Category Archives: Stem Cell Research

(SACRAMENTO, Calif.) -- UC Davis Health System researchers are a step closer to launching human clinical trials involving the use of an innovative stem cell therapy to fight the virus that causes AIDS.

In a paper published in the May issue of the Journal of Virology, the UC Davis HIV team demonstrated both the safety and efficacy of transplanting anti-HIV stem cells into mice that represent models of infected patients. The technique, which involves replacing the immune system with stem cells engineered with a triple combination of HIV-resistant genes, proved capable of replicating a normally functioning human immune system by protecting and expanding HIV-resistant immune cells. The cells thrived and self-renewed even when challenged with an HIV viral load.

"We envision this as a potential functional cure for patients infected with HIV, giving them the ability to maintain a normal immune system through genetic resistance," said lead author Joseph Anderson, an assistant adjunct professor of internal medicine and a stem cell researcher at the UC Davis Institute for Regenerative Cures. "Ideally, it would be a one-time treatment through which stem cells express HIV-resistant genes, which in turn generate an entire HIV-resistant immune system."

To establish immunity in mice whose immune systems paralleled those of patients with HIV, Anderson and his team genetically modified human blood stem cells, which are responsible for producing the various types of immune cells in the body.

Building on work that members of the team have pursued over the last decade, they developed several anti-HIV genes that were inserted into blood stem cells using standard gene-therapy techniques and viral vectors (viruses that efficiently insert the genes they carry into host cells). The resulting combination vector contained:

These engineered blood stem cells, which could be differentiated into normal and functional human immune cells, were introduced into the mice. The goal was to validate whether this experimental treatment would result in an immune system that remained functional, even in the face of an HIV infection, and would halt or slow the progression toward AIDS.

The results were successful on all counts.

"After we challenged transplanted mice with live HIV, we demonstrated that the cells with HIV-resistant genes were protected from infection and survived in the face of a viral challenge, maintaining normal human CD4 levels," said Anderson. CD4+ T-cells are a type of specialized immune cell that HIV attacks and uses to make more copies of HIV.

"We actually saw an expansion of resistant cells after the viral challenge, because other cells which were not resistant were being killed off, and only the resistant cells remained, which took over the immune system and maintained normal CD4 levels," added Anderson.

The data provided from the study confirm the safety and efficacy of this combination anti-HIV lentiviral vector in a hematopoietic stem cell gene therapy setting for HIV and validated its potential application in future human clinical trials. The team has submitted a grant application for human clinical trials and is currently seeking regulatory approval, which is necessary to move on to clinical trials.

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Stem cell therapy to battle HIV?

Public release date: 30-Apr-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Vanessa McMains vmcmain1@jhmi.edu 410-502-9410 Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions

A team of researchers from Johns Hopkins University and the National Human Genome Research Institute has evaluated the whole genomic sequence of stem cells derived from human bone marrow cellsso-called induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cellsand found that relatively few genetic changes occur during stem cell conversion by an improved method. The findings, reported in the March issue of Cell Stem Cell, the official journal of the International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR), will be presented at the annual ISSCR meeting in June.

"Our results show that human iPS cells accrue genetic changes at about the same rate as any replicating cells, which we don't feel is a cause for concern," says Linzhao Cheng, Ph.D., a professor of medicine and oncology, and a member of the Johns Hopkins Institute for Cell Engineering.

Each time a cell divides, it has the chance to make errors and incorporate new genetic changes in its DNA, Cheng explains. Some genetic changes can be harmless, but others can lead to changes in cell behavior that may lead to disease and, in the worst case, to cancer.

In the new study, the researchers showed that iPS cells derived from adult bone marrow cells contain random genetic changes that do not specifically predispose the cells to form cancer.

"Little research was done previously to determine the number of DNA changes in stem cells, but because whole genome sequencing is getting faster and cheaper, we can now more easily assess the genetic stability of these cells derived by various methods and from different tissues," Cheng says. Last year, a study published in Nature suggested higher than expected cancer gene mutation rates in iPS cells created from skin samples, which, according to Cheng, raised great concerns to many in the field pertaining to usefulness and safety of the cells. This study analyzed both viral and the improved, nonviral methods to turn on stem cell genes making the iPS cells

To more thoroughly evaluate the number of genetic changes in iPS cells created by the improved, non-viral method, Cheng's team first converted human blood-forming cells or their support cells, so-called marrow stromal cells (MSCs) in adult bone marrow into iPS cells by turning on specific genes and giving them special nutrients. The researchers isolated DNA from--and sequenced--the genome of each type of iPS cells, in comparison with the original cells from which the iPS cells were derived.

