TOP STORIES

Cardiac Stem Cell Trial Seeks to Treat Some Heart Attack Patients
Researchers have begun enrollment for an early-stage clinical trial to evaluate the safety and efficacy of an adult stem cell therapy for patients who have just experienced their first acute myocardial infarction. [University of California-San Francisco, San Francisco]

Obtain more MSCs in fewer passages with MesenCult®-ACF Medium by STEMCELL Technologies     REQUEST A FREE SAMPLE

SCIENCE NEWS

Webinar: Feeder-independent growth of hESCs & hiPSCs using TeSR™2

Nanomagnet in "Star-Trek Style" Wand Could Cure Cancer
For reasons scientists do not fully understand, stem cells have an affinity for cancer and are exploiting this property in bone marrow ''mesenchymal'' stem cells to deliver the iron oxide particles. [University College London, London]

Scientists Discover Clues to What Makes Human Muscle Age
By manipulating a recently identified critical biochemical pathway, the researchers were able to turn back the clock on old human muscle, restoring its ability to repair and rebuild itself. [University of California-Berkeley, Berkeley]

What Makes the Same Type of Cells Different?
A research team has managed to decipher a well-known phenomenon of why cells of the same type can react differently and what the reason for this is. [ETH Zurich, Zurich]

Enhanced Stem Cells Promote Tissue Regeneration
Engineers have boosted stem cells' ability to regenerate vascular tissue by equipping them with genes that produce extra growth factors (naturally occurring compounds that stimulate tissue growth). [Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge]

CURRENT PUBLICATIONS

Mesenchymal Stem Cells for Bone Repair and Metabolic Bone Diseases
In this review, the author updates the biology and clinical applicability of human mesenchymal stem cells for bone repair and metabolic bone diseases. [Mayo Clin Proc]

Therapeutic Potential of Human Mesenchymal Stem Cells Producing IL-12 in a Mouse Xenograft Model of Renal Cell Carcinoma
This paper demonstrates the potential of adult mesenchymal stem cells constitutively producing IL-12 to reduce the growth of renal cell carcinoma and enhance the tumor-bearing mouse survival. [Cancer Lett]

iPS Cells Reprogrammed from Mesenchymal-like Stem/Progenitor Cells of Dental Tissue Origin
The researchers in this study asked whether stem/progenitor cells from discarded dental tissues can be reprogrammed into iPS cells. [Stem Cells Dev]

Xenotransplantation of Human Mesenchymal Stem Cells into Immunocompetent Rats for Calvarial Bone Repair
Herein, the researchers explored whether the human mesenchymal stem cells genetically modified by baculovirus were tolerant in immunocompetent rats and further healed the critical-sized calvarial bone defect. [Tissue Eng Part A]

INDUSTRY NEWS

Southwest Michigan First Life Science Fund invests in RealBio Technology
The Southwest Michigan First Life Science Fund has announced RealBio Technology Inc. as the most recent addition to its portfolio.

NHLBI Grants $64.5M for Exome Sequencing Project
The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute has pumped just over $64 million of stimulus funding for studies on heart, lung, and blood diseases.

Stem Cell Pioneers Among Nobel Prize Candidates
Two Canadian scientists whose discovery of stem cells has paved the way for controversial research could be candidates for the 2009 Nobel Prize in medicine.

Stem Cell Expert Accepts Lasker Award
Researcher Shinya Yamanaka formally received the 2009 Albert Lasker Basic Medical Research Award for discoveries concerning nuclear reprogramming and stem cells at a ceremony Friday in New York.

Cryo-Cell Expands Strategic Partnership With S-Evans Biosciences, Inc.
Company signs exclusive agreement for distribution of C'elleSM menstrual stem cell technology in Thailand and announces strategic SEB research collaboration initiatives.

POLICY NEWS

Obama Announces $5 Billion for New Medical Research
President Barack Obama announced a plan on Wednesday to spend $5 billion on medical and scientific research, medical supplies and upgrading laboratory capacity, which he said would create tens of thousands of new jobs.

Maryland Stem Cell Commission Issues Requests for Applications
The grants to be awarded under these two RFAs will fund basic and translational research with human stem cells of all types, as defined in the Stem Cell Act.

FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION (United States)

November 16-17, 2009 Blood Products Advisory Committee Meeting Announcement

2009 Meeting Materials of the Blood Products Advisory Committee

Food and Drug Administration Transparency Task Force Meeting, 51161-51163 [E9-23916]

FDA Issues Strategic Plan for Risk Communication
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently issued its Strategic Plan for Risk Communication, which outlines the agency's efforts to disseminate more meaningful public health information.

EVENTS

International Federation for Adipose Therapeutics and Science 2009
October 15-17, 2009, Daegu, Korea

Mesenchymal Stem Cell Conference 2009
November 12-14, 2009, Austin, TX, United States

Molecular Tri Conference & The Stem Cell Meeting
February 2-5, 2010, San Francisco, CA, United States

Blood and Marrow Transplantation
February 24-28, 2010, Orlando, FL, United States

World Congress Regenerative Medicine
March 12-14, 2010, Bangkok, Thailand

The European Group for Blood & Marrow Transplantation Annual Meeting
March 21-24, 2010, Vienna, Austria

9th Transgenic Technology Meeting
March 22-24, 2010, Berlin, Germany

Have we missed an important article or publication in Mesenchymal Cell News? Click here to submit!