The Miami Stem Cell Therapy Podcast

The Miami Stem Cell Therapy Podcast

By miamistemcelltherapy

The Miami Stem Cell Podcast by STEMS Health Regenerative Medicine in Miami Beach, Florida, is an informational, synthetic narrated podcast designed to educate listeners about the science and practi

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Best of The Miami Stem Cell Therapy Podcast

The most played episodes among Podcast App listeners.

  1. Number 1: Ep 52 What Makes Dezawa MuseCells® Unique Without Genetic Modification?

    Let’s talk today about a distinction that comes up often in stem cell research: the difference between cells that are engineered to become pluripotent, and cells that are simply found that way in the body already. Most of the attention-grabbing stem cell science over the past two decades has centered on induced pluripotent stem cells, or iPSCs, first developed by Shinya Yamanaka. Making an iPSC involves taking an adult cell and introducing specific transcription factors to push it back into an embryonic-like state. It’s a clever workaround for the ethical and supply issues tied to embryonic stem cells, but it introduces its own technical challenges, including the risk that if any of those reprogrammed cells remain undifferentiated after transplant, they can form a type of tumor called a teratoma. Embryonic stem cells carry similar tumorigenicity concerns of their own. Muse cells take a different path entirely. They were first identified in 2010 by Professor Mari Dezawa and colleagues, and they occur naturally in adult tissue, including bone marrow, fat tissue, and peripheral blood. Researchers identify them using a surface marker called SSEA-3, and because they already exist in the body in this state, isolating them is a matter of sorting cells that are already there, rather than reprogramming or engineering anything. No viral vectors, no transcription factor reprogramming, no embryonic tissue involved. That distinction turns out to matter for a few practical reasons researchers care about. First, tumorigenicity: published animal studies to date haven’t shown Muse cells forming teratomas, in contrast to the documented risk associated with iPSCs and embryonic stem cells. Second, manufacturing complexity: because there’s no reprogramming or differentiation-induction step required, the production process is simpler than what’s needed for engineered pluripotent cells. Third, immune compatibility: Muse cells express a marker called HLA-G, which is associated with immune tolerance, similar to mechanisms seen in placental tissue. Researchers have studied whether that property might reduce the need for donor matching or immunosuppressive drugs in certain contexts. And fourth, there’s the homing behavior we’ve covered on this show before, the ability of Muse cells to travel to an injury site through a signaling pathway involving sphingosine-1-phosphate and a receptor called S1PR2, a property not shared by standard mesenchymal stem cells to the same degree. Put together, natural origin, an apparent absence of tumor formation in current studies, and built-in injury homing make Muse cells a distinct subject of study compared to both conventional mesenchymal stem cells and engineered pluripotent cell types. That’s part of why groups like STEMS Health, a Miami Beach-based regenerative medicine practice, keep a close eye on this area of the literature. Thanks for tuning in, and we’ll see you next time.

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  2. Number 2: Ep 51 Why Researchers Continue Studying Dezawa MuseCells® Across Multiple Medical Fields

