World-leading experts from the field of stem cell science to convene at NUI Galway

World-leading experts from the field of stem cell science will convene at NUI Galway on 29-30 October 2014. The Galway International Stem Cell Conference will focus on the latest developments in basic science and translational aspects of Mesenchymal Stem Cell (MSC) research in Ireland, the UK and worldwide. A type of adult stem cell, Mesenchymal Stem Cells or MSCs, have shown huge potential for use in many medical therapies.

In addition to plenary talks from internationally renowned speakers, the program is structured to include oral paper presentations selected from submitted abstracts. With Ireland hosting the event this year, there will be a particular focus on some of the ground breaking research taking place here. The latest plans from researchers at NUI Galway for stem cell trials in Galway, focusing on arterial disease in the lower leg and osteoarthritis in the knee will be discussed.

According to Professor Frank Barry, Scientific Director of REMEDI at NUI Galway: “The impact of this conference will be high because it focuses on those aspects of basic science and clinical evaluation which represent obstacles to translation. New biological insights have emerged recently about stem cells and their clinical potential has been demonstrated. However, there are still substantial gaps in knowledge in the field, such as how we can standardise the mass production of stem cells in facilities around the world.”

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Cancer-killing stem cells engineered in lab

Toxin-producing stem cells (in blue) help kill brain tumour cells in the tumour cavity (in green)

Scientists from Harvard Medical School have discovered a way of turning stem cells into killing machines to fight brain cancer.  

In experiments on mice, the stem cells were genetically engineered to produce and secrete toxins which kill brain tumours, without killing normal cells or themselves.  Researchers said the next stage was to test the procedure in humans.

A stem cell expert said this was "the future" of cancer treatment.

The study, published in the journal Stem Cells, was the work of scientists from Massachusetts General Hospital and the Harvard Stem Cell Institute.

For many years, they had been researching a stem-cell-based therapy for cancer, which would kill only tumour cells and no others.

They used genetic engineering to make stem cells that spewed out cancer-killing toxins, but, crucially, were also able to resist the effects of the poison they were producing.

They also posed no risk to normal, healthy cells.

In animal tests, the stem cells were surrounded in gel and placed at the site of the brain tumour after it had been removed.

Their cancer cells then died as they had no defence against the toxins.

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Mayo Clinic and NUI Galway Formalise Collaboration

Pictured at the signing of the MOU were Professor Lokesh Joshi, Vice-President for Research , NUI Galway; Dr Jim Browne, President, NUI Galway; Professor Tony Windebank, Deputy Director for Discovery, Centre for Regenerative Medicine at Mayo Clinic; and Professor Tim O’Brien, Director of REMEDI NUI Galway

Collaboration will focus on stem cell therapy, gene therapy, biomaterials and biomedical engineering

The National University Ireland Galway has signed an agreement to formalise collaborative ties with the Mayo Clinic Centre for Regenerative Medicine in the US. The agreement follows many years of close cooperation, and paves the way for joint collaborations in clinical trials using regenerative therapies.

Collaborative research projects will focus on a number of key strategic areas of importance for both institutes, including adult stem cell therapy, gene therapy, biomaterials and biomedical engineering. Furthermore, the agreement facilitates ongoing student and staff exchange between Galway and the US.  

The Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) puts the emphasis on regulatory science to facilitate global translation of regenerative medicine therapies to the clinic. Both the National University Ireland Galway and the Mayo Clinic Centre for Regenerative Medicine have GMP cell manufacturing facilities, licensed for use by the respective national medical authorities.

National University of Ireland Galway’s President, Dr Jim Browne, welcoming the signing of the MOU, said: “Formalising our longstanding links paves the way for advancing our common agenda which is to realize the potential of regenerative medicine. Here in Galway we have Ireland’s only facility licenced to produce stem cells for human use, while the new clinical and translational research facility for conducting clinical trials with patients will be complete in early 2015.”

NUI Galway’s Regenerative Medicine Institute (REMEDI) and the Network of Excellence for Functional Biomaterials (NFB), both of which are supported by Science Foundation Ireland, are working together specifically to develop joint clinical trial programmes in the area of regenerative medicine.

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Osteoarthritis treatment breakthrough using stem cells at NUI Galway

Scientists at NUI Galway have achieved positive early stage results from a study looking at a possible treatment for osteoarthritis using stem cells.

