A life-changing human condition, ASD or more commonly known as Autism Spectrum Disorder leaves one with an incapacity that is devastating. Clinical studies on multiple family histories and twins have shown that some cases of ASD are genetic. However, the majority do not fall under this category and appears suddenly in young children intermittently or idiopathically.

At the Hussman Institute of Autism (HIA) in USA, a team has been studying upcoming methodologies that are related to using of induced pluripotent stem cells, or iPSCs. A group of mature human stem cells from the skin or the blood on being experimentally induced, possess the potential to differentiate into most cell types in the body. Since 2006, the process of induction and differentiation has had period upgradations. “One of the exciting aspects of working with iPSCs is that we can study autism in human neurons that have the exact genetic background of a given individual with autism,” said John P. Hussman, executive director of HIA.

“Mini-brains” or organoids, a resultant from the iPS cells of ASD patients have been produced by another research group from Yale. It came to light that ASD mini-brains are comprised of inhibitory neuron which is a type of nerve cell that multiplies and blocks the production of a protein called FOXG1 and then returns these nerve cells back to their normal population count.

A CIRM funded study led by Rusty Gage on a secondary stem cell model for ASD proposing fresh evidences into the initial neurodevelopmental deficiencies seen in ASD patients were published in the Nature Journal Molecular Psychiatry by the Salk Institute (USA) in partnership with scientists at UC San Diego.

Under clinical conditions, Gage along with team of researchers attempted to create iPS cells particularly from those select ASD patients who had undergone a brain growth of up to 23% faster during their toddler stage. Under constant investigations, the researchers studied the ways by which iPS cells from these select ASD individuals developed into brain stem cells. The next stage of growth turned these brain stem cells into nerve cells. The entire growth progression was mapped and matched to that of healthy iPS cells from normal individuals.

Under close observation of the procedure, the team quickly found an issue with the multiplication of the brain stem cells in order to generate new nerve cells in the brain. The process has been termed as neurogenesis. A surplus amount of nerve cells were being produced as the brain stem cells extracted from ASD iPS cells exhibited additional neurogenesis compared to normal brain stem cells. The nerve cells were incapable of sending signals and establishing a working system of transmission. Due to a lack of the synaptic connections with each other by these additional nerve cells their performance remained anomalous, portraying an inability to be less effective compared to healthy neurons.

IGF-1, a drug that is currently undergoing clinical testing towards probable treatment for autism was used in this instance to treat the nerve cells. The team noticed partial correction in the abnormal activity observed in the ASD neurons. According to a Salk news release, “the group plans to use the patient cells to investigate the molecular mechanisms behind IGF-1’s effects, in particular probing for changes in gene expression with treatment.”

Gage’s opinion is that: “This technology allows us to generate views of neuron development that have historically been intractable. We’re excited by the possibility of using stem cell methods to unravel the biology of autism and to possibly screen for new drug treatments for this debilitating disorder.”

The post New Secrets of Autism Using Human Stem Cells appeared first on Stem Cell Banking Guide and Pregnancy Tips For New Parents.

“Congratulations! You’re having twins.” When Naren and Seema had been informed of this ecstatic news, they were over the moon. The couple had been trying to conceive for close to a year and finally knowing that they were about to be parents, of not just one but two babies were more than they could have asked for.

The expecting couple were very careful during the first trimester as they had been informed that chances for a miscarriage were highest during that time. They followed the doctor’s instructions to the‘t’.  After the first three months were over, they decided it was time to inform their friends and family of their good news.

At a party celebrating their news, Seema’s friend Aditi enquired of the couple regarding their plans for cord blood banking. However, neither Naren nor Seema seemed to have much information on what it was. Aditi told them that the process of storing a newborn baby’s umbilical cord blood from which stem cells can be extracted and may be used to treat a wide variety of critical diseases and disorders like leukaemia, thalassemia, etc is basically what cord blood banking was all about. Seema was intrigued with the idea; however, Naren believed “it’s just a fancy marketing ploy by healthcare companies to get money from worried expectant parents. My babies will be fine. We don’t need to store anything for them.”