Cheng says they then counted the number of small DNA differences in each cell line compared to the original bone marrow cells. A range of 1,000 to 1,800 changes in the nucleic acid "letters" A, C, T and G occurred across each genome, but only a few changes were found in actual genes--DNA sequences that act as blueprints for our body's proteins. Such genes make up two percent of the genome.

The blood-derived iPS cells contained six and the MSC-derived iPS cells contained 12 DNA letter changes in genes, which led the researchers to conclude that DNA changes in iPS cells are far more likely to occur in the spaces between genes, not in the genes themselves.

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Improved adult-derived human stem cells have fewer genetic changes than expected

BEVERLY, MA and TORONTO, ON--(Marketwire -05/02/12)- Hamilton Thorne Ltd. (HTL.V - News), a leading provider of precision laser devices and advanced image analysis systems for the fertility, stem cell and developmental biology research markets, today announced that the Company's Multi-Pulse software has received FDA clearance for performing embryo biopsy in clinical settings. The Multi-Pulse software will come standard with Hamilton Thorne's best-in-class LYKOS clinical laser system and as an option on the legacy ZILOS-tk system in certain markets.

The Multi-Pulse feature provides rapid, repeated firing of the laser to facilitate removal of cells from an embryo during the trophectoderm biopsy process. Trophectoderm biopsy is considered one of the best methods used to remove cells from the embryos of patients undergoing pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) to screen for genetic disease or aneuploidy. Prior to release of the Multi-pulse software, individual laser shots were required to weaken or break the junctions between the trophectoderm cells so that they can be aspirated into the biopsy micropipette. The significant advantage of Multi-Pulse is that one press of the remote footswitch initiates multiple laser pulses in rapid succession for fast and easy cell separation, thereby limiting the amount of time the embryo spends outside the incubator.

"The Multi-Pulse software gives our lasers an automated, precise tool that enables rapid trophectoderm biopsy," said Diarmaid Douglas-Hamilton, Chief Technology Officer of Hamilton Thorne Ltd. "Obtaining FDA clearance is a significant achievement for Hamilton Thorne, and with Multi-Pulse coming standard on our LYKOS laser system, we can offer a sophisticated laser system that is truly unique to the clinical market."

Professor Barry Behr, Co-Director, REI/IVF Program, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the Stanford University School of Medicine, a long-time user of Hamilton Thorne lasers and a pioneer in trophectoderm biopsy, commented, "The Multi-Pulse capability, which provides the user with the ability to automatically fire the laser multiple times at relatively low power, will contribute significantly to the efficiency and safety of trophectoderm biopsy."

David Wolf, Hamilton Thorne's President and Chief Executive Officer, added, "We saw our sales of clinical lasers significantly grow in the US in 2010 and 2011, due in part to the increased adoption of trophectoderm biopsy as an accepted procedure. With the clearance of our Multi-Pulse software, we expect to see that trend continue to accelerate."

About Hamilton Thorne Ltd. (www.hamiltonthorne.com)

Hamilton Thorne designs, manufactures and distributes precision laser devices and advanced imaging systems for the fertility, stem cell and development biology research markets. It provides novel solutions for Life Science that reduce cost, increase productivity, improve results and enable research breakthroughs in regenerative medicine, stem cell research and fertility markets. Hamilton Thorne's laser products attach to standard inverted microscopes and operate as robotic micro-surgeons, enabling a wide array of scientific applications and IVF procedures. Its imaging systems improve outcomes in human IVF clinics and animal breeding facilities and provide high-end toxicology analyses.

Hamilton Thorne's growing customer base includes pharmaceutical companies, biotechnology companies, fertility clinics, university research centers, and other commercial and academic research establishments worldwide. Current customers include world-leading research labs such as Harvard, MIT, Yale, McGill, DuPont, Monsanto, Charles River Labs, Jackson Labs, Merck, Novartis, Pfizer, and Oxford and Cambridge.

Neither the Toronto Venture Exchange, nor its regulation services provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the exchange), accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Certain information in this press release may contain forward-looking statements. This information is based on current expectations that are subject to significant risks and uncertainties that are difficult to predict. Actual results might differ materially from results suggested in any forward-looking statements. The Company assumes no obligation to update the forward-looking statements, or to update the reasons why actual results could differ from those reflected in the forward-looking statements unless and until required by securities laws applicable to the Company. Additional information identifying risks and uncertainties is contained in filings by the Company with the Canadian securities regulators, which filings are available at http://www.sedar.com.

