ESAO - Liver Support Working Group

TRM Awards 2008: Funding for up to 20 awards and research groups

The Translational Centre for Regenerative Medicine (TRM) Leipzig, funded by the German Federal Ministry of Research and Education and the Free State of Saxony, is charged with the development of new diagnostic and therapeutic technologies as well as preclinical models in regenerative medicine.
For its new funding period that starts in 2009, researchers are invited to apply for awards to pursue research from bench-to-bedside.

Funding is available for up to twenty awards and research groups in the four research areas of the centre:
* Tissue Engineering and Materials Science (TEMAT)
* Cell Therapies for Repair und Replacement (CELLT)
* Regulatory Molecules and Delivery Systems (REMOD)
* Imaging, Modelling and Monitoring Regeneration (IMONIT)

Goal orientation with clearly defined milestones will be an inherent task in all approaches. While applicants are asked to apply with clear therapeutic or diagnostic concepts from all four research areas above, applications within the following subjects are particularly encouraged:

* Scaffolds for stem cell differentiation
* Novel bioreactor technologies
* Innovative drug-delivery systems
* Target molecules for regenerative medicine and transplantation
* Angiogenesis
* Reprogramming stem cells (iPC)
* In vitro organ development
* Aspects in Xenotransplantation
* New microscopic and imaging technologies

HepaWash and II. Medical Department, University Hospital rechts der Isar awarded € 425,000 grant from the Bayerische forschungsstiftung (BFS) for a € 0.9 Mio collaborative Preclinical study on Acute liver Failure

Hepa Wash GmbH (Hepa Wash), a medical device company developing an innovative liver support device announced today that it has received a € 425,000 grant from the Bayerische Forschungsstiftung (BFS) to test the safety and efficacy of its laboratory prototype in a preclinical animal model for acute liver failure in collaboration with the II. Medical Department, University Hospital Rechts der Isar.
The grant will be used to develop an improved animal model for acute liver failure in pigs that resembles much more the clinical situation of acute liver failure in humans than currently available models. This new model will allow to analyzing and evaluating the safety and efficacy of the Hepa Wash® treatment on the function of vital organs during acute liver failure, results that will be very important for the further development and optimization of the Hepa Wash® device. In addition, these data will also be very helpful to gain a better insight into the underlying pathology of acute liver failure, a disease that is still only partially understood.

Recent reviews in the field of liver support

Recently several interesting reviews on liver support concepts have been published.

Roger Wiliams, Institute of Hepatology, University College London Medical School, London, UK, reported on "Acute liver failure--practical management".

John O'Grady, Institute of Liver Studies, King's College Hospital, London, UK, gave an overview on the management of acute or fulminant liver failure: "Modern management of acute liver failure".

J.P. Vacanti and H.I. Pryor, 2nd, reviewed the significant clinical findings of ALF, as well as, the non-biologic liver support systems and the bioartificial liver devices that have been clinically tested to support patients with this disease: "The promise of artificial liver replacement".

A.C. DuPont provides the critical care clinician with a comprehensive review entitled "Extracorporeal treatment of intoxications" reproting on the indications for extracorporeal elimination of toxic substances, summarizing the different techniques and the intoxications for which these techniques are suitable.

H.C Fiegel reviews latest developments in "Hepatic Tissue Engineering".

Arbios Receives Conditional Approval from the FDA to Initiate Pivotal Clinical Trial for SEPET™

Arbios Systems, Inc., announced that the Company has received conditional approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of an Investigational Device Exemption to begin the pivotal clinical trial for SEPET™, Arbios’ extracorporeal artificial liver assist device for blood purification of chronically ill patients suffering from acute liver failure. Permission was granted to initiate the trial while the Company responds to the FDA’s conditions and request for additional information. In particular, FDA has requested a survival primary endpoint, which could potentially increase the total number of patients required for the trial. The trial design proposed by the Company has a primary endpoint of a two-stage drop in hepatic encephalopathy and its secondary endpoints include several survival based endpoints.
More information here.

Biological scaffolds for tissue engineering

Professor Heike Mertsching and her team of researchers from the Fraunhofer Institute for Interfacial Engineering and Biotechnology (IGB), Germany, have succesfully seeded human liver cells to a piece of pig intestine to use as a 3D model in the early stages of drug development.