Even though Naren wasn’t interested in cord blood banking, Seema started her research online. The more she read, the more she learned of the benefits that cord blood banking could provide to her children. And not just for her twins, but any other blood relatives including the children that she could have in the future.

Eventually, she decided to ask her friend as to what had convinced her to opt for cord blood banking. Aditi said, “There is a history of sickle cell anaemia in my family. There were high chances that my baby too would have it. I was worried sick thinking of what life would be like for her if that happened. My doctor then told me about stem cell therapy and how quite a few clinical trials have been conducted which revealed that stem cell therapy can be used to treat sickle cell anaemia. That’s when I decided to go for it.”

Seema realised that she too wanted to ensure the safety of her babies’ future. She had read that cerebral palsy is quite common among twins and she decided that she wanted to be prepared in case her children too were affected by this ailment. That night she sat Naren down and explained her concerns to him, finally convincing him to change his mind since their babies’ health and wellbeing were their utmost priority.

Today, Seema and Naren are proud parents of two healthy baby boys, whose cord blood had been stored with a private cord blood banking facility since their birth.

The post Cord Blood Banking – Why I Changed My Mind? appeared first on Stem Cell Banking Guide and Pregnancy Tips For New Parents.

Recently, close friends Jayesh and Simran delivered a second baby boy, Kiann. Like responsible parents, they believed in their child’s healthy future and went for private cord blood banking in spite of having preserved the umbilical cord for their firstborn a few years ago. In just 3 months’ time, their newborn was diagnosed with osteoporosis. This is possibly a condition where Kiann’s bone formation could be at risk and may lead to a fatality. The couple were optimistic because they were told that stem cell transplantation could actually save their newborn’s life.

In the rarest of cases, when Kiann’s stem cells were taken for testing, the parents found out that Kiann’s cord blood cells contained the same genetic deficiency that caused his disorder. Jayesh and Simran were distraught. But there was light at the end of the tunnel.  Precedence suggested that doctors could explore using donor cells from a close match. In order to treat a genetic disorder known as Fanconi’s anaemia, the first successful sibling-to-sibling cord-blood stem-cell transplant was performed in 1988.

There was hope yet for Kiann. Since Jayesh and Simran had opted to invest in storing their firstborn’s cord blood cells a few years ago, the doctors on testing that sample were able to get a reasonably compatible match. The doctors chose to go ahead with the stem cell transplantation and Kiann is now well on his way to recovery.

So the question that most parents spend a lot of time on is whether there is a need to store the cord blood and tissue for each individual child? In Jayesh and Simran’s case, the fact that they preserved the cord blood cells for both their children actually helped to save the life of their second born child.

According to the Parent’s Guide to Cord Blood Foundation, “Two full siblings have a 25% chance of being a perfect match, a 50% chance of being a half match, and a 25% chance of not matching at all.” However, Dr. Joanne Kurtzberg, MD, Program Director of the division of Paediatric Blood and Marrow Transplantation at Duke University Medical Center and one of the earliest to perform an unrelated cord-blood transplant in the U.S says, “One of the wonderful things about cord blood banking is that unlike bone marrow, you don’t always need a perfect match in order for it to work.”

Apart from the medical point of view of why one must consider storing the cord blood and tissue for both children, there is an additional take from a parenting perspective. By opting to bank the cord blood and tissue of a single child, most parents forget that it may lead to a regrettable situation where they may realize that they had made an unequal key medical decision.

Storing the stem cells of each child individually will allow you and your children access to a greater number of stem cells through which their future disorders and diseases can be cured. Dr. Jordan Perlow, MD, a maternal-foetal specialist in Phoenix, post attending medical conferences and having examined and analyzed findings about advances in stem-cell treatments now urges his patients to privately cord blood bank if they can meet the expense of it because he’s confident that it might save their child’s life or the life of another family member.

