JACKSONVILLE, Fla. ― Mayo Clinic and Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) announced today a research agreement to transform organ transplantation. The institutions will bioengineer innovative approaches to address barriers in organ transplantation.

"This relationship with the esteemed CMU Biomedical Engineering team is a very important step in Mayo Clinic's Transforming Transplant strategic initiative," says Burcin Taner, M.D., chair of the Transplant Center at Mayo Clinic in Florida. "Research and innovation breakthroughs resulting from this initiative will address challenges and limitations that have historically existed for transplantation and subsequently unmet patient needs."

“Mayo Clinic’s Center for Regenerative Medicine is excited to collaborate with Transplant Center colleagues at Mayo Clinic to support the innovation being driven through our unique engagement with CMU," says Guojun Bu, Ph.D., associate director of the Center for Regenerative Medicine at Mayo Clinic in Florida. "This initiative will accelerate our mission in transforming the practice of medicine through biotherapeutic technologies that make organ transplantation more accessible, affordable and available to a broader population."

As part of the collaboration, Mayo Clinic biomedical researchers and Carnegie Mellon University faculty will focus on four core areas:

• Biofabrication.
• Organ repair.
• Organ monitoring using sensor systems.
• Artificial intelligence to optimize transplant processes.

"Mayo Clinic is the preeminent academic medical center and the largest organ transplant provider in the United States, and CMU is a leader in innovating and applying cutting-edge technologies to real-world problems," says Keith Cook, Ph.D., a Carnegie Mellon University professor who is head of the university's Biomedical Engineering Department. "We are excited to bring these leading institutions together to create real improvements in access to, and effectiveness of, organ transplantation."

Carnegie Mellon University's commitment to organ bioengineering is ongoing through its Bioengineered Organs Initiative. This initiative facilitates collaborative research focused on designing, creating and testing a new generation of long-term replacement organs that are fully biological, artificial or a combination of both.

Both institutions also will participate in ongoing seminars focused on the challenges facing organ transplantation and the development of new technologies to address them.

Mayo Clinic is committed to transplantation research and innovation.

Its goals include:

• Restoring donated organs by optimizing them for best outcomes and decreasing discard rates.
• Preventing graft failure in patients who have received organ transplants.
• Preventing organ failure and the need for a transplant through early diagnosis of organ dysfunction.
• Engineering new organs, subsequently eliminating the uncertainty of organ donation and long waits.

Mayo Clinic's Transplant Center, with locations in Arizona, Florida and Minnesota, has performed more than 27,000 organ transplants since 1963. More than 100,000 patients nationwide are awaiting organ transplants.

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About Mayo Clinic's Center for Regenerative Medicine
Mayo Clinic's Center for Regenerative Medicine seeks to integrate, develop and deploy new regenerative medicine products and services that continually differentiate Mayo's practice to draw patients from around the world for complex care. Learn more on Mayo Clinic's Center for Regenerative Medicine website.

About the College of Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University
The top-ranked College of Engineering is known for its intentional focus on cross-disciplinary collaboration in research. The College is well-known for working on problems of both scientific and practical importance. Our “maker” culture is ingrained in all that we do, leading to novel approaches and transformative results. Our acclaimed faculty have a focus on innovation management and engineering to yield transformative results that will drive the intellectual and economic vitality of our community, nation and world.

About Mayo Clinic
Mayo Clinic is a nonprofit organization committed to innovation in clinical practice, education and research, and providing compassion, expertise and answers to everyone who needs healing. Visit the Mayo Clinic News Network for additional Mayo Clinic news. For information on COVID-19, including Mayo Clinic's Coronavirus Map tracking tool, which has 14-day forecasting on COVID-19 trends, visit the Mayo Clinic COVID-19 Resource Center. 

Media contacts:

• Tia R. Ford, Mayo Clinic Public Affairs, newsbureau@mayo.edu
• Sara Vaccar, College of Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University, svaccar@andrew.cmu.edu

The post Mayo Clinic, Carnegie Mellon University to collaborate on transplant innovation appeared first on Mayo Clinic News Network.