To build up test systems, a dedicated, PC-controlled bioreactor was developed in which the re-seeded matrix is perfused with fresh medium via the arterial inflow and the spent medium and degradation products are transported away via the venous reflux.
The reseeding of the vascularized matrix with adult stem cells and endothelial progenitor cells results in a differentiation of the cells into endothelial cells whilst retaining their functionality (FDG-PET, fluoro-desoxyglucose positron emission tomography) and vitality (live/dead assay).
The multilayer, organ-like test systems in these bioreactors provide data which are very applicable to the in vivo situation. The optimal supply resulting from the vascular structures also opens up the possibility of cultivating the artificial tissues over long periods and thus investigating the long-term effects of chemicals or pharmaceuticals.

More information via the group's webpage
and here.

First World Bioprinting Congress

ESAO Board of Governors - I.M. Sauer elected

During the annual meeting of the ESAO 2007 in Krems Dr. Igor M. Sauer has been elected for the Board of Governors.

ESAO 2007 - One Day on the Liver

ESAO 2007 in Krems - One Day on the Liver

ESAO 2007 meeting in Krems
One Day on the Liver – Final program

 

 

 

The ESAO One Day on the Liver 2007 (ODOL) will take place Thursday, Sept. 6th, 2007 in Room E 11:

10:00 – 11:30 (90 min)    Chair: Vienken, Legalais

• What’s new in the world of liver support?
  • 10:00 – 10:15    Brief report from the USA (Ash)
  • 10:15 – 10:30    Brief report from Japan (Hirasawa)

• Aspects concerning the (patho-)physiology of the failing liver
  • 10:30 – 10:50    Toxins in liver failure – what is relevant, what do we have to remove? (Joannidis)
  • 10:50 – 11:10    Coagulation, anticoagulation, and the failing liver (Falkenhagen)
  • 11:10 – 11:30    Alcoholic liver cirrhosis: successful Treatment with novel autologous liver cell transplantation procedure (Lindl)

14:00 – 15:30 (90 min)    Chair: Falkenhagen, Sauer

• Clinical application of liver support systems – where do we stand today?
  • 14:00 – 14:15    Prometheus: impact on pruritus (Rifai)
  • 14:15 – 14:30 Mars versus Prometheus in clinical practice: What do we know? (Wilmer)
  • 14:30 – 14:45 Selective Plasma Filtration Therapy [SEPET] for Liver Failure - Early Clinical Experience (Rozga)
  • 14:45 – 15:00    Plasmapheresis in cases of liver failure – a simple but effective concept (Kazuaki)
  • 15:00 – 15:15 Bioartificial Liver Support for Acute Decompensation of Chronic Liver Disease: Clinical Results (Millis)

17:00 – 18:00 (60 min)    Chair: Sauer, Weber

• Concepts and Technologies
  • 17:00 – 17:15    Cells for bioartifcial liver support (Hoekstra)
  • 17:15 – 17:30 Development and evaluation of a new whole-blood perfused bioreactor (Kobayashi)
  • 17:30 – 17:45    Hepa Wash (Kreymann)
  • 17:45 – 18:00    Carbon Block vs. Granular Columns for Binding of Liver Failure Toxins (Ash)

The full program is available here (PDF), general information concerning the ESAO 2007 meetin in Krems is available via the official webpage.

Apoptosis Chip

             

Floor Wolbers from the Lab-on-a-Chip group of the MESA+ Institute for Nanotechnology developed a special microfluidic chip for monitoring the effect of medication on cancer cells. The new technique can already be applied in a clinical setting. At present, the process is monitored using an optical microscope, for high-throughput screening, electronics can be added to the chip. Using multiple chambers for cell culture, fast comparison will be possible.

More information via  http://www.mesaplus.utwente.nl/news/floor_wolbers.doc/ .

One Day ond the Liver 2007 in Krems in cooperation with the 9th International Symposium on Albumin Dialysis in Liver Disease (ISAD) in Rostock-Warnemünde

The European Society for Artificial Organs has for a long time reflected scientific aspects for the treatment of liver failure using artifical and bioartificial liver support systems. Therefore, during the ESAO Congress in Lausanne in 2000, ESAO has introduced a special meeting called "One Day on the Liver".

