Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells: Human Skin Cells Induced To Become Nuerons

In late May we posted about Stanford University research wherein human skin cells were converted directly into functional neurons in a period of four to five weeks with the addition of just four proteins.

In this recent research, Dr. Sheng Ding used two genes and a microRNA to convert a skin sample from a 55-year-old woman directly into brain cells. (MicroRNAs are tiny strands of genetic material that regulate almost every process in every cell of the body.) The cells created by Dr. Ding’s experiments exchanged the electrical impulses necessary for brain cells to communicate things such as thoughts and emotions. Using microRNA to reprogram cells is a safer and more efficient way than using the more common gene-modification approach. In ensuing experiments, Dr. Ding hopes to rely only on microRNAs and pharmaceutical compounds to convert skin cells to brain cells, which should lead to more efficient generation of cells for testing and regenerative purposes.

Dr. Ding was a scientific founder of Fate Therapeutics, a private company leader in Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell research and small molecule biologics and the movement of both toward commercialization. Earlier this year Dr. Ding joined Gladstone and the faculty at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF), as a professor of pharmaceutical chemistry. Gladstone, which is affiliated with UCSF, is a leading and independent biomedical-research organization using stem-cell research to advance work in its three major areas of focus: cardiovascular disease, neurodegenerative disease and viral infections. Gladstone is allied with iPierian. iPierian and Fate Therapeutics are two of the major privately financed companies seeking to commercialize Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells (iPS cells). Stemgent would be a third, another company in which Dr. Ding is an advisor. The fourth is Jamie Thomson's Cellular Dynamics International. None of these are included in our Stem Cell Sector as they are all privately owned.

While Dr. Sheng Ding is not on the iPerian scientific advisory board, several of his Gladstone colleages are, along with several Harvard stem cell researchers. In fact, the advisory boards of these two companies look like a who's who of stem cell research.

Dr. Ding's work builds on the cell-reprogramming work of another Gladstone scientist, Senior Investigator Shinya Yamanaka, MD, PhD. Dr. Yamanaka's 2006 discovery of a way to turn adult skin cells into cells that act like embryonic stem cells has radically advanced the fields of cell biology and stem-cell research.

Dr. Ding's work extends Dr. Yamanaka's by offering still another method for avoiding the use of embryonic stem cells and creating an entirely new platform for fundamental studies of human disease. Rather than using models made in yeast, flies or mice for disease research, all cell-reprogramming technology allows human brain, heart and other cells to be created from the skin cells of patients with a specific disease. The new cells created from the skin cells contain a complete set of the genes that resulted in that disease—representing the potential of a far-superior human model for studying illnesses, drugs and other treatments.

“This will help us avoid any genome modifications,” said Dr. Ding. “These cells are not ready yet for transplantation. But this work removes some of the major technical hurdles to using reprogrammed cells to create transplant-ready cells for a host of diseases.”

Adapted from the Gladstone Institute announcement.

 

 

Comments

[raquel]

In relation to stem cell research, The Scripps Institute has recently developed stem cells for endangered species of animals that will ultimately help save them from extinction. Here is the article.
http://www.americanbiotechnologist.com/blog/saving-endangered-animals/