Often people with diabetes have brain changes that are hallmarks of both Alzheimer's disease and vascular dementia. Some researchers believe that each condition fuels the damage caused by the other. That link may occur as a result of the ways that type 2 diabetes affects the ability of the brain and other body tissues to use sugar (glucose) and respond to insulin.

“To function well, the neurons in your brain need fuel. If you don’t have a good blood supply to the brain, then you don’t get enough glucose,” says Guojun Bu, Ph.D., Mayo Clinic neuroscientist and associate director of the Center for Regenerative Medicine at Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida.

The reduction of blood flow to the brain caused by damaged blood vessels may be why those with diabetes have a higher risk of Alzheimer’s disease. Diabetes and Alzheimer's disease are connected in ways that aren't yet fully understood. Dr. Bu and other researchers are studying how insulin resistance may affect the brain and result in Alzheimer’s disease or other types of dementia.

The connection between diabetes and Alzheimer's was recently discussed in the Everyday Health article, Why Some Researchers Are Calling Alzheimer’s Disease a ‘Type 3 Diabetes’. “It’s really more of a research term, rather than a medical term,” explains Dr. Bu. About 20 percent of the human population carries the riskier form of the gene APOE, called the E4. It is anticipated that more than 50 percent of Alzheimer’s cases can be linked to APOE4, according to the study, which was published in Neuron.

Learn more about Dr. Bu’s research in the video below:

Regenerative Endocrinology Research at Mayo Clinic

The endocrine cells of the pancreas are responsible for maintaining blood glucose levels. Glucose-responsive, insulin-secreting cells in the islets (beta cells) are dysfunctional in both type 1 and type 2 diabetes. In type 1 diabetes, beta cells are destroyed, while in type 2 diabetes, they may not produce enough insulin.

The Islet Regeneration Program at Mayo Clinic is poised to develop novel therapies for diabetes. The islet regeneration researchers are taking multiple approaches to restore, protect and replace pancreatic islets.

Mayo Clinic researchers are also investigating gene therapy as a potential means of enhancing the body's natural ability to regenerate beta cells.

More Information

Neurobiology of Alzheimer’s Disease
Islet Regeneration
Stem Cell Differentiation for Diabetes

The post Science Saturday: Diabetes 3, 2, 1 appeared first on Mayo Clinic News Network.

March is Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month, an annual campaign to raise awareness and encourage people to get screened for this deadly, but preventable, form of cancer. On the Mayo Clinic Radio podcast, Dr. John Kisiel, a gastroenterologist at Mayo Clinic, discusses screening, treatment and prevention of colorectal cancer. Also on the podcast, Dr. Christopher Viozzi, an oral and maxillofacial surgeon at Mayo Clinic, explains surgical options that can treat sleep apnea. And Dr. Guojun Bu, associate director of the Mayo Clinic Center for Regenerative Medicine, explains how new U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval clears the way for Mayo Clinic to accelerate production of stem cells for clinic trials.

The post #MayoClinicRadio podcast: 3/17/18 appeared first on Mayo Clinic News Network.

March is Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month, an annual campaign to raise awareness and encourage people to get screened for this deadly, but preventable, form of cancer. On the next Mayo Clinic Radio program, Dr. John Kisiel, a gastroenterologist at Mayo Clinic, will discuss screening, treatment and prevention of colorectal cancer. Also on the program, Dr. Christopher Viozzi, an oral and maxillofacial surgeon at Mayo Clinic, will explain surgical options that can treat sleep apnea. And Dr. Guojun Bu, associate director of the Mayo Clinic Center for Regenerative Medicine, will explain how new U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval clears the way for Mayo Clinic to accelerate production of stem cells for clinic trials.

Here's your Mayo Clinic Radio podcast.

The post Colorectal cancer / surgery for sleep apnea / stem cell production for clinical trials: Mayo Clinic Radio appeared first on Mayo Clinic News Network.