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Hamilton Thorne Receives FDA Clearance on Its Multi-Pulse Software for Clinical Applications

Public release date: 1-May-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Charles Casey charles.casey@ucdmc.ucdavis.edu 916-734-9048 University of California - Davis Health System

UC Davis Health System researchers are a step closer to launching human clinical trials involving the use of an innovative stem cell therapy to fight the virus that causes AIDS.

In a paper published in the May issue of the Journal of Virology, the UC Davis HIV team demonstrated both the safety and efficacy of transplanting anti-HIV stem cells into mice that represent models of infected patients. The technique, which involves replacing the immune system with stem cells engineered with a triple combination of HIV-resistant genes, proved capable of replicating a normally functioning human immune system by protecting and expanding HIV-resistant immune cells. The cells thrived and self-renewed even when challenged with an HIV viral load.

"We envision this as a potential functional cure for patients infected with HIV, giving them the ability to maintain a normal immune system through genetic resistance," said lead author Joseph Anderson, an assistant adjunct professor of internal medicine and a stem cell researcher at the UC Davis Institute for Regenerative Cures. "Ideally, it would be a one-time treatment through which stem cells express HIV-resistant genes, which in turn generate an entire HIV-resistant immune system."

To establish immunity in mice whose immune systems paralleled those of patients with HIV, Anderson and his team genetically modified human blood stem cells, which are responsible for producing the various types of immune cells in the body.

Building on work that members of the team have pursued over the last decade, they developed several anti-HIV genes that were inserted into blood stem cells using standard gene-therapy techniques and viral vectors (viruses that efficiently insert the genes they carry into host cells). The resulting combination vector contained:

a human/rhesus macaque TRIM5 isoform, which disrupts HIV from uncoating in the cytoplasm a CCR5 short hairpin RNA (shRNA), which prevents certain strains of HIV from attaching to target cells a TAR decoy, which stops HIV genes from being expressed inside of the cell by soaking up a critical protein needed for HIV gene expression These engineered blood stem cells, which could be differentiated into normal and functional human immune cells, were introduced into the mice. The goal was to validate whether this experimental treatment would result in an immune system that remained functional, even in the face of an HIV infection, and would halt or slow the progression toward AIDS.

The results were successful on all counts.

"After we challenged transplanted mice with live HIV, we demonstrated that the cells with HIV-resistant genes were protected from infection and survived in the face of a viral challenge, maintaining normal human CD4 levels," said Anderson. CD4+ T-cells are a type of specialized immune cell that HIV attacks and uses to make more copies of HIV.

Read more:
Study using stem cell therapy shows promise in fight against HIV

ScienceDaily (May 2, 2012) UC Davis Health System researchers are a step closer to launching human clinical trials involving the use of an innovative stem cell therapy to fight the virus that causes AIDS.

In a paper published in the May issue of the Journal of Virology, the UC Davis HIV team demonstrated both the safety and efficacy of transplanting anti-HIV stem cells into mice that represent models of infected patients. The technique, which involves replacing the immune system with stem cells engineered with a triple combination of HIV-resistant genes, proved capable of replicating a normally functioning human immune system by protecting and expanding HIV-resistant immune cells. The cells thrived and self-renewed even when challenged with an HIV viral load.

"We envision this as a potential functional cure for patients infected with HIV, giving them the ability to maintain a normal immune system through genetic resistance," said lead author Joseph Anderson, an assistant adjunct professor of internal medicine and a stem cell researcher at the UC Davis Institute for Regenerative Cures. "Ideally, it would be a one-time treatment through which stem cells express HIV-resistant genes, which in turn generate an entire HIV-resistant immune system."

To establish immunity in mice whose immune systems paralleled those of patients with HIV, Anderson and his team genetically modified human blood stem cells, which are responsible for producing the various types of immune cells in the body.

Building on work that members of the team have pursued over the last decade, they developed several anti-HIV genes that were inserted into blood stem cells using standard gene-therapy techniques and viral vectors (viruses that efficiently insert the genes they carry into host cells). The resulting combination vector contained:

These engineered blood stem cells, which could be differentiated into normal and functional human immune cells, were introduced into the mice. The goal was to validate whether this experimental treatment would result in an immune system that remained functional, even in the face of an HIV infection, and would halt or slow the progression toward AIDS.