In 2007 our Liver Working Group, managed by Dr. Igor Sauer, will organize a highly ranked “One Day on the Liver Meeting”, which will be held on September 6th and 7th (end 12.30 p.m.).

Thanks to an agreement with the organizers of the International Symposium on Albumin Dialysis in Liver Disease (ISAD) we have determined a way for both meetings to be attended with convenient low cost travel arrangements. A bus has been scheduled to leave Krems at 2.00 p.m.. The bus will transport     persons to Vienna International Airport. A sufficient number of seats have been booked on a flight from Vienna to Berlin Tegel (starting 5.00 p.m. from Vienna) for attendance of the ISAD (www.albumin-dialysis.org). A bus will be waiting at Berlin Tegel Airport for the transfer to Rostock Warnemünde.

    If you attending the ESAO-Congress 2007, the price for the
    whole transfer is just  € 60,--

This includes the bus transfer from Krems to Vienna International Airport, the flight from Vienna to Berlin and the bus transfer from Berlin to Rostock Warnemünde.  

Cave! Please book the transfer from Krems to Rostock Warnemünde before July 30, 2007 via the ESAO Scientific Secretary, Mrs. Anita Aichinger using the following contact information:
   

Center for Biomedical Technology
Danube-University Krems
Dr. Karl Dorrek Str. 30
A-3500 Krems, Austria
Phone: +43 2732 893 2601, Fax: +43 2732 893 4600
e-mail: esao2007@donau-uni.ac.at

 

 

Perspectives in Liver Transplantation

Low-cost submicron fabrication technique for manufacturing human spare parts

VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, Tampere University of Technology and Nanofoot Finland Oy have developed a direct-write three-dimensional forming method of biomaterials. The methodology enables fabrication of nano and micrometer scale structures that can be used as parts of tissue engineering scaffolds. The project is funded by the BioneXt Tampere Research Programme.

More information is available via the  VTT webpage .

       

   

German Biotechnology Company Survey 2006

Just two decades ago, biotechnology in Germany was taking its first developmental steps in the marketplace. Today, it is firmly established as a commercial branch. This is the picture emerging from the recent national biotechnology survey, taking in biotech companies of all sizes from across Germany, and carried out by biotechnologie.de on behalf of the Federal Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF). For the first time in this sector, the data complies with statistical standards as set by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), allowing for a reliable and internationally comparable description of the German biotech landscape.

The biotechnology company survey was carried out between January and March 2006. From a total of 657 companies which were requested to participate, 599 completed the survey; a participation ratio of about 91%. The deadline for data to be included was 31.12.2005.

Source: www.biotechnologie.de

EASL Monothematic Symposium on Acute Liver Failure

The European Association for the Study of the Liver (EASL) invites you to join  the monothematic symposium on acute liver failure, which will take place in the Copenhagen, Denmark, September 5-7, 2007. There have been many advances in our knowledge of aetiology and pathogenesis that have allowed us to improve intensive care management of these desperately sick patients of whom many still succumb to either multi-organ failure or development of severe brain oedema. Refinement for the use of liver grafting in the most severe cases has also over the last decade been improved. Furthermore many new designs of liver support devices have been introduced of which several are undergoing clinical evaluation.

More information is avaliable via http://www.easl.ch/acute-liver-failure/index.asp .

World Apheresis Association (WAA) 11 th Congress and 6 th World Congress of the International Society for Apheresis (ISFA)

The combined meeting of World Apheresis Association (WAA) 11 th Congress and 6 th World Congress of the International Society for Apheresis (ISFA) will take place in Pacifico Yokohama Yokohama, Japan, from March 2―4, 2007. WAA federates many national, continental and international societies for hemapheresis and transfusion science, and ISFA is a representative international society for therapeutic apheresis. They have contributed to the development of these scientific fields for many years. These two societies serve a regular meeting every two years. This is the first combined congress of the two Societies. It is really an anniversary congress. Many lecture, symposium, workshop and seminars are planned in the congress. Highly scientific papers will be presented at free communications and poster sessions. Several supports will be provided to the participants from developing countries. At the same period, 27 th Annual Meeting of Japanese Society for Apheresis (JSFA) will be held in the adjacent venue. I expect the full communication between foreign guests and Japanese participants. All scientists, researchers, clinicians and co-medicals of are encouraged to submit abstracts and join this anniversary congress. More information via the official webpage.

