Abstract: Developing effective therapies for serious neurological insults remains a major challenge for biomedical research. Despite intense efforts, the ability to promote functional recovery after contusion injuries, ischemic insults, or the onset of neurodegenerative diseases in the brain and spinal cord remains very limited even while the need for such therapies is increasing with an aging population. Recent studies suggest that cellular therapies utilizing mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) may provide a functional benefit in a wide range of neurological insults. MSCs derived from a variety of tissue sources have been therapeutically evaluated in animal models of stroke, spinal cord injury, and multiple sclerosis. In each situation, treatment with MSCs results in substantial functional benefit and these pre-clinical studies have led to the initiation of a number of clinical trials worldwide in neural repair. ... Read more

Abstract: Oncolytic virotherapy is an emerging therapeutic modality for the treatment of cancer. It entails construction of viruses with the ability to selectively target and lyse tumor cells. This branch of therapy has significantly advanced in the past decade, heralded by the development of several novel viruses. Despite the initial success of oncolytic virotherapy in the preclinical setting, however, this treatment modality remains hindered by several obstacles. First, failure to achieve effective viral delivery to targeted tumor beds is a well known limitation. Second, the virus-neutralizing mechanisms of the host immune system, which are in place to protect from viral pathogens, may also hinder the therapeutic potential of virotherapy. One approach to tackling these shortcomings is the use of cell-based carriers to both help with delivery of the virus and shield it from immunosurveillance. Stem cells have recently surfaced as a potential cell-based candidate for delivery of virotherapy. Their unique migratory and immunosuppressive qualities have made them an exciting area of investigation. The focus of this review is to discuss the benefits of stem-cell-based delivery of oncolytic virotherapy and its role in cancer treatment. ... Read more

Abstract: Standard anti-cancer therapeutic modalities like chemotherapy and radiotherapy evoke host's reactions that include involvement of the immune system. Elucidation of these mechanisms offers the double advantage of enabling a more rational choice of cytotoxic therapy and exploring the combination with immunotherapy. Radiotherapy, a well established local anti-cancer approach, is a particularly interesting partner for immunotherapy, since it can be harnessed to specifically modify the immunogenicity of the primary tumor and its microenvironment, in the attempt to generate an in situ immunization against a patient's own cancer. ... Read more

Abstract: Human gene therapy has made substantial progress since the initiation of the first clinical trials 20 years ago. Here, we summarized important applications of gene transfer protocols in the treatment of various human diseases using different viral vectors. Recent successful trials on the treatment of ocular diseases and inherited immune deficiencies are particularly encouraging and have raised hopes that human gene therapy as a standard treatment option will finally become a reality. While immune responses and insertional mutagenesis pose obstacles for this novel form of molecular medicine, continuous progress suggests that a wider range of diseases can be treated with gene therapy in the future. ... Read more

Abstract: Type 1 diabetes (T1D) is an autoimmune disease in which the patient's immune system recognizes their pancreatic islet insulin-producing cells and destroys them. To cure T1D in a comprehensive manner, not only must the islet cells be replaced, the patient's immune system must also be properly regulated mostly in the form of suppression. Blood-derived new stem cells have shown promise in both aspects of this treatment. ... Read more

Abstract: Human blood stem cell-derived insulin-producing cells can be easily isolated from autologous blood based on their unique phenotype. They act as pancreatic islet beta-cell progenitors, as demonstrated by authentic insulin production and homing to diabetic pancreatic islets. Clinical application of these autologous blood-derived insulin-producing cells holds great promise for diabetic treatment. ... Read more

Abstract: Why chronic inflammatory reactions persist in specific sites, such as rheumatoid arthritis in the joints, remains a mystery. Current models of inflammation have concentrated upon the responses of lymphocytes such as B and T cells to specific antigens, and have attempted, often unsuccessfully, to address the causative agent. However recent studies have shown that stromal cells such as macrophages, endothelial cells, and fibroblasts play important roles in the switch that turns a spontaneously resolving acute inflammatory response within a tissue into chronic and persistent disease. Therapeutic manipulation of the stromal microenvironment has been particularly effective in treating cancer and is likely to provide novel therapies to achieve improved control of chronic inflammatory disease. ... Read more

Abstract: Natural killer cells were first described in the early 1970s on a functional basis according to their ability to lyse tumor cells in the absence of prior stimulation. Since their discovery, NK cells have been shown to have other important functions that led to the use of NK cells as a form of adoptive immunotherapy. Over the next 5-10 years, with the advances in the field of NK cells we will undoubtedly see the use of allogeneic and autologous NK cells at the forefront of cancer immunotherapy. ... Read more

Abstract: Hemophilia A is an X-linked bleeding disorder caused by defective coagulation Factor VIII (FVIII). Although the efficacies of existing treatment using purified or recombinant FVIII are good, there remain shortcomings in using this particular form of treatment. A few FVIII gene therapy clinical trials have been initiated with modest improvements recorded, but these are no longer being continued due to insufficient efficacy. However, with the progress in the development of gene delivery vectors and the availability of mouse and canine hemophilia A models, gene therapy of hemophilia A remains an area of hot pursuit. ... Read more

Abstract: Neurodegenerative diseases, such as Huntington's disease, Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), are progressive neurological diseases that affect millions of people worldwide. Recent identification and advances in our understanding of multi-potent neural stem cells/progenitors in the mature CNS has raised the possibility that these discoveries can be translated into an effective therapy for degenerative neurological disease. ... Read more