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The Multiple Sclerosis Research Center of New York is pleased to announce that it has successfully completed the initial steps towards accreditation to serve as a facility for the processing of human stem cells in clinical trials from the International Cellular Medicine Society. Along with soon-to-be-filed applications for additional certifications, this accreditation is an important step towards actually beginning the administration of neural progenitor stem cells to MS patients.
Fozia Mir, PhD, an Assistant Research Scientist at MSRCNY, presented a lecture on “Lipids in Multiple Sclerosis” Wednesday morning. Lipids are very biologically active compounds that are highly susceptible to oxidative damage due to the presence of double bonds. Oxidative stress can cause tissue injury, inflammation, and cell death and has been implicated in the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative diseases, including multiple sclerosis (MS). The brain has a high lipid content which, combined with its high metabolism, low antioxidant levels, and high intracellular iron lev
Donald Lee (MSRCNY) presented the following article in Journal Club.
Article Title: Inhibition of Fatty Acid Metabolism Ameliorates Disease Activity in an Animal Model of Multiple Sclerosis
Reference: L.P. Shriver and M. Manchester. Sci. Rep. 1, 79; DOI:10.1038/srep00079 (2011).
Kristi Clark (MSRCNY) presented the following article in Journal Club.
Article Title: The Encephalitogenicity of T(H)17 Cells is Dependent on IL-1- and IL-23-Induced Production of the Cytokine GM-CSF
Reference: M. El-Behi, B. Ciric, H. Dai, Y. Yan, M. Cullimore, F. Safavi, G. Zhang, B. Dittel, and A. Rostami. Nature Immunology (2011) vol. 12 no. 6, pp. 568-676.
Hannah Rosenthal (MSRCNY) presented the following article in Journal Club.
Article Title: Neural Differentiation of Patient Specific iPS Cells as a Novel Approach to Study the Pathophysiology of Multiple Sclerosis
Reference: B. Song, G. Sun, D. Herzszfeld, A. Sylvain, N. Campanale, C. Hirst, S. Caine, H. Parkington, M. Tonta, H. Coleman, M. Short, S. Ricardo, B. Reubinoff, and C. Bernard. Stem Cell Research (2012) vol. 8, pp. 259-273.
Due to the overwhelming response to the initial approval of 20 IMSMP patients for participation our phase I clinical trial of mesenchymal stem cell-derived neural progenitors, MSRCNY will be attempting in the coming months to obtain approval for an expansion of the study to 40 or 60 patients.
Esther Jun (MSRCNY) presented the following article in Journal Club.
Article Title: Polyglutamation of Methotrexate With Common Polymorphisms in Reduced Folate Carrier, Aminoimidazole Carboxamide Ribonucleotide Transformylase, and Thymidylate Synthase Are Associated With Methotrexate Effects in Rheumatoid Arthritis
Reference: T. Dervieux, D. Furst, D. Orentas Lein, R. Capps, K. Smith, M. Walsh, and J. Kremer. Arthritis & Rheumatism - September 2004 (vol. 50, no. 9, pp. 2766-2774).
Hana Conlon (MSRCNY) presented the following article in Journal Club.
Article Title: Th17 Cells Induce Ectopic Lymphoid Follicles in Central Nervous System Tissue Inflammation
Reference: A. Peters, L. Pitcher, J. Sullivan, M. Mittsdoerfer, S. Acton, B. Franz, K. Wucherpfennig, S. Turley, M. Carroll, R. Sobel, E. Bettelli, and V. Kuchroo. Immunity - 23 December 2011 (vol. 35, pp. 986-996).
Since the announcement of the approval of the MSRCNY and IMSMP clinical trial of neural progenitor stem cells in the treatment of MS by the International Cellular Medicine Society, patient interest in information and potential participation in the trial has been considerable. Over 400 patients have received informational brochures and many more have contacted the Stem Cell Research team with inquiries -- a far greater number than the 20 study subjects in the initially approved protocol.
Amir Touray (MSRCNY) presented the following article in Journal Club.
Article title: Rejuvenation of Regeneration in the Aging Central Nervous System
Reference: J. Ruckh, J. Zhao, J. Shadrach, P. van Wijngaarden, T. Nageswara Rao, A. Wagers, and R. Franklin.
Cell Stem Cell - 6 January 2012 (Vol. 10, Issue 1, pp. 96-103)
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