regenerates by generating new skin cells from hair folicles or the skin at the edge of the wound
 * Before wounding there are few new cells in the eccrine glands
 * 4 days later there were many new cells
 * The glands contain a resovoir of adult stem cells that may be able to be recruited to heal wounds
 * 3 times as many eccrine glands as hair folicles
 * This makes them the major contributor to new skin cells

Realizing the Potential of Stem Cell Therapy: Studies Report Progress in Developing Treatments for Diseases and Injuries
Original Article
 * Big push to use stem cell therapies to repair neurological damage
 * Neurons derived from hESCs implanted into monkeys displaying symptoms of Parkinsions developed normally with no complications
 * Life threatening heart problems due to spinal chord injury was partially remedied from the fetal brainstem derived stem cells
 * Experiments in mice indicate that it may be possible to activate dormant stem cells in the adult prompting the production of new neurons that might help repair damage
 * As more experiments are done, FDA regulations will relax

Stem Cells Bring Back Feeling For Paralyzed Patients

 * 3 people recieved injections of 20 million neural stem cells (NSCs) injected into the injured part of the spinal cord
 * The injected NSCs were derived from the fetal brain tissue
 * They also recieved immunosuppressive drugs to limit rejection of the NSCs
 * Two of the three people gained some more acute feeling
 * The healing is not neccessarily a sign of new tissue formation
 * Could be increased myelin or lower inflammation

Two Years On, Stem Cells Still Healing Damaged Hearts
Original Article
 * Patients that recieved stem cell therapy saw continued healing and recovery of function two years on
 * The initial recovery was sustained and didn't revert
 * This should help encourage people to support stem cell therapies
 * ​ Should encourage investors to feel more safe about investing
 * Can also help people lean toward recieving stem cell therapies over traditional treatment

Nose Offers Safe, Effective Pathway For Delivering Stem Cell Therapy To Brain Tumors
Original Article
 * Treatments from gliomas, the most common type of primary brain tumors, are limited due to their invasive nature
 * Surgical implantation of stem cells has a low survival rate for the cells that are implanted
 * The procedure itslef can cause complications
 * Injection into the blood stream has increased risks of collecting in peripheral organs which leads to side effects
 * Means that the stem cells are not reaching their target
 * An intranasal method was tested for stem cell delivery
 * The neural stem progenitor cells (NSPCs) reached their target tumor very quickly and without settling in any peripheral areas
 * 6 hours after delivery the stem cells had enriched within the tumor area
 * 24 hours later 24% of the NSPCs applied as nose drops were found in the tumor
 * Two major migration pathways
 * The Ol factory nerve pathways and the tiny blood vessels that make up the icrovascular system
 * A potential signal that attracted the cells to the malignant tumor
 * Likely released by the tumor itself and adjacent reactive brain parencyma
 * Most likely chemoattractant factors