4th International Symposium on Artificial Liver in Chongqing, PR China

The final programme of the 4th International Symposium on Artificial Liver taking place in Chongqing, PR China, March 9-12, 2007 is avaliable.

This blog has been nominated for the Medical Weblog Awards (Best Medical Technologies/Informatics Weblog)...

The third annual Medical Weblog Awards! These awards are designed to honor the very best in the medical blogosphere, and to highlight the diverse world of medical blogs.

The categories for this year's awards will be:
- Best Medical Weblog
- Best New Medical Weblog (established in 2006)
- Best Literary Medical Weblog
- Best Clinical Sciences Weblog
- Best Health Policies/Ethics Weblog
- Best Medical Technologies/Informatics Weblog
- Best Patient's Blog (a new category this year)

The Blog of the ESAO Liver Support Working Group has been nominated for the category "Best Medical Technologies/Informatics Weblog". Other nominees can be found here.

Google Patent Search launches

Google launched a Search service dedicated to patents only: http://www.google.com/patents . The information comes from USPTO - therfore, only US-american patents are listed so far -, and results on Google do include links to the USPTO entries.

Journal of Visualized Experiments (JoVE)

Journal of Visualized Experiments (JoVE) is an online journal publishing visualized (video-based) biological research studies. This publication aims to solve some of the most difficult problems in the contemporary life science research:

    * low transparency and reproducibility of biological experiments
    * time-consuming learning of experimental techniques

Example: Human ES cells: starting culture from frozen cells 

As every practicing biology researcher knows, it takes days, weeks or sometimes months and years to learn and apply new experimental techniques. It is especially difficult to reproduce newly published studies describing the most advanced state-of-the-art techniques. Thus, a major part of the Ph.D. and post-doctoral training in life sciences is devoted to learning laboratory techniques and procedures. It is a never-stopping process for experimental scientists since methodologies in this fast-growing field undergo significant changes every few years (e.g. genomics and proteomics, most recently). Economically, time- and resource-consuming process of training and retraining in techniques and procedures represents a bottleneck for scientific research and drug discovery.
Video-based visualization of biological techniques and procedures provide an effective solution to the problem described.

Check out JoVE and submit your research videos. . .

Arbios Systems Announces Addition of Senior Personnel

Arbios Systems, Inc. , a company developing proprietary medical devices and cell-based therapies for the millions of patients each year who experience or are at risk for life-threatening episodes of liver failure, today announced the addition of two new senior personnel. Dr. Ulrich Baurmeister, Ph.D., has joined Arbios as Chief Technology Officer with responsibility for further development of proprietary blood separation technology for the Company, and Dr. Jan Stange, M.D., has joined as Senior Clinical Advisor, with responsibility for medical direction of the Company's clinical trials. Dr. Jacek Rozga, M.D., Ph.D., will continue to serve as the Company's Chief Scientific Officer on a part- time basis beginning November 30, 2006. All three individuals will work under retainer consulting agreements with the Company.
Press Release

Two articles on liver tissue engineering in Nature Biotechnology

Two groups describe hepatic differentiation of mouse embryonic stem (ES) cells. Gouon-Evans et al. use knowledge of developmental pathways to produce immature hepatocytes that secrete albumin and store glycogen. Soto-Gutiérrez et al. show that ES cell-derived hepatocytes encapsulated in a bioartificial liver device are effective in treating mice with acute liver failure.

In order to generate an alternative source of cells for BAL support, American and Japanese scientist around Ira Fox and Naoya Kobayashi differentiated mouse embryonic stem (ES) cells into hepatocytes by coculture with a combination of human liver nonparenchymal cell lines and fibroblast growth factor-2, human activin-A and hepatocyte growth factor. Functional hepatocytes were isolated using albumin promoter–based cell sorting. ES cell–derived hepatocytes expressed liver-specific genes, secreted albumin and metabolized ammonia, lidocaine and diazepam. Treatment of 90% hepatectomized mice with a subcutaneously implanted BAL seeded with ES cell–derived hepatocytes or primary hepatocytes improved liver function and prolonged survival, whereas treatment with a BAL seeded with control cells did not. After functioning in the BAL, ES cell–derived hepatocytes developed characteristics nearly identical to those of primary hepatocytes.
Reversal of mouse hepatic failure using an implanted liver-assist device containing ES cell–derived hepatocytes
Nature Biotechnology - 24, 1412 - 1419 (2006)

