Cell

Tiny organs grown from snake stem cells produce real venom

/ Yimy Villa / Leave a comment
Researchers grew tiny venom glands from nine different snake species, including the cape coral cobra pictured above.
Photo Credit: Michael D. Kern/Science Source

Snake venom can be deadly without proper treatment. Interestingly enough, it may also hold the key for treatments against pain, high blood pressure, and cancer according to one analysis. Despite this, scientists still do not understand much about the biology behind the wide range of different snake venoms, which can make it challenging to develop effective treatments in the event of snake bites.

Fortunately, a new study by Dr. Hans Clevers and his team at the Hubrecht Institute in the Netherlands could significantly aid the understanding of snake venom. Dr. Clevers and his team were able to grow miniature snake venom glands using snake stem cells. What’s more remarkable is that these “mini-organs” produced real venom!

Miniature, lab-grown snake venom glands
 Photo Credit: Ravian van Ineveld/Princess Maxima Center

In an article posted in Science Magazine, Dr. Clevers talks about how his study was navigating uncharted waters.

“Nobody knew anything about stem cells in snakes. We didn’t know if it was possible at all.”

To produce these “mini-organs”, the researchers removed the stem cells from the venom glands of nine different types of snake and placed them in a mixture of growth factors that contained different hormones and proteins. It turns out that the snake stem cells responded to the same factors used on human and mouse stem cells.

Eventually, the stem cells grew into little clumps of tissue and when the researchers removed the growth factors, they started to change into the same kind of cells that produce venom in the glands of snakes. Additionally, they were able to find that these “mini-organs” expressed similar genes as those observed in real venom glands.

The scientists were even able to test the nature of the “mini-organ” venom as well. A chemical and genetic analysis of the venom revealed that it matched the one made by real snakes. After testing this venom on mouse muscle cells and rat neurons, they also found that it damaged these cells similar to real venom.

The type of toxins and concentration levels can vary drastically in snake venom, even within the same species. This can make developing treatments challenging since they can only be used to combat one type of venom.

Dr. Clevers and his team now plan to study the complexities of venom and venom glands by compiling a “biobank” of frozen organoids from venomous reptiles around the world that could help researchers find broader treatments. With the aid of their newly developed “mini-organs”, all of this can be done without the handling of live, dangerous snakes, some of which are rare and difficult to keep in captivity.

The full results of this study were published in Cell.

CIRM-Funded Researchers Develop Chimeric “Mighty Mouse” Model to Study Alzheimer’s Disease

/ Yimy Villa / Leave a comment
Dr. Mathew Blurton-Jones, leader of team that developed the chimeric “Mighty Mouse” model at the University of California, Irvine

In ancient Greek mythology, a Chimera was a creature that was usually depicted as a lion with an additional goat head and a serpent for a tail. Due to the Chimera’s animal hybrid nature, the term “chimeric” came to fruition in the scientific community as a way to describe an organism containing two or more different sets of DNA.

A CIRM-funded study conducted by Dr. Mathew Blurton-Jones and his team at UC Irvine describes a way for human brain immune cells, known as microglia, to grow and function inside mice. Since the mice contain a both human cells and their own mice cells, they are described as being chimeric.

In order to develop this chimeric “mighty mouse” model, Dr. Blurton-Jones and his team generated induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), which have the ability to turn into any kind of cell, from cell samples donated by adult patients. For this study, the researchers converted iPSCs into microglia, a type of immune cell found in the brain, and implanted them into genetically modified mice. After a few months, they found that the implanted cells successfully integrated inside the brains of the mice.

By finding a way to look at human microglia grow and function in real time in an animal model, scientists can further analyze crucial mechanisms contributing to neurological conditions such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, traumatic brain injury, and stroke.

For this particular study, Dr. Blurton-Jones and his team looked at human microglia in the mouse brain in relation to Alzheimer’s, which could hold clues to better understand and treat the disease. The team did this by introducing amyloid plaques, protein fragments in the brain that accumulate in people with Alzheimer’s, and evaluating how the human microglia responded. They found that the human microglia migrated toward the amyloid plaques and surrounding them, which is what is observed in Alzheimer’s patients.

