Stem Cells to Cure Parkinson's in 5 Years ...
 

says a scientific advisor for the Michael J. Fox foundation.

http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news...133_13825.html

"Stem cell therapy will be utilized in treating patients suffering from Parkinson's disease within the next five years, a renowned Swedish expert said during his visit to Seoul.

Olle Lindvall, a professor of Lund University in Sweden, said that the cure for the Parkinson's disease is likely to be one of the first and most effective applications of human stem cell research, though the field in general has many obstacles to overcome.

``I think that Parkinson's disease is one of the diseases where we will be able to do the first clinical test,'' Lindvall told The Korea Times Thursday. ``With the stem cell approach, though I cannot guarantee, scientifically-based clinical trials will be carried out within five years. When it comes to the other diseases, it is less sure.''

In stem cell research, new cells are obtained from either fertilized human eggs (embryo) or from adult tissues, and then the reproduced cells are then used to replace or reinforce damaged cells and organs of patients. South Korea is one of the leading countries in this field along with the United States and several European countries.

Parkinson's disease is one of the most common brain malfunctions, which impairs patients' physical movement and speech. Muhammad Ali, the legendary boxer, and actor Michael J. Fox also suffer from this disease.

Lindvall is a 25-year veteran in restoring brain function with cell therapies. He is also the scientific advisor for the Michael J. Fox foundation, a non-governmental organization dedicated to finding a cure for Parkinson's disease. He's attending the Seoul Symposium on Stem Cell Research being held at Korea University.

The basic idea of Lindvall's approach is to produce healthy brain cells from human stem cells, and inject them into the patient's brain. Many previous researches have shown that transplanting specific human tissues into the brain actually helps ease Parkinson's disease, even though the method may not completely cure it.

``We have transplanted dopamine cells from fetuses into the brain and saw they can survive. I think that there are many attempts to produce this type of cell from different types of stem cells,'' he said, adding that animal tests are already underway in many institutions around the world. ``I think that it can realistically happen within the next five years.''

Regarding the disgraced Korean stem-cell researcher Hwang Woo-suk, Lindvall said that the former Seoul National University professor won't be easily trusted in the scientific circle anymore. Hwang is known to have restarted his research in Thailand, to avoid public attention of Korean peers.

``I don't want to judge anyone, but it is very difficult to trust him. That is the problem,'' he said. ``Of course one has to give people a second chance but it is very difficult to do that, because you have to rely on people, and you have to trust.''

Neil.

Hate to be so skeptical, but I've been hearing "cure in 5 years" for 17 years now,

me too!!
 

me too! My advice is believe it when your Doctor offers it to you as a cure!!

Charlie

I agree!
 

I suppose that researchers may not realize that those of us waiting and hoping in the wings have heard the "cure in five years" claim too many times in the past for it to have much credibility anymore. Why don't they pick another number for a change?

Or maybe they mean in dog years...

Andy Grove makes sense
 

He may mean 5 yrs till clinical trials. I think the part these researchers tend to leave out, is that once clinical trials begin, it's many more years till the treatment gets on the market and most don't make it.

Andy Grove is trying to say that by rebalancing the funding from NIH, to give ENOUGH funding through new types of grants to research a treatment all the way through clinical trials, and if they don't meet their endpoints, don't renew the grant. This is taking into consideration that they are not throwing away drugs as "failures" before truly analyzing that failure and that failures be redefined. Failures tell you what you should try next with the same drug. And if you have the funding, you can do this.

Who sets the baselines for improvent? Who sets the percentages of improvement required? Learn from the failure and keep going. The way they do it now, they fund tons of basic research that never gets any further. They throw away drugs that they perceive won't make money. Or they just don't have the money to continue. A massive waste.

Andy Grove's talk is one of the most important talks I"ve ever read. It makes sense, but people have to help him champion it. That's us.

paula

If you say 5 years every year ...
 

then you have to be right one time :)

I found it encouraging due to the guy's position and that he was suggesting stem cell replacement therapy was "close". I thought they were still struggling with stem cells becoming cancerous.