The results were successful on all counts.

"After we challenged transplanted mice with live HIV, we demonstrated that the cells with HIV-resistant genes were protected from infection and survived in the face of a viral challenge, maintaining normal human CD4 levels," said Anderson. CD4+ T-cells are a type of specialized immune cell that HIV attacks and uses to make more copies of HIV.

"We actually saw an expansion of resistant cells after the viral challenge, because other cells which were not resistant were being killed off, and only the resistant cells remained, which took over the immune system and maintained normal CD4 levels," added Anderson.

The data provided from the study confirm the safety and efficacy of this combination anti-HIV lentiviral vector in a hematopoietic stem cell gene therapy setting for HIV and validated its potential application in future human clinical trials. The team has submitted a grant application for human clinical trials and is currently seeking regulatory approval, which is necessary to move on to clinical trials.

See original here:
Stem cell therapy shows promise in fight against HIV

Nature | Health

Regenerative medicine gets a cash boost from the nation's health ministry, but stricter regulations are needed to ensure safety

May 1, 2012

By Soo Bin Park of Nature magazine

Seoul, South Korea

The South Korean health ministry announced last month that research into stem cells and regenerative medicine will receive a funding boost of 33 billion won (US$29 million) in 2012, four times that given in 2011. Overall, six different ministries will invest 100 billion won in stem-cell research this year.

Until last year, public investment in stem cells in South Korea was relatively low and targeted mainly at basic research. But the country's Ministry of Health and Welfare is now expanding its support for clinical research on stem cells, with the money being used to link basic research to intermediate or clinical studies. The aim is to commercialize the research at an early stage.

"From the current research atmosphere and infrastructure, the government has judged that stem-cell studies are now maturing," says Hyung Min Chung, president of Seoul-based biotechnology firm Cha Bio and Diostech and an adviser on the budget plan. He adds that his company is particularly pleased that government investment decisions on developing stem-cell therapies will be made more quickly.

Target market

The government money will be allocated to two areas: rare or incurable diseases for which there is little incentive for private investment, such as spinal cord damage; and common chronic conditions, such as arthritis, for which the aim is to help South Korean companies to capture part of the large potential market for treatments.

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South Korea Steps Up Stem-Cell Work

"See The Potential" program sponsored by Canada's Stem Cell Network and Pfizer

MONTRAL, May 2, 2012 /CNW/ - The first two postdoctoral research fellowships of a new program to promote stem cell research in Canada were announced today by the program's sponsors, Canada's Stem Cell Network and Pfizer.

"See The Potential" is a program established to encourage the work of promising young scientists in the field of stem cell and regenerative medicine research. Under the program, six postdoctoral fellowships will be funded from competitions over the next three years. Fellows will receive a grant of $50,000 per year for up to three years and will conduct two years of stem cell and regenerative medicine research at a recognized research laboratory in Canada as well as another year of research at the Pfizer Neusentis laboratories in the United Kingdom.

The 2011 fellowship recipients that have just been announced, following an internationally publicized competition, are Dr. Corinne Hoesli from Laval University in Qubec City and Dr. Reaz Vawda from University Health Network in Toronto. Dr. Hoesli proposes to conduct research related to engineering artificial blood vessels and is speaking today at the Till and McCulloch Meetings in Montral about the program and her research strategies. The research specialty of Dr. Vawda is comparative investigations on the therapeutic repair function of mesenchymal stem cells in the treatment of spinal cord injury.

"We are very pleased to name these first recipients of the See The Potential postdoctoral fellowships in partnership with Pfizer Inc," said Dr. Verna Skanes, Chair of the Board of the Stem Cell Network. "This program is an exciting way to provide young researchers with the opportunity to develop their research efforts and their careers while building important collaborations for the future with other researchers connected to the Stem Cell Network and, internationally, through Pfizer network. This is exactly the type of collaboration with industry that is the hallmark of translational research and one that can provide benefits to all involved."

Half the program is funded by the Stem Cell Network and other half shared by Pfizer.

"This is an excellent initiative aligned with the Pfizer Neusentis' mission to develop innovative cell therapies to benefit patients through research and development, clinical and business innovation," said academic liaison, Dr. Tim Allsopp, Head of External Research for the Regenerative Medicine activities at Pfizer Neusentis Ltd. "We congratulate our winners and look forward to witnessing the results of their important research."