In a press release, Dr. Blurton-Jones expressed the importance of studying microglia by stating that,

“Microglia are now seen as having a crucial role in the development and progression of Alzheimer’s. The functions of our cells are influenced by which genes are turned on or off. Recent research has identified over 40 different genes with links to Alzheimer’s and the majority of these are switched on in microglia. However, so far we’ve only been able to study human microglia at the end stage of Alzheimer’s in post-mortem tissues or in petri dishes.”

Furthermore, Dr. Blurton-Jones highlighted the importance of looking at human microglia in particular by saying that,

“The human microglia also showed significant genetic differences from the rodent version in their response to the plaques, demonstrating how important it is to study the human form of these cell.”

The full results of this study were published in Cell.

Of Mice and Men, and Women Too; Stem cell stories you might have missed

/ Kevin McCormack / Leave a comment
Mice brains can teach us a lot

Last week’s news headlines were dominated by one big story, the use of a stem cell transplant to effectively cure a person of HIV. But there were other stories that, while not quite as striking, did also highlight how the field is advancing.

A new way to boost brain cells (in mice!)

It’s hard to fix something if you don’t really know what’s wrong in the first place. It would be like trying to determine why a car is not working just by looking at the hood and not looking inside at the engine. The human brain is far more complex than a car so trying to determine what’s going wrong is infinitely more challenging. But a new study could help give us a new option.

Researchers in Luxembourg and Germany have developed a new computer model for what’s happening inside the brain, identifying what cells are not operating properly, and fixing them.

Antonio del Sol, one of the lead authors of the study – published in the journal Cell – says their new model allows them to identify which stem cells are active and ready to divide, or dormant. 

“Our results constitute an important step towards the implementation of stem cell-based therapies, for instance for neurodegenerative diseases. We were able to show that, with computational models, it is possible to identify the essential features that are characteristic of a specific state of stem cells.”

The work, done in mice, identified a protein that helped keep brain stem cells inactive in older animals. By blocking this protein they were able to help “wake up” those stem cells so they could divide and proliferate and help regenerate the aging brain.

And if it works in mice it must work in people right? Well, that’s what they hope to see next.

Deeper understanding of fetal development

According to the Mayo Clinic between 10 and 20 percent of known pregnancies end in miscarriage (though they admit the real number may be even higher) and our lack of understanding of fetal development makes it hard to understand why. A new study reveals a previously unknown step in this development that could help provide some answers and, hopefully, lead to ways to prevent miscarriages.

Researchers at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden used genetic sequencing to follow the development stages of mice embryos. By sorting those different sequences into a kind of blueprint for what’s happening at every stage of development they were able to identify a previously unknown phase. It’s the time between when the embryo attaches to the uterus and when it begins to turn these embryonic stem cells into identifiable parts of the body.

Qiaolin Deng, Karolinska Institute

Lead researcher Qiaolin Deng says this finding provides vital new evidence.

“Being able to follow the differentiation process of every cell is the Holy Grail of developmental biology. Knowledge of the events and factors that govern the development of the early embryo is indispensable for understanding miscarriages and congenital disease. Around three in every 100 babies are born with fetal malformation caused by faulty cellular differentiation.”

The study is published in the journal Cell Reports.

Could a new drug discovery reduce damage from a heart attack?

Every 40 seconds someone in the US has a heart attack. For many it is fatal but even for those who survive it can lead to long-term damage to the heart that ultimately leads to heart failure. Now British researchers think they may have found a way to reduce that likelihood.

Using stem cells to create human heart muscle tissue in the lab, they identified a protein that is activated after a heart attack or when exposed to stress chemicals. They then identified a drug that can block that protein and, when tested in mice that had experienced a heart attack, they found it could reduce damage to the heart muscle by around 60 percent.

Prof Michael Schneider, the lead researcher on the study, published in Cell Stem Cell, said this could be a game changer.

“There are no existing therapies that directly address the problem of muscle cell death and this would be a revolution in the treatment of heart attacks. One reason why many heart drugs have failed in clinical trials may be that they have not been tested in human cells before the clinic. Using both human cells and animals allows us to be more confident about the molecules we take forward.”