I await my cure in 2012 with expectation, then I shall tell you all "I told you so" :)

Take care,
Neil.

That'll teach you to be an optimist! I think it's the moon, lol.

:winky: paula

Why Not ?
 

Science is our only hope for a cure for this PD. (Private I cal it Gymnadenia).

At this point who cares how long it takes. When it's ready, it's ready. I wouldn't hold my breath though.

GregD

Is it happenig allready in China?
 

I was withdrawn to the following links with claims and videos of advanced PD patient successfully treated with stem cell therpies in China !!!!!!!!!!??????:confused: I wonder
http://www.stemcellschina.com/conten...3/309/lang,en/
http://www.stemcellschina.com/

Yes I wonder about ...
 

that as well.

Wouldn't it be great to "talk" to someone with first hand experience of this.

Neil.

Yes it would be nice to talk to one of these people in person. I'm just afraid they would say... yes, my PD is cured but now I have lead poisoning.:eek:

GregD

worth trying ?
 

I sent follwing message via their website form:
we are members of neurotalk forum
http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/fo...aysprune=&f=34
we wish to have e-mail contacts of one of Parkinson patients treated by you so he may give testimony to the forum/ thank you
:rolleyes:

service@stemcellschina.com : reply
 

Just got this e-mail :rolleyes:
Patient Services <service@stemcellschina.com> to me, kotan
show details 2:31 pm (1½ hours ago)

Dear I Mark,
Thank you for the opportunity. Kotan who works with Tiantan hospital will
follow up with you. I have cc'ed her here. I think the best person is going
to be the first foreign patient that was treated who is Penny Thomas as she
is quite communicative. However, Kotan will be able to tell you best.

Thank you.

- Jon

www.technologyreview.com/Biotech/19645/
How i am understand that, stem cell don't create new cell of diseased part of brain and only support leftover cells of brain.

I hope that's we only on beginng of finding...

Penny Thomas-successfull stem cell implant recipient
 

Tiantan - Penny Thomas
Wednesday, 19 July 2006

P A T I E N T E X P E R I E N C E – P A R K I N S O N ‘ S

NAME: Penny Thomas

COUNTRY: U.S.A. (Hawaii)

AGE: 52

DIAGNOSIS: Parkinson’s Syndrome (Diagnosed in 2002)

REASON FOR COMING FOR TREATMENT: Penny had Parkinson’s symptoms for eight years.

TREATMENT: Injection into the brain of retinal neural stem cells with a daily cocktail treatment of neurotropic factors.

BEFORE THE TREATMENT (May 11, 2006): Penny had uncontrollable shaking. She had high muscle tension and she looked like she was extremely strong but in fact her muscles were weak. When she was walking or doing anything, she would have freeze ups where she would stop and not be able to continue her motion. If she were talking on the telephone, it would be hard to talk. She could not read or write because of the tremors. She could not eat by herself. She could not get up out of a chair by herself. She could not brush her hair. She could not get out of the bed by herself. She had trouble turning her neck.

See Video (5/13): Before



AFTER THE TREATMENT (July 4, 2006):

See Videos: After1, After2, After3 , After4 , After5

Penny’s shaking was greatly reduced but it still came back from time-to-time. She said that after the treatment at the times that the shaking did come back, if she concentrated, she could stop it. The muscle tension had disappeared. Her strength increased. The freeze ups stopped. She could read and write again, speak on the telephone, and eat by herself. She could get out of a chair and out of bed by herself. Her neck could turn normally and she could brush her hair.

July 21st: (From an e-mail from Penny) - I have returned home safely. I am driving once again after passing my driver's exam. In October I gave up my driving because I did not feel I was safe anymore and it was just adding too much stress to my life. Friends are amazed at what they see they just keep staring at me...my self confidence has returned also. I went sailing the other day... I actually was at the helm of the boat for 2 and 1/2 hours! I feel like I'm a kid again.

October 25th: (From an e-mail from Penny) - Aloha, I have recently returned from traveling for a month on the US mainland visiting friends and relatives. I even attended my 35 year high school class reunion! My how time does change us all and flies by.

