Stem cell research

The MIST Phase 2 clinical trial, supporting the potential of hematopoietic (blood cell-producing) stem cell transplant (HSCT) to significantly slow disability progression in highly active relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) patients, has received a Distinguished Clinical Research Achievement Award from the Clinical Research (CR) Forum. Five years after the transplant, most…

Researchers developed a way of reprograming cells to use synthetic materials — provided by the team — to create artificial, working structures within or about the cells. This approach may be a way to reprogram nerve cells to produce myelin-like protective polymers — large molecules made of many repeating…

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has lifted the clinical hold and cleared the investigational new drug (IND) application to assess IMS001 in the treatment of multiple sclerosis (MS), ImStem Biotechnology announced. The company plans to start a Phase 1 study in the U.S. this…

Transplanting human glial progenitor cells (GPCs) — brain cells able to generate myelin-producing cells — effectively led to remyelination in the brains of adult mice with myelin disorders, a study found. These results were presented at the Americas Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis (ACTRIMS) Forum 2020, running…

A bone marrow transplant can remove the majority of overactive immune T cells from the central nervous system (CNS) in patients with active relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS), allowing the body to replace them with healthy ones, a study has found. This opens up new treatment avenues to…

Transplanting patients’ own mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) is a safe therapeutic approach and can delay disease progression in people with multiple sclerosis (MS), a meta-analysis review shows. The study also showed that cells transplanted to the spinal cord (intrathecal injection) were associated with significantly slower disease progression rates, compared…

People with multiple sclerosis have been waiting for this: A full-scale clinical trial testing the effectiveness of stem cell transplantation as an MS treatment. The trial is being conducted by the U.S. National Institutes of Health, and it’s enrolling people with MS at several centers in the United States and…

Magenta Therapeutics will continue to advance its investigational conditioning therapy CD45-ADC for patients with autoimmune diseases undergoing stem cell transplants, the company highlighted in a progress report. CD45-ADC is a therapy designed to remove disease-causing immune cells in a safer way when preparing patients for a stem…

New Trial Compares Stem Cell Treatment to Available Therapies for Severe Relapsing MS This is a biggie. The U.S. National Institutes of Health is conducting a head to head study comparing autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (AHSCT) to the high-efficacy, disease-modifying therapies currently being used: Tysabri, Lemtrada, Ocrevus, and…

A new clinical trial is comparing the best available therapies to an experimental stem cell therapy to treat severe forms of relapsing multiple sclerosis (MS). At the moment, more than a dozen therapies have been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of relapsing forms…

Many multiple sclerosis (MS) patients consider autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplant (aHSCT) potentially effective in treating their disease, but most report needing more — and more reliable — information to make a reasoned decision regarding its benefits and risks, a survey found. Those who are dissatisfied with their current…

For its promising investigational therapeutic approach to neurodegenerative diseases, including progressive multiple sclerosis (MS), BrainStorm Cell Therapeutics is the Buzz of BIO 2020 winner in the Public Therapeutic Biotech category. The Buzz of BIO contest identifies U.S. companies with groundbreaking, early-stage potential to improve lives. The…

The New York Stem Cell Foundation (NYSCF) Research Institute and Aspen Neuroscience will send three-dimensional brain cell models of primary progressive multiple sclerosis (PPMS) and Parkinson’s disease to the International Space Station (ISS) for the…

Mount Sinai Medical Center has joined with BrainStorm Cell Therapeutics to explore the safety and efficacy of NurOwn as a potential treatment for progressive multiple sclerosis (MS) in an ongoing Phase 2 trial. The New York center is the fourth clinical site participating in the trial, in addition…

BrainStorm Cell Therapeutics received a $495,330 grant from the National Multiple Sclerosis (MS) Society  to support biomarker studies in its ongoing clinical trial testing the cell therapy NurOwn in patients with progressive multiple sclerosis (MS). NurOwn is a treatment based on the patients’ own bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem…

Metformin, a common diabetes treatment that works to mimic dietary fasting, was seen to promote remyelination in the stem cells of elderly rats, suggesting it may be useful in treating multiple sclerosis. “Metformin Restores CNS Remyelination Capacity by Rejuvenating Aged Stem Cells” was published in…

It’s been a big week for interesting stories, as the annual meeting of the European Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis (ECTRIMS) has just concluded. The conference offered much to engage healthcare professionals and researchers, but the following are some presentations that appealed to me as a multiple…

Richard Burt, MD, the chief of Northwestern Medicine’s immunotherapy for autoimmune diseases division, is taking a sabbatical, and the stem cell program he has headed for many years, which treated a number of people with MS, is shutting down. Burt headed a Phase 3 clinical trial…

Transplanting mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) is safe and can delay disease progression in people with active, progressive multiple sclerosis (MS), according to results from a single-center clinical trial conducted in Israel. Six months after the transplant, a considerable proportion of patients showed no signs of disease activity, compared to…

