Changing stroke rehab and research worldwide now.Time is Brain! trillions and trillions of neurons that DIE each day because there are NO effective hyperacute therapies besides tPA(only 12% effective). I have 523 posts on hyperacute therapy, enough for researchers to spend decades proving them out. These are my personal ideas and blog on stroke rehabilitation and stroke research. Do not attempt any of these without checking with your medical provider. Unless you join me in agitating, when you need these therapies they won't be there.

What this blog is for:

My blog is not to help survivors recover, it is to have the 10 million yearly stroke survivors light fires underneath their doctors, stroke hospitals and stroke researchers to get stroke solved. 100% recovery. The stroke medical world is completely failing at that goal, they don't even have it as a goal. Shortly after getting out of the hospital and getting NO information on the process or protocols of stroke rehabilitation and recovery I started searching on the internet and found that no other survivor received useful information. This is an attempt to cover all stroke rehabilitation information that should be readily available to survivors so they can talk with informed knowledge to their medical staff. It lays out what needs to be done to get stroke survivors closer to 100% recovery. It's quite disgusting that this information is not available from every stroke association and doctors group.

Showing posts with label GDF11. Show all posts
Showing posts with label GDF11. Show all posts

Thursday, February 11, 2021

Elevian Adds Stroke Clinical Advisory Team

But no stroke survivors in here.

Elevian Adds Stroke Clinical Advisory Team

Additions include includes Steven Cramer, M.D., Seth Finklestein, M.D., Teresa Kimberley, Ph.D., P.T., Daniel Laskowitz, M.D, MHS, David Lin, M.D., and Gary Steinberg, M.D.


News provided by

Elevian, Inc.

Feb 09, 2021, 09:00 ET


ALLSTON, Mass., Feb. 9, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Elevian, an emerging biotech company developing new medicines that target the GDF11 pathway, announced the addition of a stroke clinical advisory team to advance development of recombinant GDF11 (rGDF11) to promote recovery post stroke. The team includes Steven Cramer, M.D., Seth Finklestein, M.D., Teresa Kimberley, Ph.D., P.T., Daniel Laskowitz, M.D, MHS, David Lin, M.D., and Gary Steinberg, M.D.

"We have assembled several of the leading experts in the emerging field of stroke recovery, bringing together knowledge and experience about the clinical implications of stroke and emerging therapies," said Mark Allen, M.D., CEO of Elevian. "Together we have mapped out a clinical strategy using rGDF11 to promote recovery post stroke."

"Stroke is a massive, unmet medical need.  It is the second leading cause of death worldwide and the number one cause of long-term disability," said Seth Finklestein, MD, Neurologist at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and Chair of Elevian's Stroke Clinical Advisory Board.  "Elevian has produced exciting preclinical efficacy data demonstrating that rGDF11 promotes motor function recovery post stroke.  These data, if translated to humans, could provide an important new therapy for patients who have suffered a stroke."

Dr. Finklestein is currently a Neurologist at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), and Former Head of the CNS Growth Factor Research Laboratory at MGH and Associate Professor at Harvard Medical School (HMS). He is also Former VP and Head of the Neuroscience Division at Viacell, Inc., former CEO of Biotrofix, Inc., and current CEO at Recovery Therapeutics, Inc. Dr. Finklestein is a graduate of Haverford College and Harvard Medical School.  His major interest is brain repair and recovery after stroke.

Dr. Steven C. Cramer is a Professor of Neurology at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). He is also the Director of Research at California Rehabilitation Institute, and co-PI of the NIH StrokeNet clinical trials network. Dr. Cramer received his medical degree from University of Southern California, his Residency in Internal Medicine at UCLA, and completed his Residency in Neurology and a Fellowship in Cerebrovascular Disease at Massachusetts General Hospital. Dr. Cramer also earned a Master's degree in clinical investigation from Harvard Medical School. His research focuses on neural repair after central nervous system injury in humans, with an emphasis on stroke and on recovery of movement, with a major emphasis is on translating new drugs and devices to reduce disability after stroke, and on individualizing therapy for each person's needs. Dr. Cramer has been awarded the Stroke Rehabilitation Award from the American Heart Association and the Barbro B. Johansson Award in Stroke Recovery from the World Stroke Organization.