I continue to be in a state of great excitement and joy for life. I use to ride horses quite regularly in Colorado, so my friends made sure that I had that experience as well during my visit. I was in heaven!

I saw my 15 year old daughter after not seeing her for 3 months. The first thing she said was "Mom, is that you? You're so strong!"

I am still swimming with the dolphins in the ocean when they choose to come to swim with me!

I am hoping to be able to start to make some reductions of the medications to see how the stem cells will respond soon. I have noticed that I have been missing some of my 10pm meds (because I fall asleep reading) and so am noticing my body seems to be okay with this.

I have also discovered a more natural way to feed the brain L-dopa by an herb known as Macuna puriens. There is a website that has a neuro-program, that my doctor is going to help me be monitored and involved with. It will actually help the stem cells I believe to produce the dopamine.

You might want to check out the websites that I have looked at, they are, www.CHKNutrition.com and www.neuroassist.com. I know there are urinalysis every week or two to determine the dopamine levels in the beginning. I think this is a very important step for people to be able to take in order to step away from prescription meds if they can. I tried a sample instead of Sinemet one afternoon, it seemed to work fine in its place, but of course, that was only once.

January 17th, 2007 (from an E-mail): I just returned from spending five weeks in beautiful snowy Colorado where I was hiking (before the snows came) and cross country skiing (after the snows came) at an elevation of 8000 feet. My body adjusted to the elevation and my strength improved even more. My family said that I looked even better than I did the last time they saw me in October, that I was more relaxed. I believe that was because I knew I could stay longer and was there to relax and spend time healing my body even more in the healing hot springs of the area. I am now back in Hawaii and once again swimming in the ocean. I did notice a shift in my energy level when I first arrived home. My medication and amino acid schedule had shifted so, I believe it was due to the time difference and now that I have been home for 5 days I feel back to normal.

See Video: About the Facilities


Last Updated ( Friday, 29 June 2007 )

Now there is a person after my own heart!
 

Proactive! Took action! Who says apathy has to win! :)

Good or bad news??
 

This article appeared on the front page of the Daily Telegraph newspaper in the UK yesterday.

Is it good news (ie, getting round the political problem of using embryos for stem cell research and thereby stopping US goverment funding).

Or bad news (are we back to square one, eg. the 5 year dream is gone!).


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/mai...cidolly116.xml


Dolly creator Prof Ian Wilmut shuns cloning
By Roger Highfield, Science Editor
Last Updated: 6:30pm GMT 16/11/2007Page 1 of 3


The scientist who created Dolly the sheep, a breakthrough that provoked headlines around the world a decade ago, is to abandon the cloning technique he pioneered to create her.

The life and death of Dolly the diva, by Ian Wilmut
Ian Wilmut: The status of the human embryo
Have you say: Can cloning ever be ethical?
Prof Ian Wilmut's decision to turn his back on "therapeutic cloning", just days after US researchers announced a breakthrough in the cloning of primates, will send shockwaves through the scientific establishment.


Ian Wilmut, the creator of Dolly the Sheep
He and his team made headlines around the world in 1997 when they unveiled Dolly, born July of the year before.

But now he has decided not to pursue a licence to clone human embryos, which he was awarded just two years ago, as part of a drive to find new treatments for the devastating degenerative condition, Motor Neuron disease.

Prof Wilmut, who works at Edinburgh University, believes a rival method pioneered in Japan has better potential for making human embryonic cells which can be used to grow a patient's own cells and tissues for a vast range of treatments, from treating strokes to heart attacks and Parkinson's, and will be less controversial than the Dolly method, known as "nuclear transfer."

His announcement could mark the beginning of the end for therapeutic cloning, on which tens of millions of pounds have been spent worldwide over the past decade. "I decided a few weeks ago not to pursue nuclear transfer," Prof Wilmut said.

Most of his motivation is practical but he admits the Japanese approach is also "easier to accept socially."