Stories that caught our eye: National Geographic takes a deep dive into iPS cells; Japanese researchers start iPS cell clinical trial for spinal cord injury; and do high fat diets increase your risk of colorectal cancer

/ Kevin McCormack / 1 Comment

Can cell therapy beat the most difficult diseases?

That’s the question posed in a headline in National Geographic. The answer; maybe, but it is going to take time and money.

The article focuses on the use of iPS cells, the man-made equivalent of embryonic stem cells that can be turned into any kind of cell or tissue in the body. The reporter interviews Kemal Malik, the member of the Board of Management for pharmaceutical giant Bayer who is responsible for innovation. When it comes to iPS cells, it’s clear Malik is a true believer in their potential.

“Because every cell in our bodies can be produced from a stem cell, the applicability of cell therapy is vast. iPSC technology has the potential to tackle some of the most challenging diseases on the planet.”

But he also acknowledges that the field faces some daunting challenges, including:

  • How to manufacture the cells on a large scale without sacrificing quality and purity
  • How do you create products that have a stable shelf life and can be stored until needed?
  • How do you handle immune reactions if you are giving these cells to patients?

Nonetheless, Malik remains confident we can overcome those challenges and realize the full potential of these cells.

“I believe human beings are on the cusp of the next big wave of pharmaceutical innovation. The use of living cells to make people better.”

As if to prove Malik right there was also news this week that researchers at Japan’s Keio University have been given permission to start a clinical trial using iPS cells to treat people with spinal cord injuries. This would be the first of its kind anywhere in the world.

Japan launches iPSC clinical trial for spinal cord injury

An article in Biospace says that the researchers plan to treat four patients who have suffered varying degrees of paralysis due to a spinal cord injury.  They will take cells from the patients and, using the iPS method, turn them into the kind of nerve cells found in the spinal cord, and then transplant two million of them back into the patient. The hope is that this will create new connections that restore movement and feeling in the individuals.

This trial is expected to start sometime this summer.

CIRM has already funded a first-of-its-kind clinical trial for spinal cord injury with Asterias Biotherapeutics. That clinical trial used embryonic stem cells turned into oligodendrocyte progenitor cells – which develop into cells that support and protect nerve cells in the central nervous system. We blogged about the encouraging results from that trial here.

High fat diet drives colorectal cancer

Finally today, researchers at Salk have uncovered a possible cause to the rise in colorectal cancer deaths among people under the age of 55; eating too much high fat food.

Our digestive system works hard to break down the foods we eat and one way it does that is by using bile acids. Those acids don’t just break down the food, however, they also break down the lining of our intestines. Fortunately, our gut has a steady supply of stem cells that can repair and replace that lining. Unfortunately, at least according to the team from Salk, mutations in these stem cells can lead to colorectal cancer.

The study, published in the journal Cell, shows that bile acids affect a protein called FXR that is responsible for ensuring that gut stem cells produce a steady supply of new lining for the gut wall. When someone eats a high fat diet it upsets the balance of bile acids, starting a cascade of events that help cancer develop and grow.

In a news release Annette Atkins, a co-author of the study, says there is a strong connection between bile acid and cancer growth:

“We knew that high-fat diets and bile acids were both risk factors for cancer, but we weren’t expecting to find they were both affecting FXR in intestinal stem cells.”

So next time you are thinking about having that double bacon cheese burger for lunch, you might go for the salad instead. Your gut will thank you. And it might just save your life.

CIRM-funded research is helping unlock the secrets behind “chemo brain”

/ Kevin McCormack / Leave a comment

chemo brain

Every year millions of Americans undergo chemotherapy. The goal of the treatment is to destroy cancer, but along the way more than half of the people treated lose something else. They suffer from something called “chemo brain” which causes problems with thinking and memory. In some cases it can be temporary, lasting a few months. In others it can last years.

Now a CIRM-funded study by researchers at Stanford has found what may be behind chemo brain and identifying potential treatments.

