Free Republic

Every year, whether you are fat or thin, whether you lose weight or gain, 10 percent of your fat cells die. And every year, those cells that die are replaced with new fat cells, researchers in Sweden reported Sunday. The result is that the total number of fat cells in the body remains the same, year after year throughout adulthood. Losing or gaining weight affects only the amount of fat stored in the cells, not the number of cells. The finding was published online Sunday in the journal Nature. Obesity investigators say the study raises tantalizing questions: What determines how...

Adipose tissue has proven to be an abundant source of adult stem cells with the potential to form new bone and regenerate tissue. SpineSmith Partners, LP acquired rights in spine for Tissue Genesis, Inc.’s adipose (fat) tissue derived cell technology. Tissue Genesis’ TGI 100™ cell isolation kits and TGI 1000™ automated cell isolation systems will rapidly process autologous (patient-derived) adipose tissue and isolate large quantities of regenerative cells, which can be utilized to treat a number of spine related diseases (www.spinesmithusa.com).  Adiposetissue has proven to be an abundant source of adult stem cells with the potential to form new...

WASHINGTON --In the buffet of reasons for why Americans are getting fatter, researchers are piling more evidence on the plate for one still-controversial cause: a virus. New research announced Monday at the American Chemical Society's annual meeting in Boston found that when human stem cells -- the blank slate of the cell world -- were exposed to a common virus they turned into fat cells. They didn't just change, they stored fat, too. While this may be a guilt-free explanation for putting on pounds, it doesn't explain all or even most of America's growing obesity problem. But it adds to...

Ahmedabad: There is good news for diabetes patients as there may be a stem cell cure for the disease. Dr H L Trivedi and his team from Ahmedabad claim that they have discovered a cell that is present in human fat that can produce insulin, when cultivated. "If we could transplant stem cells which have the ability to cure diabetes, then it's the final of final and ultimate of ultimate as far as cure for diabetes is concerned,” says Dr Trivedi, who is the director of Institute of Kidney Diseases, The miracle stem cell can be transplanted into the liver,...

Ahmedabad, July 07: Ritaben Goyal, 33, can now walk for an hour everyday with the support of crutches. After being completely bed-ridden for more than a year, this is a significant improvement in her case. Thanks to the advances made in stem cell therapy, Ritaben and many others like her who had suffered serious spinal injuries now have hope. Ritaben was injected with stem cells at the Institute of Kidney Diseases and Research Centre (IKDRC)- Institute of Transplantation Sciences (ITS). Dr. H. L. Trivedi, the director of the institute, says: “We were working on stem cells in relation with organ...

Turning Stem Cells Taken From Fat Tissue Into Personalized, Cancer-targeted Therapeutics Researchers in Slovakia have been able to derive mesenchymal stem cells from human adipose, or fat, tissue and engineer them into "suicide genes" that seek out and destroy tumors like tiny homing missiles. This gene therapy approach is a novel way to attack small tumor metastases that evade current detection techniques and treatments, the researchers conclude in the July 1 issue of Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research. "These fat-derived stem cells could be exploited for personalized cell-based therapeutics," said the study's lead investigator,...

Improving urethral function has been an elusive target for researchers seeking viable treatments for stress urinary incontinence (SUI). However, Los Angeles researchers suggest that adipose-derived pluripotent cells may be a viable means to treat SUI and also improve urethral function. Using human cells obtained from liposuction specimens, investigators differenciated stem cells into smooth muscle, seeded the cells on carrier matrices and injected them into the proximal urethra of incontinent nude rats. Abdominal leak-point pressure and retrograde urethral perfusion pressure were measured both pre- and post-operatively. Smooth muscle cells seeded on the carrier matrix demonstrated long-term improvement, providing immediate bulking effects...