His inspiration comes from the research by Prof Shinya Yamanaka at Kyoto University, which suggests a way to create human embryo stem cells without the need for human eggs, which are in extremely short supply, and without the need to create and destroy human cloned embryos, which is bitterly opposed by the pro life movement.

advertisement
Prof Yamanaka has shown in mice how to turn skin cells into what look like versatile stem cells potentially capable of overcoming the effects of disease.

This pioneering work to revert adult cells to an embryonic state has been reproduced by a team in America and Prof Yamanaka is, according to one British stem cell scientist, thought to have achieved the same feat in human cells.

This work has profound significance because it suggests that after a heart attack, for example, skin cells from a patient might one day be manipulated by adding a cocktail of small molecules to form muscle cells to repair damage to the heart, or brain cells to repair the effects of Parkinson's. Because they are the patient's own cells, they would not be rejected.

In theory, these reprogrammed cells could be converted into any of the 200 other type in the body, even the collections of different cell types that make up tissues and, in the very long term, organs too. Prof Wilmut said it was "extremely exciting and astonishing" and that he now plans to do research in this area.

This approach, he says, represents, the future for stem cell research, rather than the nuclear transfer method that his large team used more than a decade ago at the Roslin Institute, near Edinburgh, to create Dolly.

In this method, the DNA contents of an adult cell are put into an emptied egg and stimulated with a shock of electricity to develop into a cloned embryo, which must be then dismantled to yield the flexible stem cells.

More than a decade ago, biologists though the mechanisms that picked the relevant DNA code that made a cell adopt the identity of skin, rather than muscle, brain or whatever, were so complex and so rigidly fixed that it would not be possible to undo them.

They were amazed when this deeply-held conviction was overturned by Dolly, the first mammal to be cloned from an adult cell, a feat with numerous practical applications, most remarkably in stem cell science.

But although "therapeutic cloning" offers a way to get a patient's own embryonic stem cells to generate unlimited supplies of cells and tissue there is an intense search for alternatives because of pressure from the pro-life lobby, the opposition of President George W Bush and ever present concerns about cloning babies.

Chris

Five weeks
 

to xmas, five years to the cure. All is looking good as we hear of some success already from stem cell therapy, with one woman claiming significant improvement in her condition after she undertook stem cell therapy in Asia, although the jury is still out on that one. We hear only this week that successful cloning of blastocyst cells from monkeys is a "Giant Leap" and it can only get better from here on in.

OK, Proffessor Wilmut has declined further research on Blastocyst cloning. but others have moved beyond that. Gene Therapies are in clinical trials. Andy Grove is here to hurry the NIH along with his business model on how to get research into clinical trials with his "Cultural Revolution" format.

Five years.... it could be far less with soooo much happening as we speak.

GO HARD>>>>>> SCIENCE

no - i'll take this to my own bloviation thread... hop over there if you care to read it.

I am not "holding my breath" for this five-year stem cell cure. What was it they said about a cure for PD 10 years ago...oh yes, that we would have a cure for PD in 10-years...that was the statement.

Well, we almost had it a couple of years ago. I think it was called GDNF!!

Good news?
 

In a vain attempt to get this Topic back on to a positive footing, how about some good news released yesterday about Gene Therapy research.

Was anyone from here on these trials?


PET scans show gene therapy normalizes brain function in Parkinson's patients
MANHASSET, NY - Brain scans used to track changes in a dozen patients who received an experimental gene therapy show that the treatment normalizes brain function - and the effects are still present a year later.

Andrew Feigin, MD, and David Eidelberg, MD, of The Feinstein Institute for Medical Research collaborated with Michael Kaplitt, MD, of Weill Cornell Medical Center in Manhattan and others to deliver genes for glutamic acid decarboxylase (or GAD) into the subthalamic nucleus of the brain in Parkinson’s patients. The study was designed as a phase I safety study, and the genes were delivered to only one side of the brain to reduce risk and to better assess the treatment.