Stem cell therapy, or stem cell transplant, is an emerging yet controversial treatment approach for multiple sclerosis (MS). While some data uphold it as one of the most efficacious MS treatments, to date there have been no controlled studies comparing it to conventional medicines and providing more robust…

Our brains — much like our joints — stiffen with age, causing brain stem cells called oligodendrocyte progenitor cells (OPCs) to lose their ability to proliferate and transform into oligodendrocytes, the cells that produce myelin, an essential component for nerve cell communication, a study found. But tricking OPCs into sensing a…

The National Stem Cell Foundation announced the start of a pioneering project to investigate the impact of microgravity on the neurodegeneration associated with primary progressive multiple sclerosis and Parkinson's disease. The project, a collaboration between the New York Stem Cell Foundation Research Institute, the Summit for Stem Cell, and investigators with Aspen Neuroscience, will send 3-D brain organoids derived from patients with these disorders, for a first time, to the International Space Station on SpaceX CRS-18. This flight, set to launch on July 21 from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, is a test run for a 30-day study of neurodegeneration in microgravity set to take place on the space station this fall. "The National Stem Cell Foundation is delighted to be funding innovative science at the frontier of new drug and cell therapy discovery. The leading-edge research findings that have developed through this collaboration between important research groups may fundamentally alter our understanding of how and why neurodegeneration occurs," Paula Grisanti, chief executive officer of the NSCF, said in a press release. These organoids, or 3-D cellular brain models, contain microglia — cells that normally support and protect neurons. Microglia are implicated in the brain inflammation and disease progression seen in people with Parkinson's, PPMS, and other neurodegenerative disorders. The project will allow scientists in the near absence of gravity to study how these cells interact with each other, migrate, send and receive chemical signals, change their genetic signature, and promote brain inflammation. As such, investigators may get a glimpse of all the biological mechanisms involved in PPMS and Parkinson's in ways not feasible on Earth. This work might lead to understandings and advancements with a direct impact on the development of medicines and cell therapies for neurodegenerative diseases. Space Tango is leading the transport and maintenance logistics, to ensure the cells arrive at the ISS in the best possible condition and remain viable during the 30 days they will remain in orbit. To that end, the company has developed a series of automated systems intended to surpass conventional lab techniques, and allow space station researchers to work with a higher number of samples than typical, and use high-throughput techniques to easily analyze them. According to the company, these automated systems are not intended exclusively for research on the ISS, but may also be used by research facilities worldwide to support and accelerate scientific innovation. "The vision the National Stem Cell Foundation brings to using new approaches to science and creating collaborations between leading experts in Parkinson’s disease and multiple sclerosis from across the country is truly unique," said Jana Stoudemire, commercial innovation officer at Space Tango. "In addition to supporting the development of tissue chip platforms for microgravity, Space Tango is excited to expand capabilities for human 3-D brain organoid models that will assist in studying some of the most challenging diseases we have yet to truly understand," Stoudemire added. "We are very pleased to support this important research on the ISS."

The Phase 2 clinical trial testing BrainStorm Cell Therapeutic’s investigational NurOwn therapy for progressive multiple sclerosis (MS) has added a third clinical site, the company announced. The trial (NCT03799718) now will enroll patients at the Keck School of Medicine of The University of Southern California (USC), and its academic…

By tweaking stem cells in a laboratory, researchers were able to generate a model of the human blood-brain barrier (BBB) in a chip. The BBB is a highly selective barrier that is damaged in multiple sclerosis (MS), allowing immune cells to reach the central nervous system and damage…

Startup company Oscine Therapeutics has received an investment from Sana Biotechnology to support the research and development of cell-based therapies for a variety of neurological disorders, including multiple sclerosis (MS). This venture is based on work done over the past several decades in the lab of Steve…

Exosomes — tiny vesicles secreted by cells — collected from bone marrow stem cells and injected into a mouse model of multiple sclerosis (MS) helped to treat the disease, a study reports. Specifically, this treatment eased myelin loss and neuroinflammation in the mice, and improved motor function, the…

AxoSim has acquired exclusive rights to lab-grown brain miniatures, coined “Mini-Brain,” a technology developed at Johns Hopkins University that uses stem cells to create models of the human brain in a dish. This technique may help speed therapy discovery for many neurological diseases, including multiple sclerosis…

Editor’s note: “Need to Know” is a series inspired by common forum questions and comments from readers. Have a comment or question about MS? Visit our forum. This week’s question is inspired by the forum topic “Has anyone had the stem cell procedure?” from Jan. 11. You’ve no doubt heard…

A subset of stem cells in hair follicles, called melanocytes, appear to do more than just give rise to mature melanocytes, cells that help to determine hair color. Those melanocyte stem cells, or McSCs, that carry the CD34 protein were found in hair follicles from mice to differentiate into glia cells…

Non-contrast MRI Effective in Monitoring Progression of MS, Study Shows There’s been increased interest in the risks versus the benefits of using gadolinium to make lesions more visible on an MRI. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued an advisory last year raising the level of…