|
U of MN researchers use human embryonic stem cells to kill cancer cells
October 12, 2005For the first time, stem cell researchers at the University of Minnesota have coaxed human embryonic stem cells to create cancer-killing cells in the laboratory, paving the way for future treatments for various types of cancers (or tumors). The research will be published in the Oct. 15 issue of the Journal of Immunology.
Researchers generated "natural killer" cells from the human embryonic stem cells. As part of the immune system, natural killer cells normally are present in the blood stream and are play a role in defending the body against infection and against some cancers.
"This is the first published research to show the ability to make cells from human embryonic stem cells that are able to treat and fight cancer, especially leukemias and lymphomas," said Dan Kaufman, M.D., Ph.D., assistant professor of medicine in the Stem Cell Institute and Department of Medicine at the University of Minnesota and lead author of the study.
"We hear a lot about the potential of stem cells to treat conditions such as Parkinson's disease, diabetes, and Alzheimer's disease. This research suggests it is possible that we could use human embryonic stem cells as a source for immune cells that could better target and destroy cancer cells and potentially treat infections," Kaufman added.
The results also provided the researchers with a model of how the immune system develops.
Next, the researchers will test whether the human embryonic stem cell-derived natural killer cells can target cancer cells in animal models.
This research was done on two of the federally approved embryonic stem cell lines. Kaufman said, however, that if the research would lead to a treatment for people, new lines would have to be developed. The research was funded by the National Institutes of Health and the American Society of Hematology.
University of Minnesota
"We hear a lot about the potential of stem cells to treat conditions such as Parkinson's disease, diabetes, and Alzheimer's disease. This research suggests it is possible that we could use human embryonic stem cells as a source for immune cells that could better target and destroy cancer cells and potentially treat infections," Kaufman added.
The results also provided the researchers with a model of how the immune system develops.
Next, the researchers will test whether the human embryonic stem cell-derived natural killer cells can target cancer cells in animal models.
This research was done on two of the federally approved embryonic stem cell lines. Kaufman said, however, that if the research would lead to a treatment for people, new lines would have to be developed. The research was funded by the National Institutes of Health and the American Society of Hematology.
University of Minnesota
Embryonic Stem Cells News and Current Embryonic Stem Cells Events RSSResearchers link early stem cell mutation to autism
In a breakthrough scientific study published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, scientists at the Burnham Institute for Medical Research have shown that neural stem cell development may be linked to Autism.
Wealth of genomic hotspots discovered in embryonic stem cells
In a paper published in Cell on June 13, 2008, Singapore scientists at the Genome Institute of Singapore (GIS) and the National University of Singapore (NUS) unveil an atlas that showing the location of "genomic hotspots" of essential protein "switches" (transcription factors) that are critical for maintaining the embryonic stem (ES) cell state.
Public funding impacts progress of human embryonic stem cell research
Bolstered by supportive policies and public research dollars, the United Kingdom, Israel, China, Singapore and Australia are producing unusually large shares of human embryonic stem cell research, according to a report from the Georgia Institute of Technology in the June 2008 issue Cell Stem Cell.
USC stem cell study sheds new light on cell mechanism
Research from the University of Southern California (USC) has discovered a new mechanism to allow embryonic stem cells to divide indefinitely and remain undifferentiated.
How embryonic stem cells develop into tissue-specific cells demonstrated
While it has long been known that embryonic stem cells have the ability to develop into any kind of tissue-specific cells, the exact mechanism as to how this occurs has heretofore not been demonstrated.
Controlling embryonic fate by association
Association determines fate in embryonic stem cells, said Baylor College of Medicine researchers in a report that appears in the current issue of the journal Nature Cell Biology.
UCLA stem cell researchers create heart and blood cells from reprogrammed skin cells
Stem cell researchers at UCLA were able to grow functioning cardiac cells using mouse skin cells that had been reprogrammed into cells with the same unlimited properties as embryonic stem cells.
Heart derived stem cells develop into heart muscle
Dutch researchers at University Medical Center Utrecht and the Hubrecht Institute have succeeded in growing large numbers of stem cells from adult human hearts into new heart muscle cells.
Menstrual blood -- a valuable source of multipotential stem cells?
Researchers seeking new and more abundant sources of stem cells for use in regenerative medicine have identified a potentially unlimited, noncontroversial, easily collectable, and inexpensive source - menstrual blood.
Method to deliver molecules within embryonic stem cells improves differentiation
Embryonic stem cell therapies have been proposed for regenerative medicine and tissue replacement after injury or disease. However, the inability of stem cells to efficiently develop into the desired specific cell type - such as muscle, skin, blood vessels, bone or neurons - now limits the potential clinical utility of this therapy.
More Embryonic Stem Cells News Articles
| © 2008 BrightSurf.com |