The second See The Potential fellowship competition is now open with an application deadline set for June 26, 2012. For more information on the competition please visit http://www.seethepotential.ca

Canada's Stem Cell Network The Stem Cell Network, established in 2001, brings together more than 100 leading scientists, clinicians, engineers, and ethicists from universities and hospitals across Canada. The Network supports cutting-edge projects that translate research discoveries into new and better treatments for millions of patients in Canada and around the world. Hosted by the University of Ottawa, the Stem Cell Network is one of Canada's Networks of Centres of Excellence funded through Industry Canada and its three granting councils. http://www.stemcellnetwork.ca

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First fellowships awarded in new Canadian stem cell and regenerative medicine research program

NES ZIONA, Israel--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Kadimastem, an Israeli Biotechnology company that develops human pluripotent stem cell-related products, today announced the signing of a five year framework agreement with Merck Serono, a division of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany. The agreement concerns the use of Kadimastem's drug-screening platform to discover new oral drugs for the treatment of the neurological disease Multiple Sclerosis (MS).

The system developed by Kadimastem allows using human functional tissues produced industrially from pluripotent stem cells as a means to search for potential new drugs, a direct approach that has advantages over the use of animals. In Multiple Sclerosis, the insulating myelin sheaths which cover many nerves in the brain and spinal cord are destroyed due to loss of the myelin-forming cells resulting in the impairment of nerve function and severe neurological disabilities. It is estimated that 2.5 million patients suffer from this disease around the globe. While the existing treatments act by slowing down the loss of myelin-forming cells, there is great interest in finding new medications that could repair the myelin by stimulating the regeneration of myelin-forming cells. The drug-screening project, to be carried out through the Kadimastem-Merck Serono agreement, aims precisely at the discovery of potential oral drugs that act by stimulating myelin repair.

We are pleased to announce this agreement with Merck-Serono, a company with robust experience in drug discovery, development and marketing in the Multiple Sclerosis area, said Mr. Yossi Ben-Yossef, CEO of Kadimastem. The undisclosed compensation for this agreement will provide financial support for Kadimastem's own in-house drug discovery initiatives, in the field of neurodegenerative diseases as well as in the field of Diabetes. Kadimastem also produces pancreatic islet cells from pluripotent stem cells, for screening of drugs enhancing insulin secretion and eventually for cellular therapy of Diabetes.

Prof. Michel Revel, Chief Scientist of Kadimastem, further commented: We are very proud that after a thorough evaluation, Merck Serono decided to sign an agreement with us. We see it as a proof of our excellence in developing human myelin-forming cells and our capabilities in drug screening. We believe that this agreement is a first step towards further collaboration with Merck Serono and other Pharmaceutical companies, in which our capabilities in drug screening on human functional cell systems will synergize with their capabilities in medicinal chemistry and clinical development, to make drugs available more rapidly and more efficiently.

Prof. Revel from the Weizmann Institute of Science was the Chief Scientist of InterPharm, an Israeli biotech company part of the Merck Serono group that developed Prof. Revel's groundbreaking research which lead to Rebif (mammalian cell-produced recombinant Interferon beta-1a), today a leading drug for the treatment of Multiple Sclerosis with annual sales by Merck Serono of over US$ 2.3 billion.

Mr. Amir Naiberg, CEO of Yeda, the commercial arm of the Weizmann Institiute of Science, said: We are excited that Kadimastem, that was established around one of our technologies, is collaborating with Merck Serono. Merck Serono has a long and successful tradition of developing products that emerged from the Weizmann Institute labs,and we hope that Kadimastem will be another link in this chain.

About Kadimastem

Kadimastem (www.kadimastem.com) is a biotechnology company focused on the industrial development and commercialization of human pluripotent stem cell-based products. At Kadimastem, the pluripotent stem cell technology is used to produce specialized human cells and tissues for two major types of medical applications: 1) Drug-screening platforms using human functional cells and tissues as in vitro assays for discovering novel therapeutic drugs for neurological diseases and diabetes, and 2) Cell therapy for regenerative medicine, to repair tissues and organs affected by diseases, such as implanting insulin-secreting pancreatic islet cells as a treatment for insulin-dependent diabetes. Kadimastem is developing these technologies in its state of the art 1,000 m2 facilities in the Weizmann Science Park (Ness Ziona, Israel), for industrial research and production, with a staff of PhD-level and MSc-level scientists. Kadimastem uses pluripotent human stem cells made available through licensing agreements with the Embryonic Stem Cell Center of the Hadassah Medical center in Jerusalem (Prof. Benjamin Reubinoff) and the Shaarei Zedek Medical Center, Jerusalem, Israel.

