brain repair

(Cell Transplantation Center of Excellence for Aging and Brain Repair) When researchers transplanted autologous renal progenitor cells into rat models with kidney damage from pyelonephritis -- a type of urinary infection that has reached the kidney and is characterized by severe inflammation, renal function impairment and eventual scarring -- their study documented improved kidney structure and renal function.

This led researchers to suggest that the procedure shows potential for partial augmentation of kidney structure and function.

(Cell Transplantation Center of Excellence for Aging and Brain Repair) Stem cells derived from fat cells have potential for use in plastic surgery and tissue reconstruction because they share properties with bone marrow cells, can be found in abundance, and can be autologously donated.

However, during and after harvesting, adipose cells can fall victim to trauma; thus, once isolated, adipose cells must be purified to both retain their stem cell characteristics and viability to be effective for tissue reconstruction.

(Cell Transplantation Center of Excellence for Aging and Brain Repair) Two studies published in Cell Transplantation (19:9) examining stem cell transplantation aimed at neural repair in animal models of cerebral ischemia and ischemic stroke damage have documented benefits.

(Cell Transplantation Center of Excellence for Aging and Brain Repair) When three different labeling agents were tested on three different stem cell populations to determine what effect labeling agents had on stem cell phenotype, biological behavior and migration abilities, researchers found changes in stem cell proliferation depending on the type of contrast agent used.

With changes likely due to the physiochemical characteristics, label uptake and particle stability in cells, researchers concluded that labeling methods will likely need to be optimized for every cell type.

(Cell Transplantation Center of Excellence for Aging and Brain Repair) Separate bone marrow cell transplantation studies may lead to new treatments for the treatment of heart diseases.

One study by a team of Brazilian researchers, found that cell transplantation of bone marrow mononuclear cells (BMMCs) and ReACT formula injected directly into the heart benefited patients suffering from refractory angina.

A second study in the Peoples' Republic of China found that apelin, a newly described inotropic peptide, improves heart function following transplantation of BMMCs.

(Cell Transplantation Center of Excellence for Aging and Brain Repair) Stems cells used for transplantation in the nervous system to provide neural regeneration are fragile, but can be kept "forever young" during implantation through the use of self-assembling nanofiber scaffolds (SAPNS), a nanotechnology application for implanting young cells.

(Cell Transplantation Center of Excellence for Aging and Brain Repair) This study aimed at determining whether autografted cells derived from primate cortical gray matter, cultured for one month and re-implanted in the caudate nucleus of dopamine depleted primates, effectively survived and migrated.

When transplanted, autologous cells, derived from the most dopamine depleted region of the caudate nucleus, migrated, re-implanted into the right caudate nucleus, and migrated through the corpus callosum to the contralateral striatum.