In an article on the Stanford Medicine News Center, senior author Michelle Monje said:

“Cognitive dysfunction after cancer therapy is a real and recognized syndrome. In addition to existing symptomatic therapies — which many patients don’t know about — we are now homing in on potential interventions to promote normalization of the disorders induced by cancer drugs. There’s real hope that we can intervene, induce regeneration and prevent damage in the brain.”

The team first looked at the postmortem brains of children, some of whom had undergone chemotherapy and some who had not. The chemotherapy-treated brains had far fewer oligodendrocyte cells, a kind of cell important in protecting nerve cells in the brain.

Next the team injected methotrexate, a commonly used chemotherapy drug, into mice and then several weeks later compared the brains of those mice to untreated mice. They found that the brains of the treated mice had fewer oligodendrocytes and that the ones they had were in an immature state, suggested the chemo was blocking their development.

The inner changes were also reflected in behavior. The treated mice had slower movement, showed more anxiety, and impaired memory compared to untreated mice; symptoms that persisted for up to six months after the injections.

As if that wasn’t enough, they also found that the chemo affected other cells in the brain, creating a kind of cascade effect that seemed to amplify the impaired memory and other cognitive functions.

However, there is some encouraging news in the study, which is published in the journal Cell. The researchers gave the treated mice a drug to reverse some of the side effects of methotrexate, and that seemed to reduce some of the cognitive problems the mice were having.

Monje says that’s where her research is heading next.

“If we understand the cellular and molecular mechanisms that contribute to cognitive dysfunction after cancer therapy, that will help us develop strategies for effective treatment. It’s an exciting moment.”

 

Headline: Stem Cell Roundup: Here are some stem cell stories that caught our eye this past week.

/ Kevin McCormack / 1 Comment

In search of a miracle

Jordan and mother

Luane Beck holds Jordan in the emergency room while he suffers a prolonged seizure. Jordan’s seizures sometimes occur one after another with no break, and they can be deadly without emergency care. Photo courtesy San Francisco Chronicle’s Kim Clark

One of the toughest parts of my job is getting daily calls and emails from people desperate for a stem cell treatment or cure for themselves or a loved one and having to tell them that I don’t know of any. You can hear in their voice, read it in their emails, how hard it is for them to see someone they love in pain or distress and not be able to help them.

I know that many of those people may think about turning to one of the many stem cell clinics, here in the US and in Mexico and other countries, that are offering unproven and unapproved therapies. These clinics are offering desperate people a sense of hope, even if there is no evidence that the therapies they provide are either safe or effective.

And these “therapies” come with a big cost, both emotional and financial.

The San Francisco Chronicle this week launched the first in a series of stories they are doing about stem cells and stem cell research, the progress being made and the problems the field still faces.

One of the biggest problems, are clinics that offer hope, at a steep price, but no evidence to show that hope is justified. The first piece in the Chronicle series is a powerful, heart breaking story of one mother’s love for her son and her determination to do all she can to help him, and the difficult, almost impossible choices she has to make along the way.

It’s called: In search of a miracle.

A little turbulence, and a French press-like device, can help boost blood platelet production

Every year more than 21 million units of blood are transfused into people in the US. It’s a simple, life-saving procedure. One of the most important elements in transfusions are  platelets, the cells that stop bleeding and have other healing properties. Platelets, however, have a very short shelf life and so there is a constant need to get more from donors. Now a new study from Japan may help fix that problem.

Platelets are small cells that break off much larger cells called megakaryocytes. Scientists at the Center for iPS Cell Research and Application (CiRA) created billions of megakaryocytes using iPS technology (which turns ordinary cells into any other kind of cell in the body) and then placed them in a bioreactor. The bioreactor then pushed the cells up and down – much like you push down on a French press coffee maker – which helped promote the generation of platelets.

In their study, published in the journal Cell, they report they were able to generate 100 billion platelets, enough to be able to treat patients.

In a news release, CiRA Professor Koji Eto said they have shown this works in mice and now they want to see if it also works in people:

“Our goal is to produce platelets in the lab to replace human donors.”

