Helping Embryonic Stem Cells Make Dopamine

Helping Embryonic Stem Cells Make Dopamine

Scientists at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia have devised a method to increase the rate of dopamine production by embryonic stem cells. A lack of dopamine is one of the conditions of Parkinson’s disease, but in the past it has been difficult to get embryonic stem cells to differentiate into dopamine producing brain cells.

Now, by using “blood serum, serum replacement products and cell conditioned media,” the researchers have been able to get the cells to produce dopamine within three weeks, instead of the usual five to eight weeks. The new method also avoids using cells which have potentially been contaminated with animal products.

In the study, the researchers used younger stem cells (“Stage 4”), which were still dividing. These solved the problem which came up with using older stem cells; the older stem cells failed to survive being harvested from the cultures. The younger stem cells will continue differentiation after being transplanted to the brain. However, there is the possibility of overproduction, which is the next area the researchers will take on.

The study is reported on EurekAlert.

Bone Marrow Stem Cells Help Hearts Again

Bone Marrow Stem Cells Help Hearts Again

German scientists have reported at the American Heart Association meeting that patients who were injected with their own bone-marrow progenitor stem cells had improved ventricular function. The findings have not yet been presented in a peer-reviewed journal. The story is reported on Med Page Today. 5.5 % of patients improved their global left ventricular function compared to 3% of patients who received placebos; patients who were injected with the stem cells at least 5 days after myocardial infarction had a 7% improvement in left-ventricular ejection function compared with a 1.9% improvement in placebo patients. The improvement was more significant in patients who had sustained greater heart damage. The study enrolled approximately 200 patients. American scientists at the conference urged some caution in viewing the results, as they have not yet been peer-reviewed, but noted that the study was well-designed.

A Reuters version of the story was also reported on ABC News On-line (Australian Broadcasting). Forbes also picked up the Health Day wire story, which discusses the difference between stem cells and progenitor cells (progenitor cells have begun to differentiate), and pointed out that this research is enough to begin larger studies.

See Blog post of 10/27/05, Bone Marrow Stem Cells Heal Hearts, for information on a smaller German study which has been published in a scientific journal and had similar results. This continues to look like great news for people who have sustained heart damage, although of course not everyone will be in good enough health to endure the bone marrow extraction. One of the other issues is getting enough stem cells, so let’s hope the methods for that improve as well.

Dr. Schatten's Statement about Withdrawing From the Stem Cell Hub

I e-mailed the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center News Bureau, and they very kindly sent me a copy of Dr. Schatten's prepared statement regarding leaving the World Stem Cell Hub. The full text of the statement is as follows:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH RESEARCHER ENDS COLLABORATION WITH SOUTH KOREAN STEM CELL PROGRAM

PITTSBURGH, Nov. 12 – Gerald Schatten, Ph.D, director, Pittsburgh Development Center, and Professor, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, today announced that he is concluding a twenty-month collaboration with the South Korean research team lead by Woo-Suk Hwang, D.V.M., Ph.D. Schatten cited a breach of trust about possible egg-donor recruitment irregularities as the reason for his disengagement.

Dr. Schatten stated: “I regret to announce that I have suspended my collaborations with Prof. Woo-Suk Hwang, including my involvement with the World Stem Cell Hub project. My decision is grounded solely on concerns regarding oocyte donations in Dr. Hwang’s research reported in 2004 (Hwang et al, Science 303, 1669-1674). I continue to believe the scientific accomplishments of Prof. Hwang and his team at Seoul National University, including those in which I had been involved (Hwang et al, 05 Science 308, 1777-1783; Lee et al., 05 Nature 436, 7051), are landmark discoveries accelerating biomedical research.”

Human embryonic stem cells derived after nuclear transfer (NT-hESCs) hold invaluable promises for learning the root causes of diseases, for making better and safer medicines and even for potentially treating devastating illnesses and disorders, according to many leading scientists. Dr. Hwang’s team received international acclaim starting in 2004 for deriving the world’s first NT-hESC line. This original research published in SCIENCE, was followed by another publication in June 2005, also in SCIENCE, on which Dr. Schatten was the senior author. Although Dr. Schatten was not involved with donor recruitment and did not participate in any experiments, he reviewed the data sent to him, helped prepare the manuscript and was a scientific adviser. In that study, eleven new NT-hESC lines were derived from patients with spinal cord injury, juvenile diabetes and genetic immunodeficiency. Dr. Hwang’s group in Seoul remains the only place in the world where these NT-hESC lines have ever been made. Dr. Hwang’s group is sharing these lines, teaching other scientists and proposing ways in which their discoveries can help medical researchers globally. Last month, plans for a World Stem Cell hub were announced in Korea. Dr. Schatten was to have been appointed chairman of the Board of Directors for this proposed international endeavor.

Dr. Schatten issued the following statement citing his reasons for his decision:

“I believe in maintaining the highest ethical and scientific standards in research conduct and believe that all regulatory requirements not only must be met, but also exceeded. This is true for all medical research, especially so with the still nascent field of hESC investigation. Just after Prof. Hwang’s 2004 publication, allegations of oocyte donation irregularities were reported (Nature 429, 3; 06 May 2004), and then in a subsequent story (Science 304, 945; 14 May 2004) Korean officials refuted those allegations.

“Regrettably, yesterday information came to my attention suggesting that misrepresentations might have occurred relating to those oocyte donations. The nature of this information mandates confidentiality. I have contacted appropriate academic and regulatory agencies regarding this new information and accordingly, have suspended my collaborations with Prof. Hwang

"Compliance concerns with ethical practices for obtaining donated oocytes in their 2004 report, and the resultant breach of trust, are the issues that force me to make this decision.”

In a separate matter, but in the interest of full disclosure, Dr. Schatten stated that he also learned this week that there was an error in Table II of the Hwang et al., 05 paper. SCIENCE has been notified of the correction, and SCIENCE is processing this tabular correction through their normal procedures. Dr. Schatten says he has no reason to believe that this was anything but an honest mistake, yet mistakes once found need to be corrected in the scientific literature. He also does not think that it would have had an effect on the study’s conclusions.

Dr. Schatten cannot make further public comments on this matter but is working with all appropriate academic and regulatory bodies to ensure that valuable science is conducted under the highest ethical standards.