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US funding for Lund research for project on adult stem cells
January 29, 2003Adult stem cells are to be treated so that they develop characteristics of nerve cells and can produce dopamine, according to Associate Professor Jia-Yi Li at the Wallenberg Neuro Center at Lund University, who has received a grant of some SEK 2 million from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the American counterpart of the Swedish Research Council. In recent years only two departments in Sweden have been granted funding from NIH in the field of neurological diseases/stroke, and Jia-Yi Li is the first researcher in Sweden to receive a grant for a stem cell project.
The aim of the project is to use adult stem cells as an alternative to embryonic stem cells in transplants for Parkinson's disease. The study focuses on two types of adult stem cells--from bone marrow and from the brain cavity. The project will study the ability of stem cells to form dopamine-producing nerve cells. The projects will be carried out with four phases in which stem cells from bone marrow and the brain are first isolated and purified. In the second phase these stem cells are multiplied in cell cultures. After that they are treated with growth factors, among other things, in order to be able to develop the characteristics of nerve cells. One desirable characteristic is the ability to produce and release the signal substance dopamine. In the last stage of the project these cells will be transplanted in the brains of animal models of Parkinson's disease. "The project will provide us with important knowledge and understanding of adult stem cells. Perhaps we will be able to develop a method for future use in clinical trials with Parkinson's disease," says Jia-Yi Li. Jia-Yi Li has worked since 2001 as an associate professor and post-doctoral fellow at the Section for Nerve Cell Survival at the Wallenberg Neuro Center, Lund University. The project also includes Dr. Gesine Paul, Professors Patrik Brundin and Sten Eirik Jacobsen at Lund University, and Professor Jonas Frisén at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm.
Vetenskapsrådet (The Swedish Research Council)
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