2002 Articles
Due to copyright restrictions, the full text of articles linked below is available only to the NIH community. Those outside the NIH community can access citations and abstracts.
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- New Stem Cell Line Has Never Touched Mouse Tissue
A group scientists not funded by NIH in Singapore reported that they have established a new human embryonic stem cell line that has never touched mouse tissue and is supported solely by human feeder cells. If developed for use in treating human patients, derivatives of these cells would not raise the xenotransplantation issues raised by cells grown on mouse feeder layers. (Nature Biotechnology 20:933–936, 2002, laboratory of A. Bongso)
- Tracking the Fate of Transplanted Stem Cells
Using human fetal brain tissue, a group of privately funded researchers in California was able to sort, expand, and label stem cells from the central nervous system. When transplanted into a mouse, the human cells divided, engrafted, migrated and differentiated in an apparently normal fashion. This result provides evidence that non-embryonic human neural progenitor cells continue to divide and provides a much-needed method for tracking the fate of transplanted stem cells. (Journal of Neuroscience Research 69:976–986, 2002; laboratories of F. Gage, I. Weissman, and N. Uchida)
- Stem Cells Improve Motor Function in Rat Model of Parkinson's Disease
Using mouse embryonic stem cells, NIH intramural researchers from the National Institute on Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) were able to derive neurons that secreted dopamine and demonstrated anatomical, behavioral, and physiological characteristics of the neurons lost in Parkinson's disease. When grafted into rat models of Parkinson's disease, the cells were able to improve motor function. This work in an animal model demonstrates the potential of embryonic stem cells for treating human diseases. (Nature 418:50–56, 2002, laboratory of R. McKay)
- Stem Cells "Cure" Diabetes in Mouse
Using funds from sources other than NIH, scientists at Stanford University recently reported that they could use mouse embryonic stem cells to "cure" a mouse model of diabetes. The mouse stem cells were treated with growth inhibitors and displayed characteristics of pancreatic beta cells, including release of insulin in response to glucose in the culture medium, prior to their implantation in the diabetic mouse. Their results suggest that embryonic stem cells could serve as a source of insulin-producing replacement tissue and provide hope that this technique, adapted to human embryonic stem cells, may lead to a cure for human diabetes patients. (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA 99:16105–16110, 2002, laboratory of S.K. Kim)
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