    Welcome back to the show. Today we’re taking a closer look at a naturally occurring stem cell that keeps showing up in research papers across a surprising range of medical specialties: the Muse cell, discovered in 2010 by Professor Mari Dezawa and her colleagues at Tohoku University. What makes this cell type so interesting to scientists isn’t just that it’s pluripotent-like, meaning it has the potential to become many different cell types. It’s that Muse cells appear to know where to go. They carry a receptor called S1PR2, which detects a signaling molecule released by damaged tissue, called sphingosine-1-phosphate. When tissue anywhere in the body is injured, Muse cells circulating in the blood can sense that signal and travel toward it. That mechanism isn’t specific to any one organ, which helps explain why researchers in neurology, cardiology, orthopedics, pulmonology, and dermatology have each, independently, started investigating the same cell type. In neurology, scientists have looked at how Muse cells behave after stroke and spinal cord injury. In cardiology, researchers have studied whether these cells home to heart tissue after a heart attack, and whether they can differentiate into the kinds of cells that make up heart muscle and blood vessels. Some of that cardiology work has moved into early-phase human trials, largely in Japan, alongside similar early trials for conditions like ALS, spinal cord injury, and a genetic skin condition called epidermolysis bullosa. Orthopedic and pulmonary research remains earlier stage, still largely limited to laboratory and animal studies. It’s worth pausing here to be clear about what all of this does and doesn’t mean. Early-phase clinical trials are designed to answer questions about safety and dosing. They are not the same as full regulatory approval, and no Muse cell-based product currently holds that kind of approval for routine use in the United States. Anything you hear described in the research literature should be understood as investigational unless a specific regulatory clearance is cited. So why does it matter that so many different fields are studying the same cell independently? Because when neurologists, cardiologists, and dermatologists are all seeing similar patterns, it strengthens the overall case for the underlying biological mechanism, even while each specialty is still working through its own condition-specific questions. Researchers tend to track a similar set of themes across this work: how precisely the cells home to an injury site, whether they reliably turn into the right kind of tissue once they arrive, how dosing and repeat administration affect outcomes, and what the long-term safety picture looks like. Organizations like STEMS Health, a regenerative medicine practice based in Miami Beach, Florida, follow this research closely as part of staying current on where the science stands. If you’re curious about Muse cell research, it’s a field worth watching, and one that’s likely to keep generating new questions for years to come. That’s it for today’s episode. Thanks for listening.

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  3. Number 3: Ep. 50: How Dezawa MuseCells® Became a Global Conversation in Regenerative Medicine

    How Dezawa MuseCells Became a Global Conversation in Regenerative Medicine Drs. Ankeet Choxi and Jarred Mait at STEMS Health often get a version of this question from patients who are new to regenerative medicine. If Muse cells are such a big deal, why did it take this long for me to hear about them? The answer is actually a pretty good sign, because it shows this technology grew the slow, credible way, not through a marketing push. It started in two thousand ten, when Professor Mari Dezawa's team published the original discovery in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, one of the most respected scientific journals in the world. That single publication led to more research, including additional papers and a detailed methodology paper in twenty thirteen that let other labs reproduce her work. Over time, Dezawa herself authored more than two hundred peer reviewed papers, and her research earned real institutional recognition, including Japan's Commendation for Science and Technology and a fellowship in the U.S. National Academy of Inventors. From there, the science expanded well beyond its original context. Researchers began studying Muse cells in neurology, cardiovascular medicine, orthopedics, and pulmonary conditions, moving through preclinical work and into Phase two human trials in Japan. That kind of cross disciplinary interest does not happen with a discovery that does not hold up under scrutiny. It happens when independent research groups keep finding something worth studying. Physician education followed a similar path. Conferences and continuing education programs gave doctors a chance to engage directly with the underlying research, ask questions about manufacturing and patient selection, and bring that understanding back into their own practices. That is a very different growth pattern than a product that spreads through advertising alone. Only in the last few years has patient awareness really caught up to the research. And that creates a new challenge. As more people search for information about Muse cells, more products and clinics have started using similar language, which makes it more important than ever to understand where a given treatment actually comes from. Drs. Choxi and Mait see this as a good problem to have. More awareness means more patients asking better questions, and more clinics being held to a higher standard when they talk about this technology. The story is still being written too, since research keeps expanding into new conditions and new applications every year. If you want to understand how more than a decade of research applies to your own situation, reach out to STEMS Health and start a real conversation with our team.

