NeoStem, Inc. (NYSE Amex: NBS), which is a leading provider of pre-disease adult stem cell collection, processing and long-term storage services, and holds the exclusive, worldwide license to VSEL(TM) technology that uses very small embryonic-like stem cells isolated from peripheral blood, announced today that five posters and two oral presentations at the prestigious American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting in New Orleans in early December demonstrated the basic cellular mechanisms of very small embryonic-like stem cells.
Very small embryonic-like stem cells are a population of heterogeneous stem cells found in the bone marrow that have properties similar to those of an embryonic stem cell and provide the promise of achieving the positive benefits associated with embryonic stem cells without the ethical or moral dilemmas or certain of the potential negative effects associated with embryonic stem cells. Important aspects of the basic understanding of why very small embryonic-like stem cells appear to be effective in clinical situations were demonstrated by the multiple presentations at the recent ASH meeting given by Dr. Mariusz Ratajczak's team of researchers from the Stem Cell Institute at the James Brown Cancer Center, University of Louisville. These reports, among other things, addressed the epigenetic and genetic mechanisms that control and modify the functions of very small embryonic-like stem cells; the role of growth factors in the regulation of proliferation of very small embryonic-like stem cells; and the maintenance of very small embryonic-like stem cells in a quiescent state from the embryogenesis through adulthood, when they contribute to the steady-state conditions of tissue rejuvenation and to the regeneration of damaged organs during emergencies. It is anticipated that these seminal studies of the fundamental mechanisms by which these stem cells play their pivotal role in tissue regeneration will significantly contribute to the efficiency and efficacy of future clinical applications of very small embryonic-like stem cells.
Clinical reports on very small embryonic-like stem cells published in peer-reviewed journals during 2009 include those addressing:
Retinal diseases: A potential application of very small embryonic-like stem cells for retinal diseases as described by Dr. Anna Machalinska and colleagues from the Pomeranian Medical University, Szczecin, Poland in a paper published in September in the journal Current Eye Research.