An Interview on CR With Luigi Fontana
November 20 2009   |   Permanent Link
Here's a calorie restriction (CR) article I missed from earlier this month: "If anyone is in a position to assess the risks and benefits of CR, it is Dr. Luigi Fontana, research associate professor of medicine at Washington University. He is overseeing a group of 50 patients involved in an 11-year study of calorie restriction. The study is part of CALERIE (Comprehensive Assessment of Long-term Effects of Reducing Intake of Energy), a large clinical trial being funded by the National Institute on Aging ... Why is CR controversial in the United States? Dietitians seem opposed to this. ... First of all, probably most dietitians don't have knowledge about calorie restriction. These are pretty new data. Before they were only on mice and rats. So they say, 'OK, mice and rats, who cares about mice and rats?' And so this is a pretty new phenomenon, and any time there is a new phenomenon, there are a lot of people who say, 'No, no, no, no, no!' It's a typical reaction to something that is new. ... All the metabolic, hormonal and cellular adaptations so far we have seen in mice and rats, we know they are living longer, not only healthier but longer. We know that is also happening in monkeys and in humans."

Building Skin From Stem Cells
November 20 2009   |   Permanent Link
Researchers have succeeded in tissue engineering fully functional and complete skin patches from stem cells: the scientists recreated "a whole epidermis from human embryonic stem cells. The goal is to one day be able to propose this unlimited resource of cells as an alternative treatment in particular for victims of third degree burns and patients with genetic diseases affecting the skin. ... Human embryonic stem cells (hES) have two fundamental characteristics: a capacity for unlimited proliferation and pluripotency i.e. the capacity to differentiate into all the cell types in the human body. The first objective of the team was to obtain skin stem cells (keratinocytes) similar to those naturally present in the human epidermis from hES cells. Keratinocytes, permit the constant renewal of the skin. Once this stage was achieved, the second objective of the researchers consisted in finalising strategies to isolate keratinocyte stem cells in order to test their capacity to reconstitute a functional epidermis firstly in vitro -- then in vivo. ... Twelve weeks after transplantation, the mice presented localized areas of completely normal and functional adult human epidermis containing all the skin cell types."

ACT Aiming for Human Stem Cell Trials
November 19 2009   |   Permanent Link
Advanced Cell Technology (ACT), one of the oldest companies formed specifically to develop regenerative medicine, is setting up for another round of human trials based on its work: "it has asked for approval to test human embryonic stem cells in treating a rare cause of blindness. The company said it filed an IND, an investigational new drug application, with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to use the stem cells to treat patients with Stargardt's macular dystrophy. If approved, it would be the second U.S. approval to test human embryonic stem cells in human patients. ... ACT has previously reported it used human embryonic stem cells to make retinal cells. They have reversed blindness in rats. ... The treatment for eye disease uses stem cells to re-create a type of cell in the retina that supports the photoreceptors needed for vision. These cells, called retinal pigment epithelium (RPE), are often the first to die off in Stargardt's macular dystrophy. ... It has been over a decade since human embryonic stem cells were first discovered. The field desperately needs a big clinical success. After years of research and political debate, we're finally on the verge of showing the potential clinical value of embryonic stem cells. Our research clearly shows that stem cell-derived retinal cells can rescue visual function in animals that otherwise would have gone blind. We are hopeful that the cells will be similarly efficacious in patients."

Click here for more news...