March is Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month, an annual campaign to raise awareness and encourage people to get screened for this deadly, but preventable, form of cancer. On the next Mayo Clinic Radio program, Dr. John Kisiel, a gastroenterologist at Mayo Clinic, will discuss screening, treatment and prevention of colorectal cancer. Also on the program, Dr. Christopher Viozzi, an oral and maxillofacial surgeon at Mayo Clinic, will explain surgical options that can treat sleep apnea. And Dr. Guojun Bu, associate director of the Mayo Clinic Center for Regenerative Medicine, will explain how new U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval clears the way for Mayo Clinic to accelerate production of stem cells for clinic trials.

To hear the program, find an affiliate in your area.

Follow #MayoClinicRadio, and tweet your questions.

Mayo Clinic Radio is on iHeartRadio.

Mayo Clinic Radio produces a weekly one-hour radio program highlighting health and medical information from Mayo Clinic.

Access archived shows.

The post Mayo Clinic Radio: Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month appeared first on Mayo Clinic News Network.

March is Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month, an annual campaign to raise awareness and encourage people to get screened for this deadly, but preventable, form of cancer. On the next Mayo Clinic Radio program, Dr. John Kisiel, a gastroenterologist at Mayo Clinic, will discuss screening, treatment and prevention of colorectal cancer. Also on the program, Dr. Christopher Viozzi, an oral and maxillofacial surgeon at Mayo Clinic, will explain surgical options that can treat sleep apnea. And Dr. Guojun Bu, associate director of the Mayo Clinic Center for Regenerative Medicine, will explain how new U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval clears the way for Mayo Clinic to accelerate production of stem cells for clinic trials.

To hear the program, find an affiliate in your area.

Miss the program?  Here's your Mayo Clinic Radio podcast.

Follow #MayoClinicRadio, and tweet your questions.

Mayo Clinic Radio is on iHeartRadio.

Mayo Clinic Radio produces a weekly one-hour radio program highlighting health and medical information from Mayo Clinic.

Access archived shows.

The post Mayo Clinic Radio: Colorectal cancer / surgery for sleep apnea / stem cell production for clinical trials appeared first on Mayo Clinic News Network.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has agreed to allow Mayo Clinic to use an automated bioreactor-based stem cell production platform on its campus in Jacksonville, Florida. This enables the Mayo Clinic Center for Regenerative Medicine to produce cells from the bone marrow of a stem cell donor in quantities large enough to make several doses that can be used as treatments in clinical trials.

This automated stem cell production platform, capable of producing billions of stem cells in short periods of time, took more than four years to develop with continual oversight and evaluation by the FDA. This advancement will increase the production of clinical grade stem cells to the Florida campus, establishing it among the first automated stem cell manufacturing sites nationwide. Stem cells that come from bone marrow have been shown to have many applications, including immune system modulation, reduction of inflammation, and the promotion of healing in several tissues such as bone, heart and brain.

“The new platform represents a giant leap in regenerative medicine, in which stem cells currently are being investigated as treatments for wide-ranging medical conditions,” says Guojun Bu, Ph.D., a Mayo Clinic neurologist, who is associate director of the Mayo Clinic Center for Regenerative Medicine. Dr. Bu is the Mary Leary Professor of Medicine.

Stem cell production has long been a labor-intensive process in which researchers cultivate hundreds of tissue-culture flasks over the course of months to produce enough cells for a few patients. However, the cells are needed on a large scale, such as for a recent Mayo Clinic clinical study that found infusions of stem cells to be safe for patients who have undergone lung transplants.

Established with funding from the Mayo Clinic Center for Regenerative Medicine, the new automated platform can generate several billion bone marrow-derived mesenchymal (adult) stem cells in a matter of days. In particular, the platform will support production of stem cells obtained from a healthy donor (versus stem cells taken from, and returned to, the same patient). “This may make treatments possible in cases where the patient’s own cells are not viable as therapy,” says Abba Zubair, M.D., Ph.D., medical director of Transfusion Medicine and the Human Cell Therapy Laboratory on the Florida campus. “In addition, because the cells can be produced in days instead of months, it may also make treatments available on short notice when they’re needed for acute care.”

Significantly, having the capability to produce large quantities of cells will facilitate the next stages of clinical studies, Dr. Zubair says. “Although Mayo Clinic has been poised to scale up regenerative clinical trials, to date we did not have the capacity to support them. With this new technology, we now can develop phase II trials enrolling larger numbers of patients to fully test the efficacy of cell-based therapies.”