Valerie Gouon-Evans and co-workers present their findings concerning the role of BMP-4 for hepatic specification of mouse embryonic stem cell–derived definitive endoderm. When differentiated in the presence of activin A in serum-free conditions, mouse embryonic stem cells efficiently generate an endoderm progenitor population defined by the coexpression of either Brachyury, Foxa2 and c-Kit, or c-Kit and Cxcr4. Specification of these progenitors with bone morphogenetic protein-4 in combination with basic fibroblast growth factor and activin A results in the development of hepatic populations highly enriched (45–70%) for cells that express the -fetoprotein and albumin proteins. These cells also express transcripts of Afp, Alb1, Tat, Cps1, Cyp7a1 and Cyp3a11; they secrete albumin, store glycogen, show ultrastructural characteristics of mature hepatocytes, and are able to integrate into and proliferate in injured livers in vivo and mature into hepatocytes expressing dipeptidyl peptidase IV or fumarylacetoacetate hydrolase. Together, these findings establish a developmental pathway in embryonic stem cell differentiation cultures that leads to efficient generation of cells with an immature hepatocytic phenotype.
BMP-4 is required for hepatic specification of mouse embryonic stem cell–derived definitive endoderm
Nature Biotechnology - 24, 1402 - 1411 (2006)

Small sections of human liver have been created from umbilical cord stem cells

Small sections of human liver have been created from umbilical cord stem cells, say scientists from Newcastle University, UK. The researchers say this technology could eventually be used to grow small livers that could be used for drug tests - doing away with the need for human volunteers to take risks. Earlier this year six volunteers became dangerously ill during a drug trial in the UK.
The scientists warned that it will be tens of years before we are anywhere near producing whole new livers for transplants. However, within the next 15 years, tiny livers could be produced and used for treating patients. Team leaders, Dr. Nico Forraz and Prof. Colin McGuckin, have set up ConoStem, a company aimed at marketing their stem cell research results. Professor McGuckin said "We take the stem cells from the umbilical cord blood and make small mini-livers. We then give them to pharmaceutical companies and they can use them to test new drugs on. It could prevent the situation that happened earlier this year when those six patients had a massive reaction to the drugs they were testing."
The study papers have not yet been peer-reviewed and/or published yet. Dr. Mike Nicholds, CEO, ConoStems, said they are planning to have their studies peer-reviewed. Professor Colin McGuckin and Dr Nico Forraz (pictured), who have formed spin out company ConoStem, beat off competition from staff teams in other universities to win a major regional business plan competition, Blueprint. Conostem has developed ways of growing 3D models of human organs from stem cells for use in drug testing.

World Apheresis Association (WAA) 11 th Congress and 6 th World Congress of the International Society for Apheresis (ISFA)

The combined meeting of World Apheresis Association (WAA) 11 th Congress and 6 th World Congress of the International Society for Apheresis (ISFA) will take place in Pacifico Yokohama Yokohama, Japan, from March 2―4, 2007. WAA federates many national, continental and international societies for hemapheresis and transfusion science, and ISFA is a representative international society for therapeutic apheresis. They have contributed to the development of these scientific fields for many years.

These two societies serve a regular meeting every two years. This is the first combined congress of the two Societies. It is really an anniversary congress. Many lecture, symposium, workshop and seminars are planned in the congress. Highly scientific papers will be presented at free communications and poster sessions. Several supports will be provided to the participants from developing countries.
At the same period, 27 th Annual Meeting of Japanese Society for Apheresis (JSFA) will be held in the adjacent venue. I expect the full communication between foreign guests and Japanese participants.

All scientists, researchers, clinicians and co-medicals of are encouraged to submit abstracts and join this anniversary congress.

More information via the official webpage.

