Honours and Awards
December 2012 | mcewencentre.ca
Groundbreaking lung surgery at UHN
Surgical robot-assisted lung cancer surgery was performed for the first time in Canada by McEwen Centre researcher, Dr. Thomas Waddell and UHN researcher Dr. Kazuhiro Yasufuku. The surgery was performed using the "da Vinci Surgical System" which allows surgeons to make minimally-invasive surgical incisions when removing cancerous lung tissue. The system represents a significant improvement over conventional surgery which requires surgeons to cut open the rib cage when performing lung surgery.
McEwen Centre Technology licensed by VistaGen
A novel stem cell culture technique developed by McEwen Centre Director Dr. Gordon Keller was licensed by VistaGen Therapeutics, Inc. This breakthrough technology facilitates large scale culture of hematopoietic stem cell populations, which can then be used for improved drug screening or for cell therapy applications.
McEwens Honored by International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR)
McEwen Centre Founders, Rob and Cheryl McEwen received the 2012 ISSCR Public Service Award at the 10th Annual ISSCR meeting in recognition of their outstanding support for stem cell research and regenerative medicine. The McEwens have been instrumental in establishing a global network of researchers focused on advancing stem cell research through initiatives such as Stem Cell City and the McEwen Centre for Regenerative Medicine.
McEwen Centre Researcher Dr. Ren-Ke Li, in collaboration with Dr. Richard Weisel, published a study in the European Heart Journal on new methodology for restoring cardiac function in older hearts by using young bone marrow cells to repopulate cardiac resident bone marrow cells. Further expanding on these findings, Dr. Li has developed and tested a novel cytokine-releasing biomaterial that promotes the engraftment of young human mesenchymal stem cells that have the ability to promote cardiac function. These promising results provide a basis for new treatments that could be useful in promoting healing in elderly patients that have extensive damage from myocardial infarction (Journal of the American College of Cardiology).
Dr. Peter Zandstra published a Cell Stem Cell article describing a new methodology for the rapid and efficient expansion of hematopoietic stem cells in vivo. In collaboration with Dr. Andras Nagy, he also published a Nature Methods paper on a scalable suspension culture method for expanding induced pluripotent stem cells. Combined, these studies will help overcome current limitations for the generation of stem cells for use in research and clinical applications.
This year, McEwen Centre Researchers have offered new insights on the role of microRNAs in the development of different cell lineages. An article by Dr. John Dick showed that hematopoietic stem cells can be expanded in vivo by modulating the expression of miR126 (Cell Stem Cell). miR126 also plays a vital role in the regulation of non-hematopoietic cells as shown in a Cell Stem Cell published by McEwen Director Dr. Gordon Keller.
Dr. John Dick’s research initiatives also led to the discovery that three proteins, ID1, ID3 and p21, work together to regulate the renewal of colon cancer-initiating stem cells by controlling cell cycle restriction and preventing DNA damage. While previous data has shown that expression of ID proteins is linked to poor prognosis and chemotherapeutic resistance, the new findings help explain the molecular mechanisms through which ID proteins function (Cancer Cell).
Research by Dr. Freda Miller provided new evidence that RNA:protein complexes regulate neural stem cell development by controlling the localization and translational expression of proteins involved in the maintenance of the neural stem cell pool (Cell Stem Cell). Dr. Miller’s research on the pathways involved in neural stem cell development also led to the discovery that a diabetes drug known as metformin is able to promote neurogenesis and improve the spatial learning ability of adult mice. As a result, clinical trials on the effectiveness of metformin at improving brain function are currently underway (Cell Stem Cell).
The McEwen Centre wishes everyone Happy Holidays
and all the best for 2013!
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Recent Publications
Micro-arrayed human embryonic stem cells-derived cardiomyocytes for in vitro functional assay. Serena E, Cimetta E, Zatti S, Zaglia T, Zagallo M, Keller G, Elvassore N. PLoSOne. 2012 Nov 12. [Abstract] Aged human cells rejuvenated by cytokine enhancement of biomaterials for surgical ventricular restoration. Kang K, Sun L, Xiao Y, Li SH, Wu J, Guo J, Jiang SL, Yang L, Yau TM, Weisel RD, Radisic M, Li RK. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2012 Nov 20. [Abstract] A glucagon-like peptide-1 analogue reverses the molecular pathology and cardiac dysfunction of a mouse model of obesity. Noyan-Ashraf MH, Shikatani EA, Schuiki I, Mukovozov I, Wu J, Li RK, Volchuk A,Robinson LA, Billia F, Drucker DJ, Husain M. Circulation. 2012 Nov 27. [Abstract] Ribonucleic acid microarray analysis from lymph node samples obtained by endobronchial ultrasonography-guided transbronchial needle aspiration. Nakajima T, Zamel R, Anayama T, Kimura H, Yoshino I, Keshavjee S, Yasufuku K. Ann Thorac Surg. 2012 Dec. [Abstract] Lysosomal disruption preferentially targets acute myeloid leukemia cells and progenitors. Sukhai MA, Prabha S, Hurren R, Rutledge AC, Lee AY, Sriskanthadevan S, Sun H, Wang X, Skrtic M, Seneviratne A, Cusimano M, Jhas B, Gronda M, Maclean N, Cho EE, Spagnuolo PA, Sharmeen S, Gebbia M, Urbanus M, Eppert K, Dissanayake D, Jonet A, Dassonville-Klimpt A, Li X, Datti A, Ohashi PS, Wrana J, Rogers I, Sonnet P,Ellis WY, Corey SJ, Eaves C, Minden MD, Wang JC, Dick JE, Nislow C, Giaever G, Schimmer AD. J Clin Invest. 2012 Dec 3. [Abstract] Serum-free differentiation of functional human coronary-like vascular smooth muscle cells from embryonic stem cells. El-Mounayri O, Mihic A, Shikatani E, Gagliardi M, Steinbach SK, Dubois N, Dacosta R, Li RK, Keller G, Husain M. Cardiovasc Res. 2012 Dec 4. [Abstract] The adult retinal stem cell is a rare cell in the ciliary epithelium whose progeny can differentiate into photoreceptors. Ballios BG, Clarke L, Coles BL, Shoichet MS, van der Kooy D. The adult retinal stem cell is a rare cell in the ciliary epithelium whose progeny can differentiate into photoreceptors. Biol Open. 2012 Mar 15. [Abstract] T lymphocyte potential marks the emergence of definitive hematopoietic progenitors in human pluripotent stem cell differentiation cultures. Kennedy M, Awong G, Sturgeon CM, Ditadi A, LaMotte-Mohs R, Zúñiga-Pflücker JC, Keller G. Cell Reports. 2012 Dec 6. [Abstract]
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The McEwen Centre for Regenerative Medicine, led by director Dr. Gordon Keller, includes 14 scientists at the University of Toronto and five Toronto hospitals, working to advance the development of more effective treatments for conditions including heart disease, diabetes, respiratory disease and spinal cord injury.
The Centre is located at University Health Network, MaRS Centre, Toronto Medical Discovery Tower, 101 College Street, 8th Floor, Room 701, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5G 1L7
Email: mcewencentre@uhn.on.ca
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