The post Is It Necessary To Store Cord Blood and Tissue For Each Child? appeared first on Stem Cell Banking Guide and Pregnancy Tips For New Parents.

In order to understand how stem cells are useful to us, we first need to understand what stem cells are. Stem Cells start in the embryo as immature biological cells, then become specialized to create bone, muscle, skin, the heart, the brain, and over 250 other types of specialized cells. This is why they are of such value to scientists doing both basic types of research in the lab and medical research in the clinic. They have the potential to regenerate tissue and cells that have been lost because of disease or injury.

Stem cell therapy has been used to cure a number of health conditions such as heart diseases, neurodegenerative ailments, and diabetes, with bone-marrow transplant being the most commonly used for stem cell therapy. There are many ways in which stem cell therapy can be conducted, however, stem cells derived from the umbilical cord blood are the safest to use for treatment. Moreover, stem cells from young individuals possess superior naivety and plasticity than stem cells from adults.

Congenital Heart Disease (CHD) is the most commonly found abnormality at birth, where the structure and function of the heart are not normal. In 2014, this congenital anomaly affected more than 1% of live born infants and accounted for more than 2.5 million affected children per year worldwide. CHD now occurs in approximately 7–8 out of 1000 live births, a slight improvement. Recent estimations reveal that up to 80% of newborns and infants with CHD are likely to reach adulthood, which can result in a high likelihood of complications later in life.

The cause of congenital heart disease is usually a combination of genetic and environmental factors. While some congenital heart diseases can be treated with medicine alone, others need to be treated with one or more heart surgeries.

In 2006, research at the Boston Children’s Hospital revealed that the heart has its own source of stem cells. These heart stem cells can form two major types of heart cells: myocardial cells (the muscles that, together, contract to make the heart beat) and smooth muscle cells (the lining of the heart’s blood vessels). This finding by Stuart Orkin, MD, and Sean Wu, MD, PhD, gave researchers a better insight into how the heart forms, and also gave a fillip to the concept of treating diseased or defective heart tissue with heart stem cells.

In January 2013, a study led by Bernhard Kuhn at the Boston Children’s Hospital found for the first time that young humans (infants, children and adolescents) are capable of generating new heart muscle cells. These findings gave rise to the possibility that scientists could stimulate the production of new cells to repair injured hearts.

A team of researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital reported in PNAS Early Edition (July 2013 issue) that they were able to create blood vessels in laboratory mice using human stem cells. The authors explained that using stem cells to repair or regenerate blood vessels could eventually help treat human patients with cardiovascular and vascular diseases.

Stem cell-based strategies to cure heart failure in adults has been investigated with promising results; however, stem cell therapy strategies for the paediatric population with heart failure are in its infancy. Further clinical trial studies will be needed to understand the cell biology in order to optimise their regenerative potential.

The post Stem Cell Therapy & Congenital Heart Disease appeared first on Stem Cell Banking Guide and Pregnancy Tips For New Parents.

Over the years scientific development in neonatal medical care has been revolutionary. One of the best advances in this domain has been in the form of cord blood and umbilical cord tissue banking. Between the baby and the mother, the umbilical cord acts as the lifeline as it comprises of many blood vessels, through which the umbilical cord blood pulses. The umbilical cord tissue, on the other hand, enables the blood vessels to weather the stress and the presence of the cord protects and supports them from bending.

The umbilical cord tissue comes with a high concentration of mesenchymal stem cells or MSCs. A research article states that “MSCs derived from the umbilical cord tissue, termed UCX, were investigated for their immunomodulatory properties and compared to bone marrow-derived MSCs (BM-MSCs), the gold-standard in immunotherapy.”[1]

According to available proprietary technology, UCX is being sequestered from the umbilical cord tissue; the methodology has proven to be quite strong, reproducible and will work adequately for stem cell banking. [2] It has been seen to produce a greater number of cells along with approximately 100% success rate with limited bacterial impurities.