Following federal and institutional guidelines, researchers are developing protocols to test stem cells therapies in areas where preclinical studies have suggested they will succeed. “Use of an automated cell manufacturing platform not only advances Mayo’s existing cell therapy capabilities, but also opens the door toward establishment of engineered cell-therapy platforms, transforming our ability to pursue targeted biologics-based approaches across Mayo Clinic in Arizona, Florida and Minnesota,” says cardiologist Atta Behfar, M.D., Ph.D., a Mayo Clinic cardiologist, who is director of the Van Cleve Cardiac Regenerative Medicine Program and deputy director of translation for the Center for Regenerative Medicine across Mayo Clinic. “The FDA allowance of this latest generation cell manufacturing platform not only allows Mayo to continue its quest to develop treatments in areas of unmet patient needs, but positions us at the forefront of regenerative innovation.”

Areas that Mayo Clinic researchers will advance the investigation of stem cell therapies include lung transplant rejection; chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; inflammatory bowel disease; and graft-versus-host disease, which is a complication of transplants.

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About Mayo Clinic
Mayo Clinic is a nonprofit organization committed to clinical practice, education and research, providing expert, comprehensive care to everyone who needs healing. Learn more about Mayo Clinic. Visit the Mayo Clinic News Network.

Media contact:

• Paul Scotti, Mayo Clinic Public Affairs, 904-953-0199, scotti.paul@mayo.edu

The post FDA clears way for Mayo Clinic to accelerate production of stem cells for clinical trials through automation appeared first on Mayo Clinic News Network.

“This study has furthered our understanding of the gene that is the strongest genetic risk factor known for Alzheimer’s disease,” says Dr. Guojun Bu, a Mayo Clinic neuroscientist. "About 20 percent of the human population carries this riskier form of [the gene] APOE, called the E4," says Dr. Bu. It's believed that more than 50 percent of Alzheimer’s cases can be linked to APOE4, according to the study, which was published in Neuron.

Watch: The Mayo Clinic Minute

Journalists: A broadcast-quality video pkg (1:00) is in the downloads. Read the script.

It's an accepted fact that people with Type 2 diabetes have a higher risk of Alzheimer's disease. One reason may be reduced blood flow to the brain because of damaged blood vessels, Dr. Bu explains. "And, therefore, the supply of essential nutrients to the brain is also impaired."     

Dr. Bu has found genetics may also be to blame. A variant of the so-called Alzheimer’s gene, APOE4, seems to interfere with brain cells' ability to use insulin, which may eventually cause the cells to starve and die. Unofficially, it's called Type 3 diabetes. "What it refers [to] is that their brain's insulin utilization or signaling is not functioning. Their risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease is about 10 to 15 times higher."

Researchers wondered if it is diabetes of the brain, could insulin delivered in an intranasal mist help patients? The results of a phase 2 clinical trial have raised hope. "The outcome is very positive. The patient's cognitive decline is slowed, if not improved." The multicenter research study will now expand into a broader phase 3 trial, with the backing of the National Institutes of Health.

The post Mayo Clinic Minute: Is Alzheimer’s Type 3 diabetes? appeared first on Mayo Clinic News Network.

Type 3 diabetes occurs when neurons in the brain become unable to respond to insulin, which is essential for basic tasks, including memory and learning. Some researchers believe insulin deficiency is central to the cognitive decline of Alzheimer’s disease. Mayo Clinic’s Florida and Rochester campuses recently participated in a multi-institution clinical study, testing whether a new insulin nasal spray can improve Alzheimer’s symptoms. The results of that study are forthcoming.

But how is this tied to the Alzheimer’s gene APOE?

A new study from Guojun Bu, Ph.D., a Mayo Clinic neuroscientist and Mary Lowell Leary Professor of Medicine, found that the culprit is the variant of the Alzheimer’s gene known as APOE4. The team found that APOE4, which is present in approximately 20 percent of the general population and more than half of Alzheimer’s cases, is responsible for interrupting how the brain processes insulin. Mice with the APOE4 gene showed insulin impairment, particularly in old age. Also, a high-fat diet could accelerate the process in middle-aged mice with the gene. “The gene and the peripheral insulin resistance caused by the high-fat diet together induced insulin resistance in the brain,” Dr. Bu says. Their findings are published in Neuron.

