Cord Blood News Volume 8.35 | Sep 8 2016

TOP STORY

Factor Isolated from Babies’ Cord Blood Could Treat Harmful Inflammation, Sepsis

A factor found in umbilical cord blood could become the basis for developing a new therapy to fight harmful inflammation, researchers report. When given to mice, the newly discovered factor countered signs of inflammation and sepsis, such as fever, fluctuations in respiratory rate, and death. [Press release from University of Utah School of Medicine discussing online publication in The Journal of Clinical Investigation] Press Release | Full Article

(Ranked by impact factor of the journal)

Transplantation of RADA16-BDNF Peptide Scaffold with Human Umbilical Cord Mesenchymal Stem Cells Forced with CXCR4 and Activated Astrocytes for Repair of Traumatic Brain Injury

The authors found that co-culturing human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells (hUC-MSCs) directly with the activated astrocytes benefited to the proliferation and neuron differentiation of hUC-MSCs in vitro. [Acta Biomater] Abstract

Accelerated Wound Healing in a Diabetic Rat Model Using Decellularized Dermal Matrix and Human Umbilical Cord Perivascular Cells

Scientists aimed to promote angiogenesis and accelerate wound healing by using human umbilical cord perivascular cells and decellularized dermal matrix in a rat model of diabetic wounds. [Acta Biomater] Abstract

Chondrogenic Commitment of Human Umbilical Cord Blood-Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells in Collagen Matrices for Cartilage Engineering

Scientists characterized and determined the chondrogenic differentiation potential of human umbilical cord blood-mesenchymal stem cells for cartilage tissue engineering using an approach combining 3D culture in type I/III collagen sponges and chondrogenic factors. [Sci Rep] Full Article

Osteoblasts Secrete miRNA-Containing Extracellular Vesicles that Enhance Expansion of Human Umbilical Cord Blood Cells

Extracellular vesicle (EV) treatment of human umbilical cord blood-derived CD34⁺ hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells alters the expression of candidate miRNA targets, such as HBP1, BCL2 and PTEN. Furthermore, EVs enhance proliferation of CD34⁺ cells and their immature subsets in growth factor-driven ex vivo expansion cultures. [Sci Rep] Full Article

Comparative Study of Allogenic and Xenogeneic Mesenchymal Stem Cells on Cisplatin-Induced Acute Kidney Injury in Sprague-Dawley Rats

Researchers compared the effects of mesenchymal stem cells from different sources on acute kidney injury induced by cisplatin and their influence on renal regeneration. [Stem Cell Res Ther] Full Article

Clinical-Scale Validation of a New Efficient Procedure for Cryopreservation of Ex Vivo Expanded Cord Blood Hematopoietic Stem and Progenitor Cells

Investigators recently showed that the efficiency of cryopreservation of hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells may be greatly enhanced by adding a serum-free xeno-free culture medium, which improves the antioxidant and biochemical properties of the cryopreservation solution. In this study, they present the clinical-scale validation of this cryopreservation procedure. [Cytotherapy] Abstract

Mesenchymal Stem Cells from Human Umbilical Cord Ameliorate Testicular Dysfunction in a Male Rat Hypogonadism Model

The authors transplanted CM-Dil-labeled human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells into the testes of an ethane dimethanesulfonat-induced male rat hypogonadism model. Twenty-one days after transplantation, they found that blood testosterone levels in the therapy group were higher than that of the control group. [Asian J Androl] Abstract

National Institutes of Health Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation Late Effects Initiative: Consensus Recommendations for Research Methodology and Study Design

The authors summarize strategies for the conduct of research on late effects after transplantation, including consideration of the study design and analytic approaches; methodologic challenges in handling complex phenotype data; an appreciation of the changing trends in the practice of transplantation, and the availability of biospecimens to support laboratory-based research. [Biol Blood Marrow Transplant] Abstract

Visit our reviews page to see a complete list of reviews in the cord blood research field.

Canadian Blood Services’ Cord Blood Bank Delivers First Unit to a Canadian Hospital

Canadian Blood Services’ Cord Blood Bank has delivered a cord blood unit for the transplant of stem cells to the first Canadian patient. [Canadian Blood Services] Press Release

New York Blood Center (NYBC) Announces Testing for Zika Virus to Help Ensure Safe and Secure Blood Supply

New York Blood Center announced plans to begin screening its blood supply for the Zika virus in all of the local communities where it collects blood. [New York Blood Center (PR Newswire Association LLC)] Press Release

Cancer Experts Unveil Wishlist for US Government ‘Moonshot’

Advisers to the US Cancer Moonshot Initiative have produced a wide-ranging laundry list of research targets for the project — even as its funding remains uncertain. The ten recommendations released on 7 September include the launch of a national clinical-trial network specifically targeted at therapies that harness the immune system, and the creation of a 3D cancer atlas to catalogue how a tumour interacts with neighbouring normal cells. [Nature News] Editorial

US Science Agencies Face Budget Limbo

Another year, another round of budget roulette for US science agencies. When Congress returns from its summer break on 6 September, it will have just three weeks to pass a new government funding bill before the 2017 budget year begins on 1 October. Policy analysts predict that lawmakers will pass a stopgap funding measure that will keep agencies’ budgets flat until the presidential election in November — and perhaps into next year. [Nature News] Editorial

Workshop on Ethics of Monkey Research Earns Cheers and Boos

Depending on whom you ask, the U.S. government workshop on the state of nonhuman primate research was either a raging success or a complete fiasco. The event, held at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda, Maryland, brought together dozens of scientists, veterinarians, and bioethicists to discuss how research on monkeys and related animals is contributing to human medicine and to review the welfare policies that surround this work. [Science News] Editorial

NEW European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Asia 2016 Congress
December 16-19, 2016
Singapore, Singapore

NEW World Advanced Therapies & Regenerative Medicine Congress 2017
May 17-19, 2017
London, United Kingdom

NEW Cell Culture & Downstream World Congress 2017
February 21-22, 2017
Munich, Germany

Visit our events page to see a complete list of events in the community.

NEW Assistant, Associate or Full Professors – Hematologic Malignancies (Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center)

NEW Postdoctoral Position – Experimental Hematology and Cancer Biology (Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center)

NEW Chair – Medical Biology (Masaryk University)

Technical Sales Representative (STEMCELL Technologies Inc.)

PhD Position – Tumor Microenvironment in Leukemia (Georg-Speyer-Haus)

Senior Research Scientist – Cancer Research (Anthony Nolan Trust)

Research Fellow – Cancer Biology (University of Michigan)

Assistant Associate or Full Member Faculty – Myeloid Malignancies (Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center)

Postdoctoral Fellow – Stem Cell Functions in the Hematopoietic System and Other Systems Derived from the Mesoderm (University of Illinois, Chicago)

Postdoctoral Position – Tumor Immunology (Roswell Park Cancer Institute)

Postdoctoral Fellow – Hematopoietic Stem Cells (University of Pennsylvania)

Postdoctoral Position – Cancer Genomics (Ohio State University)

Assistant Member Faculty – PlatinumImmunotherapy (Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center)

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