[tabi] Re: Fw: Scientists program blood stem cells to become vision cells
- From: "Chip Orange" <Corange@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <tabi@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 4 Aug 2009 17:25:05 -0400
Fantastic article Lori!
thanks!
Chip
------------------------------
Chip Orange
Database Administrator
Florida Public Service Commission
Chip.Orange@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
(850) 413-6314
(Any opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not
necessarily reflect those of the Florida Public Service Commission.)
________________________________
From: tabi-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:tabi-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Laurie Davis
Sent: Tuesday, August 04, 2009 5:19 PM
To: tabi@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [tabi] Fw: Scientists program blood stem cells to
become vision cells
----- Original Message -----
Subbject: Scientists program blood stem cells to become vision
cells
Scientists program blood stem cells to become vision cells
ScienceDaily (July 30, 2009) - University of Florida researchers
were able to program bone marrow stem cells to repair damaged retinas in
mice, suggesting a potential treatment for one of the most common causes
of vision loss in older people.
The success in repairing a damaged layer of retinal cells in
mice implies that blood stem cells taken from bone marrow can be
programmed to restore a variety of cells and tissues, including ones
involved in cardiovascular disorders such as atherosclerosis and
coronary artery disease.
"To our knowledge, this is the first report using targeted gene
manipulation to specifically program an adult stem cell to become a new
cell type," said Maria B. Grant, M.D., a professor of pharmacology and
therapeutics at UF's College of Medicine. "Although we used genes, we
also suggest you can do the same thing with drugs - but ultimately you
would not give the drugs to the patient, you would give the drugs to
their cells. Take the cells out, activate certain chemical pathways, and
put the cells back into the patient."
In a paper slated to appear in the September issue of the
journal Molecular Therapy, scientists describe how they used a virus
carrying a gene that gently pushed cultured adult stem cells from mice
toward a fate as retinal cells. Only after the stem cells were
reintroduced into the mice did they completely transform into the
desired type of vision cells, apparently taking environmental cues from
the damaged retinas.
After studying the cell-transformation process, scientists were
able to bypass the gene manipulation step entirely and instead use
chemical compounds that mirrored environmental conditions in the body,
thus pointing the stem cells toward their ultimate identities as vision
cells.
"First we were able to show you can overexpress a protein unique
to a retinal cell type and trick the stem cell into thinking it is that
kind of cell," said Grant, who collaborated with Edward Scott, Ph.D.,
the director of the Program in Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative
Medicine at UF's McKnight Brain Institute. "As we proceeded, we found we
could activate the stem cells by mimicking the body's natural signaling
channels with chemicals. This implies a whole new field of stem cell
research that uses drug manipulation rather than genetic manipulation to
send these immature cells along new pathways."
Scientists chose to build retinal pigment epithelial cells,
which form the outer barrier of the retina. In addition to being very
specialized and easy to identify, RPE cells are faulty in many retinal
diseases, including age-related macular degeneration, which affects
nearly 2 million people in the United States, and some forms of
blindness related to diabetes.
"This work applies to 85 percent of patients who have
age-related macular degeneration," Grant said. "There are no therapies
for this devastating disease."
The work was supported by the National Eye Institute.
Researchers removed blood stem cells from the bone marrow of mice,
modified the cells in cultures, and injected them back into the animals'
circulatory systems. From there, the stem cells were able to home in on
the eye injury and become retinal cells.
At 28 days after receiving the modified stem cells, mice that
had previously demonstrated no retinal function were no different than
normal mice in electrical measures of their response to light.
Grant and UF have patented some technology involved in the
research.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090731085823.htm
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