Stem Cell Photo of the Week 

Photo Jul 11, 6 00 19 PM

Students at the CIRM Bridges program practice their “elevator pitch”. Photo Kyle Chesser

This week we held our annual CIRM Bridges to Stem Cell Research conference in Newport Beach. The Bridges program provides paid internships for undergraduate and masters-level students, a chance to work in a world-class stem cell research facility and get the experience needed to pursue a career in science. The program is training the next generation of stem cell scientists to fill jobs in California’s growing stem cell research sector.

This year we got the students to practice an “elevator Pitch”, a 30 second explanation, in plain English, of what they do, why they do it and why people should care. It’s a fun exercise but also an important one. We want scientists to be able to explain to the public what they are doing and why it’s important. After all, the people of California are supporting this work so they have a right to know, in language they can understand, how their money is changing the face of medicine.

“Junk” DNA is development gold for the dividing embryo

/ Pallavi Penumetcha / Leave a comment

Single-two-cell-mouse-embryos-with-nuclear-LINE1-RNA-labeled-magenta-Credit-Ramalho-Santos-lab_1

Single two-cell mouse embryos with nuclear LINE1 RNA labeled magenta – Credit Ramalho-Santos lab

The DNA in our cells provide the instructions to make proteins, the workhorses of our body. Yet less than 2% of the 3 billion base pairs (the structural units of DNA) in each of our cells are actually involved in protein production. The rest, termed non-coding DNA for not being involved in protein production, has roles in regulating genetic activity, but, largely, these genetic regions have remained a mystery causing some to mis-characterize it as “junk” DNA.

One of the largest components of these “junk” DNA regions are transposons, which make up 50% of the genome. Transposons are variable length DNA segments that are able to duplicate and re-insert themselves into different locations of the genome which is why they’re often called “jumping genes”.

Transposons have been implicated in diseases like cancer because of their ability to disrupt normal gene function depending on where the transposon inserts itself. Now, a CIRM-funded study in Miguel Ramalho-Santos’ laboratory at UCSF has found a developmental function for transposons in the dividing embryo. The report was published today in the Journal Cell.

Of the transposons identified in humans, LINE1 is the most common, composing 24% of the entire human genome. Many investigators in the field had observed that LINE1 is highly expressed in embryonic stem cells, which seemed paradoxical given that these pieces of DNA were previously thought to be either inert or harmful. Because this DNA was present at such high levels, the investigators decided to eliminate it from fertilized mouse embryos at the two-cell stage and observe how this affected development.

To their surprise, they found that the embryo was not able to progress beyond this stage. Further investigation revealed that LINE1, along with other proteins, is responsible for turning off the genetic program that maintains the two-cell state, thus allowing the embryo to further divide and develop.

Dr. Ramalho-Santos believes that this is a fine-tuned mechanism to ensure that the early stages of develop progress successfully. Because there are so many copies of LINE1 in the genome, even if one is not functional, it is likely that there will be functional back up, an important factor in ensuring early mistakes in embryo development do not occur.

In a press release, Dr. Ramalho-Santos states:

“We now think these early embryos are playing with fire but in a very calculated way. This could be a very robust mechanism for regulating development…I’m personally excited to continue exploring novel functions of these elements in development and disease.”

CIRM weekly stem cell roundup: stomach bacteria & cancer; vitamin C may block leukemia; stem cells bring down a 6’2″ 246lb football player

/ Kevin McCormack / Leave a comment

gastric

This is what your stomach glands looks like from the inside:  Credit: MPI for Infection Biology”

Stomach bacteria crank up stem cell renewal, may be link to gastric cancer (Todd Dubnicoff)

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate that two-thirds of the world’s population is infected with H. pylori, a type of bacteria that thrives in the harsh acidic conditions of the stomach. Data accumulated over the past few decades shows strong evidence that H. pylori infection increases the risk of stomach cancers. The underlying mechanisms of this link have remained unclear. But research published this week in Nature suggests that the bacteria cause stem cells located in the stomach lining to divide more frequently leading to an increased potential for cancerous growth.