A recently published study included the clinical results of the novel gene therapy trial, but this new report from the same study focuses on the power of modern brain scans to show that the gene therapy altered brain activity in a favorable way. This latest study is published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The patients only received the viral vector-carrying genes to the side of the brain that controls movement on the side of their body most affected by the disease. It was a so-called open-label study -- everybody received the gene therapy so the scientists knew that there could be a placebo effect. That is why brain scans were so critical to the experiment. Dr. Eidelberg and his colleagues pioneered the technology and used it to identify brain networks in Parkinson’s disease and a number of other neurological disorders.

In Parkinson’s, they identified two discrete brain networks -- one that regulates movement and another that affects cognition. The results from the brain scan study on the gene therapy patients show that only the motor networks were altered by the therapy. “This is good news,” said Dr. Eidelberg, the senior investigator of the study. “You want to be sure that the treatment doesn’t make things worse.” The gene makes an inhibitory chemical called GABA that turns down the activity in a key node of the Parkinson’s motor network. The investigators were not expecting to see changes in cognition, and the scans confirmed that this did not occur.

Position emission tomography (PET) scans were performed before the surgery and repeated six months later and then again one year after the surgery. The motor network on the untreated side of the body got worse, and the treated side got better. The level of improvements in the motor network correlated with increased clinical ratings of patient disability, added Dr. Feigin.

“Having this information from a PET scan allows us to know that what we are seeing is real,” Dr. Eidelberg added. The scans also detected differences in responses between dose groups, with the highest gene therapy dose demonstrating a longer-lasting effect. “This study demonstrates that PET scanning can be a valuable marker in testing novel therapies for Parkinson's disease,” he said.

The gene therapy technique was developed by Neurologix Inc., a New Jersey-based company. Scientists are now working on a design for a phase 2 blinded study that would include a larger number of patients to test the effectiveness of the treatment.

Chris :)

Good effort Imark ...
 

now if we can just get Penny Thomas herself to post we will have a real "result".

Neil.

stem cell treated patients invited
 

Actually I got a reply from the chinese hospital official with e-mail contacts of treated patients including Penny Thomas. After hesitation for many reasons, I sent them e-mails asking them if they may be kind and share their experiences through this forum. :rolleyes:

The Neuroligix
 

gene therapy success story is starting to receive media coverage previously unheard of. Already three gene therapy stories from different media outlets have found their way to these threads. Faaaantastic.

We have been trumpeting the Proffessor Michael Kapplitt and Proffessor Matt Durring GT trials for over 12 months, and according to their web site Phase 2 trials should be underway.

www.neurologix.net is the web site too book mark. Go there and suck up all the latest knowledge on Gene Therapy progress.

There is nooooo need for me too mention the country of Matt Durring:winky:....there is a need to mention another New Zealander Proffessor Richard Faul a neurology scientist of some pedigree, who has just released a research study today on brain cell replication which has far reaching implications for brain disease cures such as PD. It's hard to be humble folks, but for a country of 4.2 million we sure pull above our weight when it comes to science. Rutherford of course will take some beating.

GO HARD>>>> SCIENCE

Howard / Chris ...
 

you may also be interested in the Oxford Biomedica gene therapy trial (Prosavin), due to kick off imminently in France.

Rumour is this is the sh&t or bust product, results in weeks of treatment.

Neil.

http://www.oxfordbiomedica.co.uk/prosavin.htm

five years later...
 

http://www.nature.com/nbt/journal/v3.../nbt.2077.html


Nature Biotechnology | News and Views

Dopaminergic neurons for Parkinson's therapy
Olle Lindvall
Nature Biotechnology 30,56–58(2012)doi:10.1038/nbt.2077Published online 09 January 2012



A differentiation protocol guided by developmental principles produces more-authentic dopaminergic neurons for transplantation in patients.