Tissue Engineering Today, Not Tomorrow

The one day meeting entitled Tissue Engineering Today, Not Tomorrow to be held on November 17th in London. A packed agenda (see below) and plenty of opportunity for discussion and networking:

Agenda
09:00 - 09:30 Registration tea/coffee and biscuits
09:30 - 09:40 Introduction by the Chair - Professor Anne Dickinson, University of Newcastle
09:40 - 10:10 Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine. - Dame Julia Polak - Imperial College, London, UK10:10 - 10:30 Harnessing immunological tolerance in the pursuit of stem cell therapies - Dr Paul Fairchild - University of Oxford, Sir William Dunn School of Pathology, UK
10:30 - 10:50 Talk title to be confirmed- Professor Catherine Sarraf, Tissue Engineering Centre, Westminster University, UK
10:50 - 11:10 Stem cells in Tissue Engineering - Dr Susan Donath - Miltenyi Biotec, Germany.
11:10 - 11:40 Mid-morning break: tea/coffee
11:40 - 12:00 Injectable materials as stem cell delivery sytems - Professor Kevin Shakesheff, - University of Nottingham, UK
12:00 - 12:20 Comparison Of Immunomodulation By Human Stem Cells From Amnion And Adipose Tissue - S. Wolbank, Red Cross Transfusion Center for Upper Austria, Austria
12:20 - 12:40 Electrospinning of Fibrinogen Nanofibers - Mrs T Morton, Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Experimental and Clinical Traumatology, Vienna, Austria
12:40 - 13:40 Lunch
13:40 - 14:00 Scaffold screening in engineered meniscal cartilage using MRI and MRS - Dr. Andre Neves - University of Cambridge, UK
14:00 - 14:20 Talk title to be confirmed - Professor Farzin Farzaneh, Kings College London, UK
14:20 - 14:40 Towards Myocardial Infraction Therapy: A New Inducible Angiogenesis Carrier For Cradiomyocytes Transplantation - Dr Hossein Hosseinkhani, International Center for Young Scientists, National Institute for Materials Science, Tsukuba, JAPAN
14:40 - 15:00 Afternoon Tea
15:00 - 15:20 Updates on biodegradable materials for tissue repair & regeneration - Prof . Nureddin Ashammakhi, Institute of Science and Technology in Medicine, Keele University & Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital, Shropshire, UK
15:20 -15:40 Tissue engineering using advanced biomaterials and evaluation using model systems - Dr Xiao Nong-Wang, University of Newcastle, UK
15:40 - 16:00 Ocular Surface Restoration By Ex Vivo Cultivated Limbal Epithelium On Amniotic Membrane. - Dr Marta Calatayud, Department of Ophthalmology. Cornea and Ocular Surface Unit. Vall d´Hebron Hospitals. Barcelona, Spain
16:00 - 16:20 Development of scaffolds and bioreactors for clinical scale tissue engineering - Prof. Julian Chaudhujri - University of Bath, UK
16:20 - 16:30 Discussion & Close

If you are interested in attending this meeting please click here to find out more or to register. Registration is easy and straight forward.
EuroScicon always endeavor to attract a balanced mix of presenters from both Industry and Academia, with cutting edge technology and applications in the BioSciences. A schedule for forthcoming events can be found at www.euroscicon.com .

ESAO 2007 - Krems, Austria, September 5-8, 2007

Dear colleague, dear member of the ESAO,

On behalf of the European Society for Artificial Organs (ESAO), it is my great pleasure and honour to invite you to the XXXIV. ESAO-Congress in Krems/Austria.

Krems is very well suited to be the host city for the ESAO Congress, as the city is located in the centre of Europe being famous for its architecture, culture and art. It has a history of more than 1000 years and is one of the capitals of wine culture. The blue water of the river Danube emphasises the beauty of this region, which was selected by the UNESCO as a »World Heritage Site«

Because of this special atmosphere, Krems became the capital for education and science in Lower Austria. The new campus involving two Universities will acknowledge your participation at the ESAO Congress. You will enjoy, »state of the art« presentations and lectures in one of the most attractive fields in medicine - Artificial Organs. The ESAO Congress 2007 will bring together distinguished clinicians with experts of biotechnologies & bioengineering from all over the world. They will discuss new scientific results in all areas of artificial organs including regenerative medicine, nanomedicine and nanobiotechnology

I promise to anyone participating the ESAO Congress 2007 in Krems a very well-organised scientific and social program at the highest level. We all - the local organizing committee and the International Scientific Advisory Board - welcome you on September 5-8, 2007 to Krems a.d. Donau in Austria.