Watch: Dr. Bu discusses the link between diabetes and Alzheimer's.

Journalists: Broadcast-quality sound bites with Dr. Bu are in the downloads.

The team went on to describe how it all works in the neurons. They found that the APOE4 protein produced by the gene, can bind more aggressively to insulin receptors on the surfaces of neurons than its normal counterpart, APOE3. As if playing a game of musical chairs, the APOE4 protein outcompetes the normal protein and blocks the receptor. APOE4 goes on to do lasting damage to brain cells. After blocking the receptor, the sticky APOE4 protein begins to clump and become toxic. Further, once the protein enters the interior of the neuron, the clumps get trapped within the cell’s machinery, impeding the receptors from returning to the neuron surface to do their work. The insulin signal processing gets increasingly more impaired, starving brain cells.

“This study has furthered our understanding of the gene that’s the strongest genetic risk factor known for Alzheimer’s disease,” says Dr. Bu, who adds that, ultimately, the finding may personalize treatment for patients. “For instance, an insulin nasal spray or a similar treatment may be significantly more helpful for patients who don’t have the APOE4 gene. Patients who have the gene may need additional medications to help prevent cognitive decline.”

Co-first authors of this study are:

• Na Zhao, M.D., Ph.D., Mayo Clinic
• Chia-Chen Liu, Ph.D., Mayo Clinic

In addition to Dr. Bu, other researchers on the team include:

• Alexandra Van Ingelgom
• Yuka Martens, Ph.D., Mayo Clinic
• Cynthia Linares, Mayo Clinic
• Joshua Knight, Mayo Clinic
• Patrick Sullivan, Ph.D., Duke University School of Medicine
• Meghan Painter, Ph.D.

The post What is the link between Alzheimer’s and Type 3 diabetes? appeared first on Mayo Clinic News Network.

For patients diagnosed with neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, their ride is often similar. The disease follows a usual course, but once it progresses, they no longer have control and are at the mercy of their disease.
https://youtu.be/FgzCsISy900
Watch: Dr. Guojun Bu discuss neurodegenerative diseases.

Journalists: Sound bites from Dr. Guojun Bu are in the downloads.

Mayo Clinic researchers are trying to affect the course of these diseases. And a new laboratory on Mayo Clinic's Florida campus is helping them do just that. The Mayo Clinic Neuroregeneration Lab recently opened in the Birdsall Research Building. The research taking place inside is giving scientists new hope for future treatments that may keep neurodegenerative diseases at bay—at least in a holding pattern—to slow down the path of destruction. The focus of the lab is in its name: regeneration of damaged brain cells.

The new lab features biospecimen processing and stem cell-related research activities. Using skin or blood samples from patients who live with Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and other neurodegenerative diseases, researchers are trying to better understand the disease and how it affects each patient. People who have these diseases often carry genetic variants or mutations.

Mayo researchers are able to reprogram and “convert” the skin or blood cells to stem cells. The stem cells can become any type of cell in the  body ─ in this case, brain cells that can be studied in the lab.

“This lab enables us to collect and bank cells, and then distribute the cells and cell lines to Mayo Clinic investigators to support their research,” says Dr. Guojun Bu, Mary Lowell Leary Professor of Medicine and director of the Mayo Clinic Neuroregeneration Lab. “The eventual goal is to either slow down the degeneration of neurons or implement some sort of regenerative or replacement therapy.”

Down the line, researchers hope to use the findings of their research to alter the course of devastating brain diseases, correcting gene mutations and defective cellular functions. By recreating a patient’s disease in the lab, they may be able to test new drugs before they are given to a patient. They also hope the lab’s capabilities will enable them to accelerate discoveries into new treatments, as they continue to transform the practice of medicine.

The post Hope for patients with degenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s begins in the lab appeared first on Mayo Clinic News Network.