Teresa Jacobson Kimberley, Ph.D., P.T., is a professor and director of the Brain Recovery Lab, in the department of Physical Therapy in the School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences at the MGH Institute of Health Professions. She has an appointment as Research Staff at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) Department of Neurology, and as Core Faculty in the Center for Neurotechnology and NeuroRecovery. Kimberley received her bachelor's in Physical Therapy and her doctorate in Rehabilitation Science from the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities. Her lab's focus is on understanding the pathophysiology of motor impairment and develop novel rehabilitation interventions for neurologic disorders, such as dystonia and stroke. Her research helped pioneer the use of neuroimaging and non-invasive brain stimulation in the investigation of rehabilitation-related areas.

Dr Laskowitz is a Professor and Vice Chair of Neurology at Duke University where he serves as the Medical Director for the Neurovascular Laboratories and leads the Neuroscience Medicine program at the Duke Clinical Research Institute. He received his MD and his Master of Health Science in clinical research from the Duke University School of Medicine and completed his neurology residency training at the University of Pennsylvania. His perspective on drug development is shaped by the compelling unmet needs in the care of his patients with acute and chronic brain injury. His research focus is on the role of genetic influences on neuroinflammatory responses, secondary neuronal injury, and recovery from ischemic and traumatic brain injury. Dr. Laskowitz has been involved with several translational trials evaluating new therapies in stroke and acute brain injury. He is a fellow of the American Heart Association and American Neurological Association and has authored or co-authored more than 200 peer-reviewed articles.

Dr. Lin is a critical care Neurologist and Neurorehabilitation specialist at Massachusetts General Hospital. He is the Director of the MGH NeuroRecovery Clinic. He is also an Instructor in Neurology at Harvard Medical School. In his clinical practice, Dr. Lin cares for patients with acute neurologic injuries including stroke, brain hemorrhage, traumatic brain injury, seizures, and spinal cord injury in the MGH Neurosciences Critical Care Unit and he provides recommendations to facilitate best possible recovery at the MGH NeuroRecovery clinic. Dr. Lin's research involves understanding mechanisms of brain plasticity in patients order to guide recovery after stroke and other acute brain injuries.

Dr. Steinberg is the Founder and Co-Director of the Stanford Stroke Center, former Chair of Neurosurgery, and Director of the Stanford Moyamoya Center. His 33 years of experience in basic and translational neuroscience research has focused on hemorrhagic and ischemic stroke, as does his neurosurgical clinical practice. Dr. Steinberg received his medical degree from Stanford University and did residencies at Stanford University, for General Surgery and Neurosurgery, and at Santa Clara Medical Center. His lab investigates pathomechanisms of cerebral ischemia, develops neuroprotective agents, and employs novel approaches to enhance post-stroke functional recovery. He has successfully translated his preclinical work into several stem cell clinical trials for stroke, spinal cord injury and traumatic brain injury, as well as leading numerous other clinical cerebrovascular trials.

About Elevian, Inc.
Elevian is an emerging biotech company developing medicines that target the GDF11 pathway, with the potential to treat and prevent many age-related diseases.  Elevian's lead program uses recombinant GDF11 (rGDF11) to promote recovery post stroke.  The company has established additional programs focused on the use of rGDF11 to treat diabetes and obesity, and the regulation of GDF11 via novel molecules.

http://www.elevian.com

Media Contact
Evan Wicker, Ph.D.
Russo Partners, LLC
212-845-4235
evan.wicker@russopartnersllc.com

Olipriya Das Ph.D.
Russo Partners, LLC
646-942-5588
Olipriya.Das@russopartnersllc.com

SOURCE Elevian, Inc.