Dieter Falkenhagen
Congress President 2007

Please download the first announcement here...

Stelic: Specific neutralizing agent for chemokine CXCL10

Stelic Institute & Co., a Tokyo-based bioventure company specializing in regenerative medicine, has announced development of a new treatment method for acute liver failure: The Company's Stem Cell Dynamism Research Team has shown that a protein called chemokine1 CXCL102 directly affects hepatic cells, regulating their replication and proliferation. Research results demonstrated for the first time that hepatic cells possess a mechanism for attempting to repair the wide-ranging hepatic cell necrosis associated with drug-induced acute liver failure, and that anti-CXCL10 antibodies strengthen this type of self-repairing function at the in vivo level.
More information via www.stelic.com

Upcoming Meetings

 

ESF-EMBO Symposium on Tissue Engineering
October 28–November 2, 2006. Sant Feliu de Guixols, Spain. For more information contact: Jane Dutton, ESF Research Conferences Unit. Tel: +33 (0)38876 7135; Fax: +33 (0) 38836 6987; Website: http://www.esf.org/conferences/lc06213.

44^th Annual Congress of Japanese Society for Artificial Organs
October 31–November 2, 2006. Pacifico Yokohama, Yokohama, Japan. For more information contact: Congress President, Dr. Yasuharu Noishiki and Yokohama City University. E-mail: jsao2006@convention.co.jp; Website: http://www2.convention.co.jp/jsao2006.

5^th IASTED International Conference on Biomedical Engineering (BioMED 2007)
February 14–16, 2007. Innsbruck, Austria. IASTED Secretariat Building B6, Suite #101, 2509 Dieppe Avenue SW, Calgary, Alberta, Canada T3E 7J9. Tel: +1 403 2881195; Fax: +1 403 2476851; E-mail: calgary@iasted.org; Website: http://www.iasted.org.

Tissue Engineering 2007: 11^th Annual Hilton Head Workshop
March 8–11, 2007. Sea Pines Resort Conference Center, Hilton Head, SC, USA. For more information contact: Meg McDevitt. Tel: 404 385 7001; E-mail: mcdevitt@ibb.gatech.edu; Website: http://www.hiltonhead.gatech.edu/.

Society for Biomaterials 2006 Annual Meeting and Exposition
April 18–21, 2007. Chicago, IL, USA. For more information contact: Headquarter's Office, 15000 Commerce Parkway, Suite C, Mt. Laurel, NJ 08054, USA. Tel: +1 856 439 0826; Fax: +1 856 439 0525; E-mail: info@biomaterials.org; Website: http://www.biomaterials.org.

American Transplant Congress 2007
May 5–9, 2007. San Francisco, CA, USA. For more information contact: AST, 17000 Commerce Parkway, Suite C, Mt. Laurel, NJ, 08054, USA. Tel: 856 439 9986; Fax: 856 439 9982; E-mail: ast@ahint.com; Website: http://www.a-s-t.org/.

53^rd Annual Conference of the American Society for Artificial Internal Organs
June 7–9, 2007. Palmer House Hilton, 17 East Monroe Street, Chicago, IL, USA. For more information contact: ASAIO. E-mail: info@asaio.com; Website: http://www.asaio.com.

Regenerate 2007 International Conference and Exposition
June 16–19, 2007. Westin Harbour Castle Hotel, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Website: http://www.regenerate-online.com/.

Recent relevant papers - Update August 2006

A. Jung et al. report on Bilirubin kinetic modeling for quantification of extracorporeal liver support (Blood Purif. 2006;24(4):413-422): The kinetics of conjugated bilirubin were described by a two-compartment model (V(c), V(p)) with central elimination (K) and constant generation rate (G). The transfer of solute between compartments was modeled by intercompartmental clearance (K(pc)). The central compartment (V(c)) was assumed as a constant fraction of total volume (V(c) = 0.3*V(t)). Eight patients were studied during 35 treatments lasting 6 h each. The average K, V(t), K(pc), G, and mass of conjugated bilirubin removed were 18.6 +/- 3.9 ml/min, 9.1 +/- 3.8 liters, 103 +/- 108 ml/min, 0.33 +/- 0.15 mg/min, and 641 +/- 275 mg, respectively. The reduction ratio (48 +/- 10%) measured as the change in post- to pre-treatment concentrations underestimated the modeled fraction of bilirubin mass removed (54 +/- 13%) essentially because of significant conjugated bilirubin appearance during treatments. Kinetic analysis provides an improved measure of treatment dose as generation, distribution, and elimination of conjugated bilirubin are jointly considered.