In Parkinson's disease, impaired control of movement stems from the degeneration of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra and the resulting loss of dopamine in the striatum. Clinical studies in which human fetal mesencephalic tissue, rich in dopaminergic neuroblasts, was transplanted into the striatum of individuals with Parkinson's disease have shown in principle that dopaminergic neurons can be replaced and symptoms reduced in some cases1. But the functional outcome of this treatment has proved highly variable, and human fetal tissue is scarce, suggesting that other sources of dopaminergic neurons are needed to develop a clinically useful cell therapy. A recent report in Nature by Studer and colleagues2 describes the conversion of human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) into substantia nigra dopaminergic neurons that ameliorate Parkinson's disease symptoms in animal models without forming tumors. From the clinical perspective, this new differentiation protocol, which generates large numbers of transplantable dopaminergic neurons of the correct phenotype, represents a major advance toward the first application of hESC-derived dopaminergic neurons for grafting in patients.

Previous studies by my group and others have shown that dopaminergic neurons in fetal grafts can reinnervate the striatum and restore dopamine release in the brain of Parkinson's disease patients1. Some of our patients improved to the extent that they have managed for several years without treatment with L-dopa (a chemical that crosses the blood-brain barrier and after decarboxylation increases brain dopamine levels)3. These clinical programs came to an end after troublesome graft-induced involuntary movements, or dyskinesias, developed in ~15% of patients1. This problem now seems to be solved as the graft-induced dyskinesias in three of our patients were found to be caused by graft-derived serotonergic hyperinnervation of the striatum and could be abolished by pharmacological blockade of serotonin signaling3. In other studies, a small fraction of fetal graft–derived dopaminergic neurons was shown to contain Lewy bodies (the hallmark of Parkinson's disease) many years after transplantation1, 4. However, the progression of pathology to grafted neurons was slow, and they were still functional after a decade, with patients showing long-term improvement.

Stem cells could become a source of virtually unlimited numbers of dopaminergic neuroblasts for transplantation. To induce substantial clinical benefit, stem cell–derived dopaminergic neurons must be of human origin and must exhibit the specific properties of substantia nigra neurons. Promising results have been obtained using hESCs5, 6, 7, but several problems of fundamental importance for clinical translation remain8. The identity of the cells as substantia nigra dopaminergic neurons, their ability to extensively reinnervate the striatum in a larger brain and their capacity to markedly improve deficits resembling the symptoms experienced by Parkinson's disease patients—none of these prerequisites has been convincingly demonstrated yet. Moreover, hESC-derived grafts are associated with a risk of tumor formation5, and some protocols for generating dopaminergic neurons involve ex vivo gene delivery7, which may hinder clinical application.

Studer and colleagues2 provide solutions to several of these problems (Fig. 1). Compared to previous protocols for generating dopaminergic neurons from hESCs, the most important change in the new method is that the cells are passed through a developmental stage at which they exhibit the characteristics of floor plate tissue. The floor plate is a signaling center during neural development, located along the ventral midline of the neural tube, and the midbrain floor plate is neurogenic and a source of dopaminergic neurons. Studer and colleagues2 derived floor plate cells from hESCs in vitro using dual inhibition of SMAD signaling and high levels of sonic hedgehog9, 10. Midbrain floor plate identity was induced by activation of WNT signaling, and cells were exposed to BDNF, ascorbic acid, GDNF, cAMP, TGFβ3 and DAPT. Differentiation to dopaminergic neurons with extensive fiber outgrowth occurred with high efficiency. The cells expressed phenotypic markers typical for substantia nigra dopaminergic neurons and expressed genes that define these neurons during development. They also exhibited electrophysiological properties of nigral neurons and released large amounts of dopamine in vitro.

Figure 1: Generation of functional dopaminergic substantia nigra neurons for transplantation in Parkinson's disease.