In the present scenario, stem cells found in the cord blood are being used in the treatment of a number of blood-related diseases. However, there is a major hindrance as the volume of blood collected from the umbilical cord is low and can pose a drawback in terms of transplants. Studies and researches are currently underway to understand possible methods to increase the efficiency of cord blood transplants. Some investigations have delved into “ex vivo expansion of the hematopoietic stem cells before transplant, intensifying the homing of hematopoietic stem cells to the patient’s bone marrow, direct injections into the patient’s femoral bone, and transplants with multiple cord blood units” as stated in Banking Stem Cells From Umbilical Cord Tissue For Future Regenerative Medicine Applications. [3] A more direct technique is to make use of another stem cell population – MSCs found in the umbilical cord tissue – for co-transplantation with a cord blood unit, could well be the solution.

With technology to extract MSCs from cord tissue, the first step is to mince the tissue. This is further supported by an enzymatic breakdown process to “melt” away the cord tissue that in turn releases the native MSCs. An alternative way to preserve MSCs is to process the tissue and extract the cells thus securing them in a “treatment ready” form.

The clinical tests conducted on these cells have revealed affinity towards treating auto-immune diseases (diabetes, Crohn’s disease, graft-vs-host-disease), neurodegenerative disorders (Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s) and cardiovascular diseases (acute myocardial infractions, ischemia).[4]

Deciding to store the umbilical cord tissue will give you the opportunity to take advantage of the therapeutic potential of stem cells in regenerative medicine. Umbilical cord tissue stored in cord blood banks represents an additional source of stem cells that may have both immediate and future applications. However, the choice to store your child’s umbilical cord tissue is only available to you once, therefore, think carefully while making your decision.

Sources used:

• http://www.bloodjournal.org/content/111/1/430.short?sso-checked=true
• http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23755729
• http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23998751
• https://stemcellres.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/scrt394
• http://www.assembly.wales/NAfW%20Documents/hhs74_-_anthony_nolan.pdf%20-%2024012011/hhs74_-_anthony_nolan-English.pdf
• http://www.hindawi.com/journals/sci/2015/583984/#B30
• http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23895058

[1] What Makes Umbilical Cord Tissue-Derived Mesenchymal Stromal Cells Superior Immunomodulators When Compared to Bone Marrow Derived Mesenchymal Stromal Cells? – R. N. Bárcia,1 J. M. Santos,1 M. Filipe,1 M. Teixeira,1 J. P. Martins,1 J. Almeida,1 A. Água-Doce,2 S. C. P. Almeida,2 A. Varela,2 S. Pohl,3 K. E. J. Dittmar,3 S. Calado,4 S. I. Simões,4 M. M. Gaspar,4 M. E. M. Cruz,4 W. Lindenmaier,3 L. Graça,2 H. Cruz,1 and P. E. Cruz1

[2] R. I. Ganchas Soares, M. C. Baptista Coelho, J. M. Silva Santos, et al., Isolation Method of Precursor Cells from Human Umbilical Cord, edited by INPI, Medinfar, ECBio, Lisbon, Portugal, 2008.

[3] Banking Stem Cells From Umbilical Cord Tissue For Future Regenerative Medicine Applications – Rouzbeh R. Taghizadeh, PhD, & Kyle J. Cetrulo

The post The Benefits Of Cells From Umbilical Cord Tissue appeared first on Stem Cell Banking Guide and Pregnancy Tips For New Parents.

As the science of stem cells took off in the 1970s when doctors realized that the stem cells found in the blood inside an umbilical cord could offer a much more secure substitute to bone marrow transplants that may find its way in the utilization of treating conditions such as leukaemia, lymphoma, and sickle cell anemia. This is so since cord blood is power packed with multipotent, self-renewing hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs), which are the forerunners to blood cells.

The process of extracting this cord blood immediately after birth and storing it in state-of-art laboratories in India and overseas for future use is now a convenient and affordable reality for many Indians, thanks to health companies like Cordlife India. In fact, Cordlife is the only private Cord Blood Bank in India to offer automated cord blood processing with Sepax2, a versatile patented Swiss technology. This advanced technology enables easy handling and safety of processing and aids in highly efficient and consistent cell recoveries.

