Released on: March 19, 2008, 4:18 pm

Press Release Author: GTCbio/GTCbio

Industry: Biotech

Press Release Summary: Bruce Wentworth, Senior Director of Cardiovascular Research
at Genzyme will give a presentation entitled "Retention of Cells after
Transplantation" at the 4th International Stem Cell Research & Therapeutics, Apr
17-18, 2008 in Boston, MA.

Press Release Body: Senior Director at Genzyme to Present at GTCbio's 4th
International Stem Cell Research & Therapeutics, Apr 17-18, 2008 in Boston, MA

MONROVIA, CA - Bruce Wentworth, Senior Director of Cardiovascular Research at
Genzyme will give a presentation entitled "Retention of Cells after Transplantation"
at the 4th International Stem Cell Research & Therapeutics, Apr 17-18, 2008 in
Boston, MA.

Dr. Wentworth's group has investigated the retention of syngeneic cultured cells
(skeletal myoblasts, SM, and bone marrow stromal cells, BMSC) after transplantation
into the normal beating Lewis rat heart. The acute retention of 4 million Europium
(Eu) labeled SM was quantitatively analyzed after direct injection into LV cardiac
muscle and the harvest of likely organs of dissemination. Approximately 80-85% of Eu
labeled SM were lost from the heart within 1 minute of injection, a value that was
stable for 1 hour. Analysis of distal organs indicated that SM were rapidly
disseminated, presumably via the coronary venous circulation, principally to the
lung then to a lesser extent to the liver by the systemic circulation. In separate
studies we examined the longer-term survival of cells injected into the heart. SM or
BMSC were labeled with BrdU, directly injected into cardiac muscle and the animals
sacrificed 5 days and 3 weeks later. Transplanted cell quantity was estimated by
direct counting in representative sections of cardiac tissue after histochemical
identification of labeled nuclei. Five days after direct cell delivery there were an
estimated 1.4% of the SM nuclei remaining in the injected hearts, and that quantum
remained similar after 3 weeks. The identity of the injected SM was confirmed by
immunohistochemical staining for fast skeletal myosin heavy chain expressed as a
consequence of their differentiation into skeletal muscle fiber cells. There were
0.4% BMSC nuclei remaining in injected hearts 5 days post administration, and that
number declined further to 0.1% after three weeks. These data suggest that the
majority of either SM or BMSC injected were acutely lost from the heart and that SM
ultimately survived and engrafted in the heart to a greater extent than BMSC.

The conference also features presentations from other leading organizations such as
FDA, Geron, Joint Committee on Health Care Financing (by Senator Richard Moore),
Merck, MIT, Novartis, Pfizer, Sangamo BioSciences, Sanofi Aventis, Stemagen, UCSB,
University of Van Amsterdam, Whitehead Institute, and many more. The full agenda is
available online at http://gtcbio.com/userAgenda.aspx?id=120.

GTCbio's 4th Stem Cell Research & Therapeutics will take place on April 17-18, 2008
in Boston, MA and will cover Stem Cell Biology, Adult Stem Cells, Embryonic Stem
Cells, Differentiation of Stem Cells, Epigenomics & Reprogramming of Stem Cells,
Regenerative Medicine & Therapeutics, Stem Cell Imaging, Regulatory Aspects &
Funding Opportunities, Cancer Stem Cells, and Stem Cell Applications in Drug
Discovery.

For more information including a detailed agenda, exhibitor opportunities and
registration information visit www.gtcbio.com.

ABOUT GTCbio

GTCbio organizes conferences specifically for the biomedical and biopharmaceutical
industries. Our goal is to facilitate the exchange of biopharmaceutical and
biomedical intelligence between industry leaders, academic and government
organizations, and the financial community.

GTCbio is a subsidiary of Global Technology Community, LLC, a privately held company
founded in 2002.


Web Site: http://www.gtcbio.com

Contact Details: GTCbio (434 W. Foothill Blvd., Monrovia, CA. 91016, 626.256.6405)