Tumors need to make an initial foothold in a tissue in order to grow and spread. But the cells of our stomach lining are replaced every four days. So, how would H. pylori bacterial infection have time to induce a cancer? The research team – a collaboration between scientists at the Max Planck Institute in Berlin and Stanford University – asked that question and found that the bacteria are also able to penetrate down into the stomach glands and infect stem cells whose job it is to continually replenish the stomach lining.

Further analysis in mice revealed that two groups of stem cells exist in the stomach glands – one slowly dividing and one rapidly dividing population. Both stem cell populations respond similarly to an important signaling protein, called Wnt, that sustains stem cell renewal. But the team also discovered a second key stem cell signaling protein called R-spondin that is released by connective tissue underneath the stomach glands. H. pylori infection of these cells causes an increase in R-spondin which shuts down the slowly dividing stem cell population but cranks up the cell division of the rapidly dividing stem cells. First author, Dr. Michal Sigal, summed up in a press release how these results may point to stem cells as the link between bacterial infection and increased risk of stomach cancer:

“Since H. pylori causes life-long infections, the constant increase in stem cell divisions may be enough to explain the increased risk of carcinogenesis observed.”

vitamin-c-1200x630

Vitamin C may have anti-blood cancer properties

Vitamin C is known to have a number of health benefits, from preventing scurvy to limiting the buildup of fatty plaque in your arteries. Now a new study says we might soon be able to add another benefit: it may be able to block the progression of leukemia and other blood cancers.

Researchers at the NYU School of Medicine focused their work on an enzyme called TET2. This is found in hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs), the kind of stem cell typically found in bone marrow. The absence of TET2 is known to keep these HSCs in a pre-leukemic state; in effect priming the body to develop leukemia. The researchers showed that high doses of vitamin C can prevent, or even reverse that, by increasing the activity level of TET2.

In the study, in the journal Cell, they showed how they developed mice that could have their levels of TET2 increased or decreased. They then transplanted bone marrow with low levels of TET2 from those mice into healthy, normal mice. The healthy mice started to develop leukemia-like symptoms. However, when the researchers used high doses of vitamin C to restore the activity levels of TET2, they were able to halt the progression of the leukemia.

Now this doesn’t mean you should run out and get as much vitamin C as you can to help protect you against leukemia. In an article in The Scientist, Benjamin Neel, senior author of the study, says while vitamin C does have health benefits,  consuming large doses won’t do you much good:

“They’re unlikely to be a general anti-cancer therapy, and they really should be understood based on the molecular understanding of the many actions vitamin C has in cells.”

However, Neel says these findings do give scientists a new tool to help them target cells before they become leukemic.

Jordan reed

Bad toe forces Jordan Reed to take a knee: Photo courtesy FanRag Sports

Toeing the line: how unapproved stem cell treatment made matters worse for an NFL player  

American football players are tough. They have to be to withstand pounding tackles by 300lb men wearing pads and a helmet. But it wasn’t a crunching hit that took Washington Redskins player Jordan Reed out of the game; all it took to put the 6’2” 246 lb player on the PUP (Physically Unable to Perform) list was a little stem cell injection.

Reed has had a lingering injury problem with the big toe on his left foot. So, during the off-season, he thought he would take care of the issue, and got a stem cell injection in the toe. It didn’t quite work the way he hoped.

In an interview with the Richmond Times Dispatch he said:

“That kind of flared it up a bit on me. Now I’m just letting it calm down before I get out there. I’ve just gotta take my time, let it heal and strengthen up, then get back out there.”

It’s not clear what kind of stem cells Reed got, if they were his own or from a donor. What is clear is that he is just the latest in a long line of athletes who have turned to stem cells to help repair or speed up recovery from an injury. These are treatments that have not been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and that have not been tested in a clinical trial to make sure they are both safe and effective.

In Reed’s case the problem seems to be a relatively minor one; his toe is expected to heal and he should be back in action before too long.

Stem cell researcher and avid blogger Dr. Paul Knoepfler wrote he is lucky, others who take a similar approach may not be:

“Fortunately, it sounds like Reed will be fine, but some people have much worse reactions to unproven stem cells than a sore toe, including blindness and tumors. Be careful out there!”