 

Wednesday, July 25, 2018

Growth Differentiation Factor 11 Promotes Neurovascular Recovery After Stroke in Mice

Mouse models, so you'll have to see if your doctor contacts these researchers doing human testing.  And no real hurry to get it done.
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fncel.2018.00205/full?
  • Department of Translational Neuroscience, Jing’an District Centre Hospital of Shanghai, State Key Laboratory of Medical Neurobiology and Institutes of Brain Science, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
Background: Growth differentiation factor 11 (GDF11), a member of transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) superfamily, was shown to rejuvenate cardiac and skeletal muscle function and to improve cerebral vasculature and neurogenesis in old mice. However, recent experimental data reported that raising GDF11 levels inhibited skeletal muscle regeneration and had no effect on cardiac hypertrophy. Our aim was to investigate the effects of GDF11 on brain repair during the recovery phase after stroke.
Methods: Mice were subjected to distal middle cerebral artery occlusion, and recombinant GDF11 (rGDF11) was injected intraperitoneally once a day during days 7–13 after stroke. Neuronal precursor cells (NPCs) proliferation and angiogenesis were assayed at 14 days. Neuronal regeneration was assayed at 42 days. The beam-walking test and CatWalk were used to evaluate behavioral functions. Downstream pathways of GDF11 were also investigated.
Results: GDF11 was upregulated in the ipsilateral peri-infarct cortex and subventricular zone (SVZ) at 14 days after stroke. Treatment with rGDF11 enhanced the number of newborn NPCs and endothelial cells, microvascular length and area, and brain capillary perfusion. Western blots showed that rGDF11 upregulated brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and increased the levels of proangiogenic factor angiopoietin-2 (Ang-2) and phosphorylation of vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-2 (VEGFR-2). We also found that rGDF11 upregulated the transcription factors Smad2 and Smad3 phosphorylation, but these activations were blocked by a TGF-β receptor inhibitor SB431542. Moreover, rGDF11-induced angiogenic remodeling and NPCs proliferation were reversed by injection of SB431542, suggesting that GDF11 may exert its effect via the TGF-β/Smad2/3 signaling pathway. Finally, treating mice with rGDF11 resulted in a significant increase in neuronal regeneration and functional recovery.
Conclusion: GDF11 promoted neurogenesis and angiogenesis and contributed to functional recovery after stroke in mice.

Introduction

Stroke is the leading cause of disability around the world (Murray et al., 2012). However, currently there is no effective treatment to facilitate the recovery in stroke patients. Stroke triggers the proliferation of the neural progenitor cells (NPCs) in the subventricular zone (SVZ) and the subgranular zone (SGZ) and the migration of NPCs toward the stroke areas (Arvidsson et al., 2002; Teng et al., 2008; Osman et al., 2011). Recent studies have suggested that stroke also induces angiogenesis in the peri-infarct region (Jiang et al., 2016). In stroke patients, there is a significant correlation between the vessel density in the brain and delayed mortality, suggesting that the angiogenesis is important for stroke recovery (Krupinski et al., 1993; Krupinski, 1994). Furthermore, angiogenic vessels were reported to release growth factors and chemokines to promote the migration of neuroblasts and the survival of new neurons, indicating that angiogenesis is highly linked with neurogenesis (Tsai et al., 2006). Therefore, therapeutic approaches to promote both neurogenesis and angiogenesis process may provide promising opportunities for stroke recovery.
Growth differentiation factor 11 (GDF11), a member of the transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) superfamily, participates various biological processes in mammals. GDF11 has been identified as a rejuvenation factor which could reverse age-related cardiac hypertrophy and improve muscle and brain function (Loffredo et al., 2013; Katsimpardi et al., 2014; Sinha et al., 2014). The major findings of these studies were that circulating levels of GDF11 decreased with aging and recombinant GDF11 injection could improve the vascular remodeling and increase neurogenesis in aging mice (Katsimpardi et al., 2014). However, a recent report questioned the conclusion and suggested that circulating GDF11 levels increased with age and reduced muscle regeneration (Egerman et al., 2015). Another study also demonstrated a negative effect of GDF11 on age-related cardiac hypertrophy (Smith et al., 2015). Furthermore, in vitro experiments found that GDF11 treatment could increase the peripheral blood endothelial progenitor cells migration and the sprout formation (Finkenzeller et al., 2015), while showed no significant effect on the human umbilical vein endothelial cells proliferation and migration (Zhang et al., 2016).
In this study, we investigated the role of GDF11 on stroke recovery in a mouse model of distal occlusion of middle cerebral artery. We found that delayed treatment with recombinant GDF11 (rGDF11) at 7 days after stroke promoted neurogenesis and angiogenesis and improved behavioral outcome by regulating the TGF-β/Smad2/3 signaling pathway.