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  4. Number 4: Ep. 49: Why Authentic Dezawa MuseCells® Matter More Than Ever

    Why Authentic Dezawa MuseCells Matter More Than Ever This is one of the most important conversations Doctors Ankeet Choxi and Jarred Mait have with patients at STEMS Health, because it is also one of the most misunderstood. As Muse cells have become more well known, the number of products and clinics using that name has grown right along with it. And here is the uncomfortable truth. Using the name does not automatically mean a product is the real thing. Authentic Dezawa MuseCells refers specifically to cells isolated and manufactured according to Professor Mari Dezawa's validated protocols, using defined markers and culture conditions that have actually been published and peer reviewed. That is a scientific standard, not a marketing label. A product can call itself a Muse cell and still be produced through a completely different process, with different sourcing, different quality control, and none of the same published research behind it. This matters because the traits that make Muse cells valuable in the first place, their stress tolerance, their broader differentiation ability, their tendency to migrate toward damaged tissue, and their strong safety profile, are specific to cells isolated through that validated process. If a product skips that process, there is no scientific basis for assuming it shares those same characteristics, no matter how similar the marketing sounds. So what should you actually do with this information? Ask direct questions before committing to any treatment. Is this based on Dezawa's specific validated protocol? What is the manufacturing source, and what quality control standards govern it? What does the actual published research say about this exact product, not just the cell type in general? A provider who knows the answers, and is willing to share them, is telling you something important. So is a provider who cannot. This is also where physician expertise comes in. A physician who understands the underlying research is far better equipped to set realistic expectations and match you with the right treatment, rather than presenting early stage research as a guaranteed result. That is exactly the kind of conversation Drs. Choxi and Mait aim to have with every patient who walks through the door. As this field continues to grow, that gap between authentic, validated products and everything else using similar language is not going away on its own. If anything, growing patient interest tends to increase the incentive for products to borrow recognizable scientific language, whether or not the manufacturing behind them actually earns it. That is not a reason to be discouraged, it is just a reason to ask better questions before you commit to anything. If you want a straight answer about what you are actually being offered, reach out to STEMS Health and talk with our team.

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  5. Number 5: Ep. 48: Understanding the Dezawa Protocol: Why Standardization Matters

    Understanding the Dezawa Protocol: Why Standardization Matters Patients at STEMS Health often ask Drs. Ankeet Choxi and Jarred Mait a version of the same question. If Muse cells are so rare, how does anyone actually isolate them consistently? The answer comes down to something called the Dezawa Protocol, and it is a bigger deal than most people realize. The Dezawa Protocol is the validated laboratory methodology developed by Professor Mari Dezawa's team for identifying and isolating Muse cells from a broader population of mesenchymal stem cells. It is not a product. It is a process, and that distinction matters enormously in medicine. A discovery is only as useful in the clinic as the method used to reproduce it reliably, batch after batch, lab after lab. Here is why that is such a challenge in the first place. Muse cells make up a small percentage of any given stem cell culture. You cannot just look at cells under a microscope and pick out the right ones. The protocol solves this by relying on specific, defined markers, most notably something called SSEA three, a marker linked to pluripotent like cells. It also specifies the exact culture conditions needed to preserve the cells' natural stress tolerant characteristics through processing. Without that level of specificity, one lab's version of a Muse cell could end up meaningfully different from another lab's version, even if both used the same name. This is also where things shift from a research protocol into a manufacturing standard. Producing cells for actual clinical use means adding sterility standards, documentation, and quality control checkpoints at every stage, well beyond what is needed to publish an academic paper. That layer of oversight is what allows a manufactured product to stay tied to the same research base it claims to represent, rather than drifting into something else entirely over time. This is exactly why Doctors Choxi and Mait encourage patients to ask specific questions before choosing a treatment. Is this based on Dezawa's actual validated protocol, or something using similar language without the same process behind it? What quality control measures are actually in place? These are not rhetorical questions. The answers tell you whether a treatment is grounded in reproducible science, or just borrowing familiar terminology. Manufacturing consistency will not answer every question about whether a treatment is right for you, but it is one of the clearest signals of scientific credibility available. Protocols like this one are not necessarily fixed forever either. As research continues, methodologies are sometimes refined to address new questions about long term consistency and stability, which is a normal part of how any area of regenerative medicine matures over time. If you want to understand exactly how this applies to a treatment you are considering, reach out to STEMS Health and talk with our team directly.

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How many episodes does The Miami Stem Cell Therapy Podcast have?

The podcast currently has 55 episodes available.