A review  MARS in the treatment of liver failure: Controversies and evidence (Int J Artif Organs. 2006 Jul;29(7):660-667)  is given by A. Chiu and S.T. Fan: Numerous studies have been published concerning the Molecular Adsorbent Recirculation System (MARS), with the majority of them describing the capability of MARS in removing albumin-bound toxins and improving systemic hemodynamics. Whether such improvement could be translated into survival benefit is still uncertain, given the paucity of randomized controlled trials available. The outcome of patients receiving MARS treatment is difficult to analyze because liver failure patients constitute a heterogeneous population and different subgroups carry different prognoses. An evidence-based recommendation on the timing of MARS initiation is not available and currently MARS is usually commenced for hyperbilirubinemia or presence of complications of liver failure. MARS is in general a safe procedure, but there are still potential complications that need to be cautioned, along with various operative issues that are worth attention. The future prospects of MARS would rely on the completion of adequately powered randomized controlled trials.

T. Naka et al. report on Acid-base balance during continuous veno-venous hemofiltration: The impact of severe hepatic failure   (Int J Artif Organs 2006; 29: 668 - 674): Continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT) affects acid-base balance but the influence of severe hepatic failure (SHF) on this effect is unknown.  To assess the effect of SHF on acid-base balance in patients receiving CVVH. Design: Retrospective laboratory investigation. Forty patients with SHF and acute renal failure (ARF) treated with CVVH and 42 critically ill patients with severe ARF but no liver disease also treated with CVVH (controls). Intervention: Retrieval of clinical and laboratory data from prospective unit and laboratory databases. Quantitative acid-base status assessment using the Stewart-Figge methodology. Comparison of findings between the two groups. Results: Although CVVH had a major effect on acid base balance in both groups, patients with SHF had a higher mean lactate concentrations (4.8 vs. 3.1 mmol/L; p<0.0005), a greater base deficit compared to controls (-1 vs. 4.1 mEq/L; p<0.0001) and a lower PaCO 2 tension (36.8 vs. 42.5 mmHg; p<0.0001), despite the use of bicarbonate replacement fluid. The acidifying effect of hyperlactatemia was slightly worsened by an increased strong ion gap (9.3 vs. 4.9 mEq/L; p<0.0001). It was, however, attenuated by an increased strong ion difference apparent (SIDa) (43.6 vs. 41.9 mEq/L; p<0.05) secondary to hypochloremia (96 vs. 100 mmol/L; p<0.0001) and by hypoalbuminemia, although hypoalbuminemia in SHF patients (26 vs. 23; p<0.005) was less pronounced than in controls. The use of CVVH does not fully correct the independent acidifying effect of liver failure on acid-base status. Increased lactate and strong ion gap values maintain a persistent base deficit despite the alkalinizing effects of hypoalbuminemia and hypochloremia. The correction of acidosis in SHF patients may require more intensive CVVH.

New Microscope Sharpens Scientists' Focus

A new type of optical microscope was developed and tested by Howard Hughes Medical Institute's investigators. Offering resolutions of only 2 to 25 nanometers, the new microscopy technology is essentially not limited by the wavelength of the visible light:

A new light microscope so powerful that it allows scientists peering inside cells to discern the precise location of nearly each individual protein they are studying has been developed and successfully demonstrated by scientists at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Janelia Farm Research Campus in collaboration with researchers at the National Institutes of Health and Florida State University.

The new technique far surpasses the resolution of conventional optical microscopes, which are inherently limited by the wavelength of light. With these microscopes, objects separated by less than 200 nanometers cannot be distinguished from one another. While researchers can learn a lot by studying the arrangement of proteins inside cells at this resolution, it is insufficient to pinpoint the location of individual proteins - which are typically only one to two nanometers in diameter. The new approach, called photoactivated localization microscopy (PALM), brings scientists far closer to this goal - discriminating molecules that are only two to 25 nanometers apart.

More information via http://www.hhmi.org/news/palm20060810.html