Friday, September 16, 2016

Vascular and Neurogenic Rejuvenation of the Aging Mouse Brain by Young Systemic Factors

I bet nothing has been done in the past two years to test this out in humans. The extra blood delivery and neurogenesis would seem to be extremely important to our rehabilitation.
http://science.sciencemag.org/content/344/6184/630
Science  09 May 2014:
Vol. 344, Issue 6184, pp. 630-634
DOI: 10.1126/science.1251141
You are currently viewing the abstract.
View Full Text

Help the Aged

Muscle function declines with age, as does neurogenesis in certain brain regions. Two teams analyzed the effects of heterochronic parabiosis in mice. Sinha et al. (p. 649) found that when an aged mouse shares a circulatory system with a youthful mouse, the aged mouse sees improved muscle function, and Katsimpardi et al. (p. 630) observed increased generation of olfactory neurons. In both cases, Growth Differentiation Factor 11 appeared to be one of the key components of the young blood.

Abstract

In the adult central nervous system, the vasculature of the neurogenic niche regulates neural stem cell behavior by providing circulating and secreted factors. Age-related decline of neurogenesis and cognitive function is associated with reduced blood flow and decreased numbers of neural stem cells. Therefore, restoring the functionality of the niche should counteract some of the negative effects of aging. We show that factors found in young blood induce vascular remodeling, culminating in increased neurogenesis and improved olfactory discrimination in aging mice. Further, we show that GDF11 alone can improve the cerebral vasculature and enhance neurogenesis. The identification of factors that slow the age-dependent deterioration of the neurogenic niche in mice may constitute the basis for new methods of treating age-related neurodegenerative and neurovascular diseases.
View Full Text

Saturday, November 7, 2015

The Elusive Philosopher’s Stone in Young Blood

How young of blood do you need to get the the rejuvenating power in the young blood? Our doctors should be extremely interested in this to actually help us recover.
http://circres.ahajournals.org/content/117/11/906.extract?etoc
  1. Yibin Wang
+ Author Affiliations
  1. From the Key Laboratory of Cell Differentiation and Apoptosis of Ministry of Education, Department of Pathophysiology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China; and Division of Molecular Medicine, Departments of Anesthesiology, Medicine and Physiology, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles.
  1. Correspondence to Yibin Wang, PhD, 650 Charles E. Young Dr, Room CHS 569, Los Angeles, CA 90095. E-mail yibinwang@mednet.ucla.edu
Key Words:
According to legend, soon after the first Chinese Qin Emperor united China around 250 BC, he sent out a troop of young men and women to search for the elixir of life in the eastern seas to extend his life forever. With great expectation and fanfare, the searching party departed but never returned. However, our quests for the elusive life-renewing Philosopher’s Stone have never ceased either in Harry Potter’s wizard world or in biomedical research, and a sighting of the magical rejuvenating power continues to generate excitement and understandably high expectations.
Article, see p 926
In 2005, a landmark study by Conboy et al1 first demonstrated the rejuvenating power of the blood of young animals using a heterochronic parabiosis approach where the circulation of a young and an old mouse was surgically joined together. This finding set off a race to find the putative systemic circulating factor(s) that can reverse aging. Since 2013, in a series of reports, researchers, including Harvard scientists Amy Wagers and Richard Lee, have found that blood from young mice could reverse aging-related pathological features in muscle and brain following a heterochronic parabiosis procedure.24 In particular, circulating growth differentiation factor 11 (GDF11) was identified as the serum factor responsible for the rejuvenating power in the young blood.24 These reports generated a wave of commentaries from leading scientific journals and sensational reports from mainstream news outlets, relating these observations to the discovery of the mythic elixir of life given the …

Monday, May 12, 2014

More on the rejuvenating power of young blood...

Read DERIC BOWNDS MIND BLOG and then ask your doctor what the hell is the downside of doing this post-stroke? Other than the lazy f*cking excuse  that it is not standard of care.

More on the rejuvenating power of young blood