Floor plate cells are derived in vitro from hESCs by dual inhibition of SMAD signaling and high levels of sonic hedgehog. Midbrain floor plate identity is induced by activation of WNT signaling, and dopaminergic neuron precursors are generated in the presence of trophic factors, ascorbic acid, cAMP and DAPT. After intrastriatal transplantation in mice, rats or non-human primates, these cells give rise to large numbers of dopaminergic neurons with a substantia nigra phenotype, which reinnervate the striatum and ameliorate behavioral deficits resembling the symptoms in Parkinson's disease patients.
Full size image (242 KB)

Notably, high numbers of dopaminergic neurons with a substantia nigra phenotype survived for a long time after intrastriatal transplantation of the hESC-derived dopaminergic precursors both in mice (~5,000 cells per graft at 4.5 months) and rats (~15,000 cells per graft at 5 months)2. These quantitative data suggest that the cells could be clinically useful because successful fetal transplants in Parkinson's disease patients require ≥100,000 dopaminergic neurons per putamen. In a nonhuman primate model, the grafted dopaminergic neurons extended their axons up to 3 mm into the striatum already at 1 month2. This is important because the axonal outgrowth from human stem cell–derived dopaminergic neurons generated so far has been poor8. The new hESC-derived dopaminergic neurons seemed to be able to reinnervate a major portion of the denervated striatum also in a larger brain, which will be necessary for clinical efficacy. Finally, the dopaminergic cell grafts not only completely reversed drug-induced rotational asymmetry but also improved clinically relevant behavioral deficits resembling symptoms in Parkinson's disease patients.

These findings are supportive of a future hESC-based therapy for Parkinson's disease, but several issues remain to be addressed. A critical issue for clinical translation is safety. The protocol for generating dopaminergic neurons should be fully chemically defined, and the components of animal origin eliminated. The potential for graft-induced dyskinesias after transplantation should be assessed in appropriate animal models. Notably, serotonergic neurons were rare in the grafts in rodents2, suggesting that the risk of dyskinesias in the clinical setting is probably low. The authors observed no tumors after transplantation, and the percentage of proliferating cells was low. However, before the cells are used clinically, their tumorigenicity must be assessed more rigorously. As part of this evaluation, it will be important to determine the identity of all cell types in the implants. Use of cell sorting to eliminate tumor-forming cells or of regulatable suicide genes may be necessary to improve safety.



Another question concerns the functional efficacy of the hESC-derived dopaminergic neurons. To be competitive with alternative therapies, grafts must bring about major recovery of motor function. Motor symptoms in Parkinson's disease patients can already be treated rather well with L-dopa, dopamine agonists, enzyme inhibitors and deep brain stimulation. Studer and colleagues2 found that the hESC-derived grafts contained large numbers of dopaminergic neurons and were efficacious in rodents. A cell potency assay comparing hESC-derived neurons with fetal dopaminergic neurons would be useful to estimate the number of cells needed for humans. Also, the growth capacity of the dopaminergic cells must be carefully analyzed to determine the number and distribution of implants required to reinnervate most of the human striatum. Finally, it should be noted that restoration of striatal dopamine transmission by cell therapy is unlikely to improve nonmotor problems in Parkinson's disease, which are due to the degeneration of other dopaminergic and nondopaminergic neuron systems.

Although several challenges lie ahead for stem cell therapy in Parkinson's disease, the findings of Studer and colleagues2 are cause for optimism. If implantation of their dopaminergic cells is found to enable robust, long-lasting improvement of motor function and to allow withdrawal of dopaminergic medication, as observed in some patients with fetal grafts3, this study would represent a breakthrough in the field that could make cell therapy available to large numbers of patients.

Another important study, by Olle Lindvall:

"Clinical application of stem cell therapy in Parkinson's disease"

http://www.biomedcentral.com/1741-7015/10/1

Interesting to read this 5 years on ...
 

Gene therapy has proved less than stellar, Prosavin (described as sh%t or bust in 2007), looks like a bust.

Neurologix seems a bit of a mystery, it passed blinded trial but lack of money or real humdinger results are stalling it.

Stem cells are still in the office, Brainstorm are trialling stem cells for ALS, heaven only knows what the self proclaimed "world leading" Brits are doing, (don't mention bloody Dolly the sheep). Probably the usual testing to destruction in the offices with no idea or inclination of how to send it out to the real world. Still good for the sheep of this world to know there is a kidney out there for them if they need it.

The worlds only super power to me, an outsider, still seems paralysed by the hangover of the Bush administration where stem cells are concerned. Where Arnies billions of California taxes went on this subject is best left unmentioned.

