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Self-Renewing Neural Stem Cells Created At UCSD
Research Could Help People With Vision Problems, Parkinson's DiseasePOSTED: 6:04 pm PDT April 26, 2011
UPDATED: 7:25 pm PDT April 26, 2011

http://www.10news.com/news/27681727/detail.html

SAN DIEGO -- Scientists at the UC San Diego have made groundbreaking advancements in neural stem cell research which may change the future for patients with vision problems to those with Parkinson's disease.

Dr. Kang Zhang, who is a physician and also holds a doctorate in his field, and his team of 30 have created self-renewable neural stem cells which are capable of producing large quantities – millions of cells in less than a week – that can be used in clinical trials.

"To my knowledge, this is the first time someone has actually able to achieve that," said Zhang, who is a professor of ophthalmology and human genetics at Shiley Eye Center and director of the Institute for Genomic Medicine at UC San Diego.

In the past, neural stem cells could be produced in large quantities, but those cells had a tendency to form tumors in the body.

"The trick is to harness the potential of those stem cells to generate different tissues or neurons in this case, however eliminating or minimize its risk of forming tumors," said Zhang.

According to Zhang, two years ago, 40 mice were injected with stem cells at the laboratory. Six months later, all 40 mice developed some sort of tumor.

But after using the research from UC San Diego, 40 additional mice were recently injected with stem cells. Now, six months and even a year later, none of the mice developed a single tumor.

While the stem cell research has been specific to vision loss, in the future, the same technology may be used in those with neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson's disease.

"We could also generate motor neurons which are lost in spinal chord injury," said Zhang.

Zhang and his team are moving into the next stages of their work, including clinical trials perhaps in the next two years.