MEXT iPS Cell Research Network iPSTrend

Japan Science and Technology Agency has selected four centers of clinical studies for regenerative medicine using iPS cells : Keio University (spinal cord injury), Kyoto University (Parkinson’s disease), RIKEN (pigmentary degeneration of the retina), and Osaka University (heart failure); iPS cells with little carcinogenicity generated at CiRA, Kyoto University will be supplied for their studies.
[Mainich jp]

A joint research project by Keio University and Jichi Medical University, Japan, has started for developing treatments using iPS cells or other stem cells for intractable neurological disorders including ALS.
[Nikkei]

A research team from Osaka University, Japan, reported at the 12th Congress of the Japanese Society for Regenerative Medicine that they succeeded in preparing sheets of corneal epithelial cells derived from iPS cells, which will be useful for treatment of diseases like Stevens- Johnson syndrome.
[Yomiuri Online]

The Japanese Society for Regenerative Medicine issued a statement at its 12th Congress for asking for improvement of the current situation in which stem cell treatments are abused in the form of private practice without sufficient examinations of efficacy and safety.  The Society is concerned that such practice will cause medical errors and slow down the whole activity of regenerative medicine.
[Asahi Shimbun, 47news, Mainich jp, Nikkei]

The Committee on Industrial Competitiveness of the Japanese Government is to hold a meeting of a subcommittee on March 22, where proposals will be made for facilitating the industrialization of regenerative medicine, for example by offering a tax break to organizations involved in iPS cell research.
[NHK]

A research team from Hokkaido University has succeeded in expanding human mucosal-associated invariant T cells (MAIT cells, a type of white blood cell) differentiated from iPS cells, and observed that these cells, transplanted into immunocompromised mice, have antibacterial functions.  The study was published online in Cell Stem Cell.
[jiji.com, Nikkan Kogyo Shimbun]

A research team from RIKEN BioResouce Center gave a presentation at the 12th Congress of the Japanese Society for Regenerative Medicine on their generation of erythrocyte precursor cells in large quantity from iPS cells; these precursor cells are expected to serve for production of blood preparations for transfusion.
[47news, Mainichi jp]

“The bill concerning promotion of regenerative medicine” was passed at the Plenary Session of the House of Representatives, and is to be enacted at the 183rd ordinary session of the National Diet of Japan.  It is to promote regenerative medicine using stem cells including iPS cells in a safe manner, and provides that the Government is responsible for the promotion of activities from R&D to clinical applications.
[Mainichi jp]

At the 12th Congress of the Japanese Society for Regenerative Medicine held from 21 to 23 March, 2013 at Yokohama, Japan, Hideyuki Okano, Professor at Keio University, presented a plan for starting clinical trials in 4 years for treatment of patients with spinal cord injuries by transplanting neuronal precursor cells prepared from iPS cells.
[NHK, Mainichi jp, 47news, Nikkei]

A research team from the University of Tokyo, Japan, has developed a technique for generating “pancreatic islets” from iPS cells at high efficiency; the islets secrete insulin to control the blood sugar level, and it is possible that such iPS cell-derived islets will serve for treatment of patients with diabetes by their transplantation in the future.  The study will be presented on March 22 at the 12^th Congress of the Japanese Society for Regenerative Medicine (March 21-23, 2013 at Yokohama).
[47news]