WASHINGTON, May 22 -- Stem cells derived from a patient's own fat can cure a perianal fistula, a Spanish researcher said here. Explain to interested patients that perianal fistulas are difficult-to-treat complications seen in Crohn's and other bowel diseases. Note that this study suggests a stem cell approach to healing fistulas that appears to be highly effective. This study was published as an abstract and presented orally at a conference. These data and conclusions should be considered to be preliminary as they have not yet been reviewed and published in a peer-reviewed publication. In a phase II clinical trial, patients...

Human fatty tissue has been shown to be a viable, pluripotent source for stem cells that can be differentiated into a variety of cell lineages, including bone, muscle and neural cell types. San Francisco researchers investigated whether autologous adipose-derived stem cells could be differentiated into urologic tissues that could be used for reconstructive purposes. Investigators harvested paragonadal adipose tissue from rat specimens and processed the tissue to yield the stem cells, which were then suspended in a phosphate-buffered solution (PBS) and injected into the bladder and proximal urethra of 16 Sprague-Dawley rats. A control group of 16 animals received PBS...

Taiwan scientists have found evidence that suggests capsaicin -- the substance that gives red pepper a spicy kick -- can reduce the growth of fat cells. Gow-Chin Yen and colleagues at the National Chung Hsing University in Taichung, Taiwan, cite previous research suggesting obesity can be reduced by preventing immature fat cells, called adipocytes, from developing into mature cells. Past research also linked capsaicin to a decrease in the amount of fat tissue and decreased blood-fat levels. With that knowledge, the researchers tested capsaicin's effects on pre-adipocytes and adipocytes growing in laboratory cultures. They found capsaicin prevented pre-adipocytes from filling...

This week, for the first time in humans, a heart failure patient received adult stem cells – taken from his own adipose (fat) tissue – which were processed and injected directly into the heart muscle with a special catheter. Francisco Fernandez-Avilés, M.D. performed the procedure in Madrid. The Texas Heart Institute at St. Luke’s Episcopal Hospital is leading the collaborative clinical trial which will involve 30 patients. The trial site for the study is Hospital General Universitario Gregorio Marañón in Madrid, Spain. Dr. Fernandez-Avilés, Professor of Cardiovascular Medicine and Chief of Cardiology Service at Gregorio Marañón and Dr. Perin, Director...

Science Daily — Expanding waistlines, unsightly bulges: people will gladly remove excess body fat to improve their looks. But unwanted fat also contains stem cells with the potential to repair defects and heal injuries in the body. A team led by Philippe Collas at the University of Oslo in Norway has identified certain chemical marks that allow him to predict which, among the hundreds of millions of stem cells in liposuctioned fat, are best at regenerating tissue. Uncovering the nature and location of these molecular tags could allow scientists to pull off the ultimate trick of taking a patient’s own...

Scientists hope to rebuild breasts using stem cells to grow new ones, it has emerged.The technique could see an end to reconstructive surgery for women recovering from breast cancer. Scientists in the US are looking at using stem cells derived from a patient's own fat to regenerate lost breast tissue. An initial three-year programme of animal research will see stem cells "seeded" on to scaffold structures. These will provide platforms around which replacement tissue can be grown. Stem cells are cells at an early stage of development which can be directed to produce different kinds of tissue. Experts believe they...

Doctors, fat researchers and tissue engineers from around the world will trade techniques and their latest research findings to improve the use of human fat tissue in medical therapies like facial, breast, bone, vocal cord and other tissue reconstruction. Members of the International Fat Applied Technology Society (IFATS) will explore both the use of fat in traditional means - injection into damaged soft-tissue, for example - as well as more futuristic uses, like blending of stem cells into fat before injection, and converting fat stem cells to bone. They will also learn from their basic research colleagues about the amplifying...

a biotechnology development firm specializing in the development and commercialization of biopharmaceutical and biomedical products, announced today that it featured a seminal presentation for the applications of adult stem cell technology. The presentation was in Singapore at NGS (National University of Singapore) Center for Life Sciences. The Company's fat-based stem cell technology is focused on growing different cell types from adult stem cells utilizing a proprietary process. Therapies utilizing this process have varied applications for use in plastic, reconstructive, orthopedic, vascular, and cardiac surgery. Healtheuniverse is currently locating research and development operations in Biopolis Singapore to take advantage of its...

