Cell Therapy News Volume 9.33 | Aug 25 2008

The TriMark Stem Cell Conference 2008
October 20, 2008  |  San Francisco, California
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University of California Riverside Researcher Develops Non-Animal-Based Method to Grow Human Embryonic Stem Cells
A University of California Riverside researcher has developed a new method, which is not only cleaner and easier to use than conventional methods of culturing hESCs but also results in hESCs whose pluripotency is uncompromised.
Article

RNA Experiments Could Lead to New Treatments for Neuroblastoma
University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston researchers describe cell-culture and animal experiments that demonstrate how shutting down a single biochemical signaling connection dramatically suppresses neuroblastoma tumor formation and slows the cancer’s spread.
Article

Hydrogels Provide Scaffolding for Growth of Bone Cells
Hyaluronic hydrogels developed by Carnegie Mellon University researchers may provide a suitable scaffolding to enable bone regeneration.
Article

Japanese Researchers Create Stem Cells from Wisdom Teeth
Researchers at the government-backed National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology said they created stem cells of the type found in human embryos using the removed wisdom teeth of a 10-year-old girl.
Article

ABSTRACTS, REVIEWS AND SPECIAL REPORTS

Allogeneic Endometrial Regenerative Cells: An “Off the Shelf Solution” for Critical Limb Ischemia?
Researchers using cells obtained from menstrual blood, termed ‘endometrial regenerative cells’ were capable of restoring blood flow in an animal model of advanced peripheral artery disease.
Article

Therapeutic RNAi Targeting PCSK9 Acutely Lowers Plasma Cholesterol in Rodents and LDL Cholesterol in Nonhuman Primates
Here, the researchers have developed active, cross-species, small interfering RNAs capable of targeting murine, rat, nonhuman primate, and human PCSK9. These results pave the way for the development of PCSK9-lowering agents as a future strategy for treatment of hypercholesterolemia.
Article

The Effect of Controlled Growth Factor Delivery on Embryonic Stem Cell Differentiation Inside Fibrin Scaffolds
The goal of this project was to develop 3-D biomaterial scaffolds that present cues to direct the differentiation of embryonic stem cell-derived neural progenitor cells, seeded inside the scaffolds, into mature neural phenotypes, specifically neurons and oligodendrocytes.
Article

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Stem Cell Board Members Should Attend Meetings or Resign, Consumer Group Says
Frequently facing difficulties mustering a quorum for meetings, California’s stem cell oversight board has five members who showed up for 40 percent or fewer of regular board meetings so far this year, an analysis of attendance records by Consumer Watchdog found.
Article

Slowdown in The National Institutes of Health Funding Creates ‘Quiet Crisis’
Five straight years of flat funding from the National Institutes of Health have Washington University and Saint Louis University scrambling to fill financial gaps with other funding sources to keep biomedical research projects going.
Article

STEMCELL Technologies Introduces AggreWell(TM)400 for Standardized Embryonic Stem Cell and Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell Research
STEMCELL Technologies recently announced the release of the AggreWell(TM)400 plates, a revolutionary tool for researchers using embryonic and induced pluripotent stem cells.
Article

MDRNA, Inc. Completes Exclusive License Agreement to RNAi Delivery Peptides
MDRNA, Inc. announced recently that it has signed an exclusive license agreement to intellectual property from the University of Michigan covering cationic peptides for enhanced delivery of nucleic acids.
Article

ArunA Biomedical Announces Exclusive Worldwide Technology License Agreement to Commercialize Human Embryonic Stem Cell Derived Mesenchymal Cells
ArunA Biomedical, Inc., announced recently that it has entered into an exclusive worldwide technology licensing agreement with the University of Georgia Research Foundation that will enable the company to commercialize human mesenchymal cells developed at the University of Georgia.
Article

Medinet Starts Commercialization of Novel Cancer Immunotherapy Technology in Japan Utilizing Maxcyte’s Cell Loading System
MaxCyte, Inc. and Medinet Co., Ltd. announced recently that Medinet will begin commercializing a novel cell engineering approach, utilizing MaxCyte’s cell loading technology, on its cancer immunotherapy services in Japan.
Article

International Stem Cell Corporation Arranges $3 Million Equity Financing
International Stem Cell Corporation has entered into a subscription agreement with an accredited investor to sell $3,000,000 of Series C Preferred Stock at a price of $1.00 per share.
Article

Genentech to Pay Retention Bonuses
Genentech said Thursday that it would spend up to $371 million on retention bonuses to keep its employees from leaving because of the possible acquisition of the company by its majority shareowner, Roche.
Article

The National Institutes of Health Creates New Stem Cell Research Center
The National Institutes of Health told staffers last week that it is setting up a bone marrow-stem cell transplant center within the National Institute for Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases.
Article

Delays in Grant Application Submission due to Tropical Storm/Hurricane Fay
Article

National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases Building Interdisciplinary Research Team Revision Awards (R01)
Article

Substantially Equivalent 510(k) Device – Cymbal Automated Blood Collection System – Haemonetics Corp
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Substantially Equivalent 510(k) Device – TANGO OPTIMO Automated Blood Bank Analyzer System
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Product Approval Information – Blood Grouping Reagent
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Product Approval Information – Reagent Red Blood Cells; Reagent Red Blood Cells For Use in Automated Systems
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FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION (United States)

Blood Products Advisory Committee
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Supplemental Applications Proposing Labeling Changes for Approved Drugs, Biologics, and Medical Devices
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