Researchers at the Regenerative Medicine Institute said the results indicate that the treatment could be ready for use in patients within five years.

Osteoarthritis affects more than 400,000 people in Ireland, and 70 million across the EU. The disease causes the painful degeneration of cartilage in joints and is the most common form of arthritis.

The NUI Galway team are part of an EU funded project involving partners in seven countries, which is examining whether stem cell therapy can help treat osteoarthritis by regenerating joints.

The group is testing stem cells derived from fat, which is injected into joints.

Fat stem cells are considered a good alternative to bone-marrow derived stem cells, as they are available in large quantities and can be harvested using minimally invasive techniques.

The scientists, who are involved in the €10m EU funded ADIPOA project, have just completed first phase clinical trials which sought to determine how adipose or fat-derived stem cells injected into diseased joints can activate the regeneration of cartilage.

According to Scientific Director of the Regenerative Medicine Institute, Professor Frank Barry, if the treatment continues to show promise it could eventually lead to a cure for osteoarthritis.

Currently the only options for sufferers are joint replacement or life-long pain management.

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Major heart healing trial starts

The biggest ever stem cell trial involving heart attack patients has got under way in London. The study, which will involve 3,000 patients in 11 European countries, should show whether the treatment can cut death rates and repair damaged tissue after a heart attack.

All the patients will have standard treatment to widen their narrowed arteries, which involves inserting a small tube called a stent. In addition, half the patients will have stem cells taken from their bone marrow and injected into their heart.

This will happen within days of them suffering a heart attack.

During a heart attack, a fatty plaque causes a blood clot inside an artery, starving heart muscle of oxygen and leaving scar tissue.

Although more and more patients are surviving heart attacks, they can be left considerably weaker because heart muscle has been permanently damaged.

"After 15 years of research we will now have a clear answer. We hope to show that stem-cell injections can cut the number of people dying from heart attacks by 25%.

"If it works, it would open up a whole new branch of medicine, and give heart attack patients an entirely new treatment."

The trial includes hospitals in the UK and in other major European cities such as Paris, Frankfurt, Barcelona, Milan and Copenhagen.

The study, known as the BAMI (bone acute myocardial infarction), has received nearly £5m from the European Commission. 

The results will be announced in 5 years.

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Stem cell 'major discovery' claimed

A "revolutionary" new approach to creating stem cells in the laboratory could open up a new era of personalised medicine, it is claimed.

Scientists have shown it is possible to reprogramme cells into an embryonic-like state simply by altering their environment.

It means in principle that cells can have their developmental clock turned back without directly interfering with their genes - something never achieved before.

The cells become "pluripotent", having the potential ability to transform themselves into virtually any kind of tissue in the body, from brain to bone.

Reprogramming a patient's own cells in this way is seen as the Holy Grail of regenerative medicine.

It raises the prospect of repairing diseased and damaged organs with new healthy tissue that will not be rejected by the immune system.

Current methods of performing the same trick involve genetic manipulation, which carries with it a serious risk of triggering cancer.

But the new method described in the journal Nature requires no genetic tweaking.

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View article in Nature : Stimulus-triggered fate conversion of somatic cells into pluripotency

Ireland's first Stem Cell Centre - NUI Galway

Culture of adult stem cells can help sufferers of arthritis, heart disease and diabetes.

Ireland's first stem cell manufacturing centre approved at NUI Galway.

Stem cells can be manufactured for human use for the first time in Ireland, following Irish Medicines Board licensing of a new facility at NUI Galway.  NUI Galway’s Centre for Cell Manufacturing Ireland aims to culture adult stem cells to tackle conditions such as arthritis, heart disease, diabetes and associated conditions.

The centre, which is one of less than half a dozen in Europe authorised for stem cell manufacture, has been developed by researchers at NUI Galway’s regenerative medicine institute.  The new centre’s director, Professor Tim O’Brien explained that the stem cells must be grown in the laboratory to generate sufficient quantities, following their isolation from the bone marrow of adult donors, and the facility will help Ireland to develop therapies for a broad range of clinical problems which do not have effective treatments today.

Stem cell research in Ireland is in what scientists have described as a “legislative lacuna”, but this relates to use of embryonic stem cells and does not in any way inhibit the use of adult stem cells, Prof O’Brien from the School of Medicine, explained.

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