Pennington Scientists Turn Human Fat Cells Into Bone 5/7/2004 BATON ROUGE - Calling human fat a new and more abundant source of adult stem cells, Pennington Biomedical Research Center scientists have witnessed human fat stem cells convert into bone when slipped under the skin of mice. Pennington center expert and senior scientist Dr. Jeffrey Gimble, working with Kevin Hicok and Dr. Lyndon Cooper at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and colleagues from Artecel Sciences, found that adult stem cells isolated from human fat can form bone. Their latest findings, published this week in the journal Tissue Engineering, are among...

Getting rid of that spare tire around your middle could help your heart in more ways than you might expect, according to a San Diego biotechnology company.   Cytori Therapeutics has developed a machine that pulls stem cells and other regenerative cells out of fat so they can be re-injected into the body to repair tissue damaged by heart attack or disease.  Several studies, including some in which Cytori scientists have participated, have shown that stem cells and other regenerative material from fat can help build blood supply and restore blood flow to cardiac muscle that has been damaged by a...

DURHAM, N.C. -- A novel growth factor significantly improves the ability of specialized stem cells derived from human fat to be transformed into cartilage cells, according to Duke University Medical Center and Pratt School of Engineering researchers. Such growth factors are crucial to the bioengineering of tissues for clinical use in humans, the researchers said, because cells would need to be grown quickly and in large numbers in order to be practical. For the current study, as well as for past experiments in this area, the Duke team isolated the specialized cells, known as human adipose-derived adult stem cells (hADAS),...

Stem cells taken from human fat can be transformed into smooth muscle cells, offering a way to treat many kinds of heart disease, gastrointestinal and bladder ills, US researchers reported yesterday. While the experiment does not quite offer a way to turn a pot belly into a flat stomach, the researchers said the transformed cells contracted and relaxed just like smooth muscle cells. These cells help the heart beat and blood flow, push food through the digestive system and make bladders fill and empty, the researchers reported. Their study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, is...

Impact on tissue engineering for intestine, bladder and vascular systems Researchers from the David Geffen School of Medicine and the Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science at UCLA today announced they have transformed adult stem cells taken from human adipose – or fat tissue – into smooth muscle cells, which help the normal function of a multitude of organs like the intestine, bladder and arteries. The study may help lead to the use of fat stem cells for smooth muscle tissue engineering and repair. Reported in the July 24 online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy...

Cytori Therapeutics Inc. said on Thursday that it will begin the first clinical trial to test whether stem cells derived from fat can be used to regenerate breast tissue in Japan next month. The 20-patient study, which will include women who have undergone partial mastectomies due to breast cancer, was approved by Japanese regulators, the company said. Cytori, based in San Diego, said it has developed a system for isolating and concentrating a patients' own stem cells from tissue removed from one of the body's normal fatty deposits

The Neolib Attack on Adult Stem Cells By Michael Fumento  November 11, 2004 The only beneficiaries of ESC therapy to date have been these guys, and precious few at that.   Among the magazines even die-hard right-wingers should sometimes read are the neo-liberal ones The New Republic and the Washington Monthly. They often contain thoughtful articles with stimulating fresh thinking. Alas that makes it all the worse when they publish something moldier than a slab of Roquefort cheese. So it is with their current combined attack on adult stem cell research, designed to support the alternative of embryonic stem cells....

For decades, scientists thought fat cells were passive blobs that did nothing more than store energy, bloat flabby hips and bellies, and perhaps wear down the body by forcing it to cart around a lot of extra weight. But as the nation's obesity crisis has intensified scientific interest in fat, researchers have fundamentally altered that view: Fat cells, they now realize, are extraordinarily dynamic, complex and influential entities that affect a staggering array of crucial bodily functions. The new insights into fat's commanding, self-sustaining powers, scientists say, have profound implications for understanding how flab forms, why it hangs on so...