Cool stem cell video

That's really great idea - to make 1 minute video story about stem cells. I like it a lot:

Let's create useful application for cell culturing!

In previous post I've asked about the necessity of mobile application development.

Now let's talk more specific.

While working with cell cultures I always notice lots of possibilities to improve the performance and make all procedures easier and to avoid mistakes.

However sometimes it's really hard to manage all cell cultures and to have all data available anywhere anytime.

That's why once I found myself thinking about the creation of something handy, trendy and highly useful for people who need to spend lots of time in laboratory.

My current idea is to develop the application for smartphones that will simplify some routine steps in cell cultivation process.

I'm not  an application developer and I don't have enough funding to hire a good one today. That is why I've launched the campaign for this goal. Moreover, I'd like to hear any comments, wishes and recommendations from both cell scientists and people who know how such stuff as mobile app development works. It's important because I'd like to give the most precise description of this task to engineers.

Here's the donation page

All features are still under construction but here are some crucial goals that I want to see in ready-to-use app:

•  Interactive Journal with the opportunity to put data abot the culture: isolation day (for primary cultures), seeding day (for other), number and date of passage, medium used (chose from given options e.g.: MEM, DMEM, RPMI etc), serum used (type of serum and %, e.g.: FBS, 10%), medium additives presence such as glutamine, glucose etc, the initial number of cells, type of flask used and other nesessary characteristics. 
• This Journal will provide notifications - reminders of a regular medium change, subculturing etc
•  Tools for cell counting such as population doubling time calculator, plotting options etc.
• One of my wishes is to make some sort of color detector that will give the possibility to determine the pH of the medium based on color on the photo
•  Maybe there would be tools for image processing with microscope (linked to existing programs or connected with new simplified mobile programm)
• The possibility of additional (or only) marking of the culture flask using a code with information that appears in a smartphone
•  Maybe a tool for rapid qualitative detection of signs of contamination by turbidity, color, environment
•  An analytical package for the interpretation of test results (PRO)

Of course it's just a raw draft and you may also take part in creative process with your vision.

Thanks for all comments. It's really important!

Visit it also, please.

Apps for stem cell culturing

Dear readers, do you know any relevant stem cell related applications for smartphones?
Or maybe applications for assisting in cell culturing process?

And what do you think about the utility of such applications?

Thank you!

Wonderful stem cell blog

Just discovered the wonderful blog about the hot cell therapy topic! http://roosterbio.blogspot.com - there are lots of opinions on mesenchymal stem cell biology, clinical utility and other aspects. The most stunning thing about this blog is the courage for discussing the "uncomfortable" questions. These questions are intensively avoided because of some "anti-commercial" conclusions, but the resolving of such problems is extremely important for the development of safe and effective regenerative medicine.

Umbilical Cord Tissue-Derived Cells as Therapeutic Agents

Olga Maslova, Miroslav Novak, and Peter Kruzliak, “Umbilical Cord Tissue-Derived Cells as Therapeutic Agents,” Stem Cells International, Article ID 150609, in press.
http://www.hindawi.com/journals/sci/aa/150609/ - our new work in Stem Cells International. I'm in love with this type of stem cells but need to admit that there are still lots of problems. I hope this paper would be useful for you.

Abstract
Although the characteristics of SC, including UC-derived cells, are a dramatically discussed issue, this review will focus particularly on some controversial issues regarding clinical utility of cells isolated from UC tissue. UC-derived cells have several advantages compared to other types and sources of stem cells. The impact of UC topography on cell characteristics is briefly discussed. The necessity to adapt existing methods of cell isolation and culturing to GMP conditions is mentioned, as well as possible cryopreservation of this material. Light is shed on some future perspectives for UC-derived cells.

Tonsil-Derived MSC

It was quite predictable and here it is:

"Polypeptide Thermogels as a Three Dimensional Culture Scaffold for Hepatogenic Differentiation of Human Tonsil-Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells"
ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces
The liver provides critical functions, such as ridding the body of toxins. Its failure can be deadly, and there are few options for fixing it. But scientists now report in the journalACS Applied Materials & Interfaces a way to potentially inject stem cells from tonsils, a body part we don’t need, to repair damaged livers — all without surgery.
Byeongmoon Jeong and colleagues point out that currently, the only established method for treating liver failure or severe cases of liver disease is complete or partial transplantation. But the need is much greater than the number of available organs. Plus, surgery has inherent risks and a hefty price tag. A promising alternative in development is transplanting liver cells. One such approach involves using adult stem cells to make liver cells. Stem cells from bone marrow could be used, but they have limitations. Recently, scientists identified another source of adult stem cells that could be used for this purpose — tonsils. Every year, thousands of surgeries are performed to remove tonsils, and the tissue is discarded. Now it could have a new purpose, but scientists needed a way to grow them on a 3-D scaffold that mimics real liver tissue. Jeong’s team set out to do just that.
The researchers encapsulated tonsil-derived stem cells in a heat-sensitive liquid that turns into a gel at body temperature. They added substances called growth factors to encourage the stem cells to become liver cells. Then, they heated the combination up to a normal body temperature. The result was a 3-D, biodegradable gel that contained functioning liver cells. The researchers conclude that the same process has promise — with some further tweaking for ideal conditions — as an injectable tissue engineering technique to treat liver disease without surgery.
The authors acknowledge funding from the National Research Foundation of Korea.

I think it could be really possible to obtain stem cells from different tissues.
Thanks to http://www.acs.org/ for the information.

Gremlins Sabotage the Mechanisms of Cancer Stem Cell Differentiation

Gremlins Sabotage the Mechanisms of Cancer Stem Cell Differentiation - that's not a joke. It's a title of the new paper at Cancer Cell Volume 25, Issue 6, 16 June 2014, Pages 716–717. Joan Seoane made an interesting research on cancer stem cells. 

Here is the abstract: BMP is highly expressed in glioblastoma and promotes differentiation of cancer stem cells (CSCs). Recently, Yan and colleagues found the explanation to this apparent paradox by showing that the antagonist of BMP, Gremlin1, is secreted by CSCs to protect them against the BMP-induced differentiation.

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UC: MSC+HSC

My cartoon about MSC and HSC from Umbilical Cord

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