Korea, still lacking credibility following the debacle.

Ho hum, still we may have a cure in 5 years, say that every year and one year we will get it right.

Neil.

Hi Neil, I completely agree with you. In any case, I feel hopeful and confident, for example, about the last great works, made ​​by Dr. Lorenz Studer and his international colleagues (www.neurostemcell.org), as well as on the work are leading in Sweden, Drs Olle Lindvall and Anders Bjorklund. Maybe not tomorrow, but I think very soon begin to test even in humans with PD.
Furthermore, what else could we ever do, except hope?

Paging Dr. Bin Hu. Paging Dr.Hu. (neuro-scientist at University of Calgary and a hospital in Shanghai; has been going around China setting up PD clinics); some estimate there will be 30 million PWP in China as population ages; Chinese government said to be pushing PD research with military determination.

according to this study , trials will begin in 4 to 6 yrs. it must be the new 5?

http://www.newscientist.com/article/...rkinsons.html?

Living Cell Technologies NTCELL implant shows fast improvement of Parkinson’s symptom
 

Living Cell Technologies NTCELL implant shows fast improvement of Parkinson’s symptoms:

http://www.proactiveinvestors.com.au...ms--25785.html

or:

NZ trials planned for Parkinson's therapy:

http://money.msn.co.nz/businessnews/...insons-therapy

:wink:

I like it Paula, 4 to 6 is the new 5, perhaps it will catch on.

Neil.

You do 4 to 6, what do you get?
 

[QUOTE=I like it Paula, 4 to 6 is the new 5, perhaps it will catch on.

Neil.[/QUOTE]

New lyrics for old songs department

You do 4 to 6
And what do you get?
Another agonist
And deeper in debt

St. Peter don’t ya call me
‘cause I can’t go.
I’m shakin’ too much
to get up off the floor.

It's always 5 more
To fix PD pain
The rebels call it 4 to 6
But it sounds just the same

You swallow 16 pills
And what do you get?
Addicted to pharma
In Vegas taking bets.
You get really shattered
But what did the doctor expect?
That everything would be solved by sinemet?

Well, my body is weak
But my spirit is strong
I take handfuls of drugs
Just to get along

They say 4 years or 6
But then what do we get?
Another agonist to tweak the sinemet

St. Peter don’t you call me ‘cause I can’t go
I’m sitting here a-shakin right out of control.

New lyrics for old songs department.
This is the song: http://youtu.be/tfp2O9ADwGk

Write your own lyrics and permanently annoy the neighbors!

4 to 6 =5
 

sixteen studies
what do you get
another day sicker
and deeper in debt

st. peter don't cha call me cause i can't go
i sold my soul to the orgs and drugs show

sixteen trial recruits
and what do they get
reimbursed money
but some deeper regret

st peter don't cha call me cause i can't go
I sold my soul to learn placebo

sixteen people
what do they get
a shot at helping others but deeper pd yet


st. peter don't cha call me cause i can't go
i have to figure out why it's all so slow.

i wait 4 to 6
and what do i derive
that 4 to 6 yrs. just really means 5

st. peter don't cha call me cause i can see
that 4-6 yrs is too many for me.

I have found that business and finance, rather than science, gives a more sober prediction of what's in the pipeline for PD.

In 2007, I jotted down some notes from "Pharmaceutical Business Review":

"The following drugs are expected to do well in the next 10 years:
Novartis's Stalevo
GSK's Requip Modutab
UCB Schwartz's Neupro

"Although cell/gene therapies show great promise, these approaches will not signficantly impact the sale of pharmaceuticals over the period 2007-2016."

cost
 

i have never used neupro and forget what it is. is it on the market yet?the others cause dyskineisa for me and stalevo is very expensive.Has the price come down any? i was told by my pharmacy the first time i ordered stalevo, i saved more than $600 with insurance.

pharma doesn't need to crunch the numbers about people who improved or who died . that doesn't pay the salaries.

my alprazolam [generic xanax] is less than $8. stalevo $800