Disability Happens » Stem Cell

Parkinson’s treated with therapeutic cloning

Richard Brassaw — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 11:48:56 +0000

Parkinson’s disease is thought to be caused by missing dopamine neurons. Stem cell research has sought a way to restore the missing dopamine neurons, but often the immune system rejects the transplanted cells.

Lorenz Studer, MD, Head of Stem Cell and Tumor Biology Laboratory, Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, feels that their latest study reduces the chances that somatic-cell nuclear transfer (SCNT)–or therapeutic cloning–reduces transplant rejection and enhances recovery in diseases and organ systems.

In SCNT the nucleus of a donor subject’s somatic cell is inserted into an egg, which has had the nucleus removed. This cell then develops into a blastocyst from which embryonic stem cells can be harvested for therapeutic purposes. Since the genetic information in the resulting stem cells comes from the donor subject the SCNT has a greater chance of being accepted by the immune system.

Scientist demonstrated the process on mice genetically designed to have Parkinson’s disease. They began by taking skin cells from the tails of mice and generated the missing dopamine neurons–the cause of Parkinson’s–but because they did not attempt to genetically match the transplanted cells, from donor to recipient, the cells did not survive and the mice did not recover.

Using SCNT, where the transplanted stem cells were from the same subject, the immune system accepted the transplanted cells and the mice showed signs of recovery.

Studer’s article appears in the March 23, 2008 online journal edition of Nature Medicine.

Key theme to keep stem cells in primitive state found

Richard Brassaw — Thu, 21 Jun 2007 05:29:31 +0000

The Canadian scientists were like salmon swimming up the proverbial gene pool looking for the key to unlock a stem cell’s state. They believe that they have discovered it in a gene with a name that looks a lot like a calendar date—Oct4.

What is still emerging from this research is how stem cells format DNA and yet keep it flexible enough to regulate cell characteristics by restricting how molecules move within the nucleus.

The researchers contribute much of their success to the way they approached the problem. Traditional thinking was to compare stem cells by types. Instead they looked for the gossamer thread that united the variety of stem cell types to the master stem cell regulator gene Oct4.

It is hoped that this discovery will help develop therapies that will target, then repair, damaged adult stem cells in diseases like cancer.

Bush’s strike two against stem cell research

Richard Brassaw — Wed, 20 Jun 2007 20:29:01 +0000

UPI reports that President Bush veteos stem cell research bill passed by Congress.

According to the White House, Bush vetoed the, “Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act of 2007″ to maintain the current delicate balance of the nation’s stem-cell research policy. Bush said, “Compelling American taxpayers to support the deliberate destruction of human embryos would be a grave mistake and I will not allow our nation to cross this moral line… I invite policymakers and scientists to come together to solve medical problems without compromising either the high aims of science or the sanctity of human life.”