Once the umbilical cord has been clamped from the newborn, the cord blood is collected from the umbilical cord vein attached to the placenta. Cord Blood extraction is not only a painless process for both mother and baby unlike bone marrow extraction, but there is a 60% higher chance of matching cord blood unit in the family vis-a-vis bone marrow. Cord Blood cells are mature, flexible and have more usage advantages than stem cells extracted from the bone marrow or umbilical blood.

After cord blood is extracted, Stem Cell Banks preserve the stem cells via Cryopreservation. Under various such methods of Cryopreservation, any damage to the stem cells caused by any enzymatic or chemical activities is prevented by cooling to very low temperatures, without further damage being triggered by the formation of ice during freezing.

Stored Cord Blood can now be available between days or weeks of processing for treatment. There is a low risk of complications when cord blood is applied for stem cell transplants and therapy since they have the ability to regenerate in the desired way.

Globally, an estimated 35,000 transplants have taken place where cord blood stem have been utilized to treat over eighty life-threatening ailments, including Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, bone marrow failures, genetic disorders, blood disorders and immune disorders. Several medical professionals are also researching cord blood as a potential cure for conditions that cannot be remedied presently. Umbilical Cord Blood banking is no more an option, but a necessity to secure a healthy future for the entire family.

For more details about – Why Banking Umbilical Cord Blood should be on your “To Do” List? – visit https://www.cordlifeindia.com

The post Why Banking Umbilical Cord Blood Should Be On Your “To Do” List? appeared first on Stem Cell Banking Guide and Pregnancy Tips For New Parents.

The beginning of my Dad journey…

It was just past noon and whilst my lovely wife was in the bathroom, I was furiously pacing outside the door. The bathroom door opened and there she was with the biggest smile on her face and tears rolling down her rose-blushed cheeks. She was ecstatic. She waved the test and I saw that it was positive. My first thought was of pure joy and relief. I remember telling her, “can you really believe it?”, “Are you happy?”, “Does it really say that you are pregnant?” We stood in the doorway for god knows how long, hugging and crying before finally calming down.

The “moment you find out” is quite unique and it was finally sinking in. It reminds me of that singular moment in life when you hold your breath and then heave those pleasurable gasps after a chest-achingly long time. A combination of being euphoric on finding out as well as the sweet relief of the long-endured fight of trying to, engulfed us all around.

We’d been trying to get pregnant for quite some time and our gynaecologist had told us that it wasn’t going to be an easy path for us. This challenging personal experience for us was a mirror of what was happening with many of our friends and some relatives too. The entire experience of winning the battle against childlessness seemed just imbalanced. The wrongness is amplified by the sense that the act of getting pregnant should be uncomplicated and the most enjoyable thing in the world to do.

I’ve seen the tightly-managed disappointment and setback turn out to be merely the opening act for a massive emotional ocean of antagonism, hopelessness, grief, resentment, embarrassment and remorse at being envious or not interested in others’ swift stork deliveries.

But all that is in the past.

Now that it has actually happened to us, it is such an unreal feeling; something that I’ve never lived through before and doubt I ever will again. Marriage is colossal, buying a house is massive, but making a human… is mammoth. I could not wait to scream it out of the rooftop.

I started visualising what a fantastic dad I was going to be; not that I’ve had any practice before. I would need to change a million things about myself, my lifestyle, to be able to be that great dad; but I am prepared to make all those changes. No more reckless drinking and takeout every night, no more sleeping until 8:30am on workdays.

Right now, I am just excited beyond my wildest dreams and maybe a little frightened too. But today, I only want to share this joy and pride with my beautiful wife. I have no doubt that she is feeling the same thrill. After all, we did this together!

The post DAD DIARY: Yahoo…. I’m Going To Be a Dad! appeared first on Stem Cell Banking Guide and Pregnancy Tips For New Parents.