About Merck Serono

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Pharmaceutical Company Merck Serono Signs an Agreement to Use Kadimastem's Platform for Drug Screening

A new study, appearing in Cell Stem Cell and led by researchers at the University of Southern California, outlines the specifics of how autoimmune disorders can be controlled by infusions of mesenchymal stem cells.

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) are highly versatile stem cells that originate from the mesoderm, or middle layer of tissue, in a developing embryo. MSC can be isolated from many different kinds of human tissue, including bone marrow and the umbilical cord.

Principal investigator Songtao Shi, professor at the Ostrow School of Dentistry of USC Center for Craniofacial Molecular Biology, said that recent studies have shown the benefits of administering MSC to patients with immune-related disorders such as graft versus host disease, systemic lupus erythematosus, rheumatoid arthritis, and more.

These studies showed that infusions of MSC appeared to quell the production and function of overactive immune cells, including T- and B-lymphocytes. However, the specific mechanism behind how MSC get the immune cells under control hasn't been fully understood.

"Mesenchymal-Stem-Cell-Induced Immunoregulation Involves FAS-Ligand-/FAS-Mediated T Cell Apoptosis" shines light on how infused MSCs target and defeat overactive immune cells.

Examining the effects of MSC infusion in mice with systemic sclerosis (SS)-like immune disorders, Shi and his colleagues discovered that a specific cellular mechanism known as the FAS/FAS-ligand pathway was the key to the remarkable immune system benefits.

Specifically, in mice with SS-like disorders, infusions of MSC caused T-lymphocyte death with FASL/FAS signaling and lessened symptoms of the immune disorder. However, MSC deficient in FAS-ligand failed to treat immune disorders in SS-afflicted mice.

With the hopeful results of the animal model study in mind, Shi's colleagues in China performed a pilot study with patients suffering from systemic sclerosis. Infusions of MSCs provided similar clinical benefits to patients, and experimental analysis revealed that the FASL/FAS pathway was also at work in humans with SS.

The identification of the cellular workings responsible for the stem cell treatments' success may eventually help doctors find optimal cell-based treatment for some immune diseases, Shi said.

Basic research portions of this study were supported by the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research and the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine. Clinical studies were supported by a grant from the China Major International (Regional) Joint Research Project.

Continued here:
How stem cell therapy can keep the immune system under control

The University of Michigan may be in the midst of a battle with state GOP lawmakers over its controversial embryonic stem cell research, but that's not stopping the university from strengthening its stem cell research portfolio.

A University of Michigan researcher conducts embryonic stem cell research.

It's also likely to add tension to a battle brewing in Lansing between the Republican lawmakers that decide U-M's budget and university administrators who have declined to tell the Legislature exactly how many human embryos are used during research. Legislators requested that U-M disclose how many embryos it uses more than a year ago but the 50-plus page report university president Mary Sue Coleman turned over to lawmakers in December did not include the exact number of embryos used.

State Rep. Kevin Cotter, R-Mt. Pleasant, a member of the subcommittee that decides how funds are doled out to universities, recently accused U-M of thumbing its nose at the legislature.

Legislators have threatened to withhold up to $7 million in performance funding from U-M if administrators do not fully disclose how many embryos U-M uses.

Coleman says it's unlikely the school will disclose that information.

Mary Sue Coleman

"Even though we were asked specific questions we dont collect the data in this way and we think that focus on these issues, these specific little issues, were trivializing the complexity" of stem cell research, Coleman said recently. "I want to continue to put this in context.... We are doing this according to the strict regulations of the federal government."

Meanwhile, U-M researchers are optimistic their new stem cell line will be instrumental in developing a cure for Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease, a debilitating neurological disorder that causes foot, leg and hand muscles to degenerate early in life.

The new line was derived from a 5-day-old embryo the size of a period. That embryo was created for reproductive purposes, tested and found to be affected with the genetic disorder, deemed not suitable for implantation, and would therefore have otherwise been discarded when it was donated in 2011. According to U-M Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease is one of the most common inherited neurological disorders and affects one in 2,500 people in the United States.

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U-M develops new stem cell line as Legislature threatens to cut funding