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As we approach Thanksgiving next week, we recognize more blessings than we can count.  Life, love, health, adventure, friends, family, and the pursuit of improving patient outcomes!

FEATURED IN THIS ISSUE:

 

Understanding the hallmarks of aging and deploying stem cell therapies and parabiosis techniques to promote rejuvenation in the quest for youth.

Lattice Biologics attends the 2015 IFATS (International Federation of Adipose Therapeutics and Science) Conference in New Orleans

What's the real reason we get sleepy after the Thanksgiving meal?  Facts and Myths go head to head in the battle of the Turkey.

Lattice Biologics will be posted up on 16.  Check out the "greatest show on grass."

Bonus Turkey Fun Fact: Since it's the  season  for sharing, here's an extra  tidbit  that you can use to rouse the family table this year if the small talk grows stale...

Though their sheer size might make you think of turkeys as ground-loving poultry (according to the National Wild Turkey Federation, the heaviest wild turkey on record weighed-in at a whopping 37 pounds), they can, indeed, fly. Their favorite sleeping spot?  Atop high tree branches to prevent predator attacks.  Because everyone wants a piece of poor Tom!
 
If you enjoy these newsletters, please share them with your friends and colleagues.  As always, we appreciate your support on this journey!  

Sincerely,

Guy Cook,
CEO
Lattice Biologics Inc.



THEORIES ON AGING: "Wear and tear outpaces repair" There are well over 300 theories about aging, but this is one of the most universal.  Just by living, we constantly cause wear and tear on our bodies and DNA.  Fortunately, our cells have mechanisms to repair and reverse the damage.
  • The "Free Radical" Theory
  • The "Stem Cell" Theory
SENESCENCE: In the case of cellular aging, cellular senescence is the phenomenon by which individual cells cease to divide. 
Whether senescence as a biological process, itself, can be slowed down, halted or even reversed, is currently a subject of much scientific speculation and research.

THE HALLMARKS OF AGING:  The biological clock:  "Also known as the epigenetic clock, DNA clock, Horvath's clock or DNA methylation age, this biological aging clock is an 'age predictor' that can be used to measure the age of most human tissues, cell types, or organs."

REVIVAL OF YOUTH: "By splicing animals together, scientists have shown that young blood rejuvenates old tissues. Now, they are testing whether it works for humans."

Researchers describe the process as "rejuvenation," "restarting the ageing clock," and helping old tissues repair damage. "We're restoring function to tissues."
At the beginning of this month, New Orleans hosted the 13th Annual IFATS Meeting in the heart of the city and Lattice Biologics sent its intrepid Product Development Manager and resident Ph.D., Christopher Bradley, to survey the regenerative medicine landscape. 

This is his report.   (Click here to read on.)

THIS REPORT FEATURES:
Special Symposium: Adipose Stem Cells for Orthopedic Applications
(Rocky Tuan, Ph.D., Symposium Chair)
The number of papers covering the cutting edge of stem cell and tissue engineering technologies that are attributable to Dr. Tuan is nothing short of mind-blowing.

Tissue Engineering of Bone from Autologous Adipose Derived Stem Cells for Maxillofacial Reconstruction
(Nina Tandon, Ph.D., MBA, CEO and co-founder - EpiBone)                                   
EpiBone is endeavoring to use patients' own stem cells (derived from fat tissue, no less) to grow custom-shaped bone grafts, with the help of clinical imaging and 3D printing to generate a custom mold.
 
Exploring the Translational Potential of Adipose-derived Stem Cells for Bone and Muscle Regeneration 
(Warren L. Grayson, Ph.D. - Johns Hopkins Biomedical Engineering)
Dr. Warren explains the crucial nature of nutritional components and physical parameters in promoting robust tissue growth and importance of surface roughness, cell adhesion strength, and compressive modulus for successful bioactive scaffolds.
 
Our Fat Future: Understanding and Translating ASC for Clinical Applications
(Elizabeth Loboa, Ph.D., Biomedical Engineering - University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill)
Dr. Loboa's interdisciplinary research illustrates that the most promising regenerative medicine encompasses a wide variety of experts.  Her lab personnel includes not only bioengineers and cell biologists, but also a research scientist with a Master's in Textile Science and a Ph.D. in Fiber & Polymer Science.

Decellularized Cell Matrix and Cartilage Generation
(Ming Pei, M.D., Ph.D., Orthopaedics - West Virginia University)
Encouraging results from Dr. Pei's studies show that ECM deposited by synovium-derived stem cells (SDSCs) not only enhances cell proliferation, but also promotes expanded cell chondrogenic potential instead of (or even against) hypertrophy.


See how biotech is taking a cue from the textile industry to create scaffolds with distinct porosities 
and topographies.
THANKSGIVING FUN FACT: turkey
Q: Why do we feel so sleepy after the Thanksgiving meal?

A: Contrary to popular belief, Turkey (the star of the show) may not be to blame.

We've all heard it before; right?  Everyone from your mother to your coworker will tell you: turkey is generously laced with that magical thing called tryptophan that makes us sleepy.  And while the person who chows down on the greatest quantities of the big bird may also be the first you find snoozing couch-side after the meal, let's not rush to blame our fair feathered friend.

"I wish the bald eagle had not been chosen as the representative of our country... he is a rank coward... For in truth, the turkey is in comparison a much more respectable bird, and withal a true original native of America.  Eagles have been found in all countries, but the turkey was peculiar to ours..."    -  Benjamin Franklin

SCIENCE BEHIND THE FOOD COMA: 
The amino acid, tryptophan, is the basis for the brain chemicals that make people tired.  "Tryptophan is a component of the brain chemical, serotonin, which gets converted into the well-known sleep-inducing hormone melatonin." 

WHAT'S WITH ALL THE BAD TURKEY PRESS?  
While turkey does contain tryptophan, it is not actually any more sleep-inducing than other foods.  Poulty and other foods contain similar amounts of the amino acid in question.  "Gram for gram, cheddar cheese actually contains more tryptophan than turkey does."

Understand this key process: "Tryptophan competes with all of the body's other amino acids to enter the brain, through a strict gatekeeper known as the blood-brain barrier."  This means, that simply containing tryptophan is not enough to make a food a "sleeper."

Medical experts say it's not the turkey, but the loads of "carbohydrates - the stuffing, potatoes and yams smothered in marshmallows - that are the true problem...  Consuming carbs triggers the release of insulin, which removes most amino acids from the blood."  Most of them, but not tryptophan.  With few competitors to face in the race to breach the brain and form serotonin and melatonin, tryptophan becomes a triumphant victor and slays our will to wake.

THE BOTTOM LINE:
"Basically, any big meal containing tryptophan and lots of carbohydrates can trigger sleepiness - not just turkey."  Add alcohol to the mix, and you never had a chance...

So enjoy your meal, turkey, tofurkey, or whatever your style, and don't forget to loosen that top button before slipping off to the land of nod!

Source:  http://www.livescience.com/41543-thanksgiving-myth-busted-eating-turkey-won-t-make-you-sleepy.html ( Thanksgiving Myth Busted: Eating Turkey Won't Make You Sleepy -  By Tanya Lewis)
IT'S COMING: THE WASTE MANAGEMENT PHOENIX OPEN: golf
Lattice Biologics will be hosting a Skybox this year on the legendary 16th Hole 

It may not start until February 1st, 2016, but we already can't wait!  If you plan to be out there for the festivities, let us know!  More details to follow.

(Image credit: Cheryl Farmer at last year's Open.)
Lattice Biologics Inc. | 480-563-0800 | Email | Website
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