International stem cell group
July 31st 2011 19:52
When he proved that human brain cells can regenerate, Salk Institute neuroscientist Fred "Rusty" Gage earned worldwide attention and scientific immortality. And presumably, the gratitude of billions of brains.
Gage and colleagues have not only overturned decades of scientific dogma, they have inspired the fascinating field of "brain calisthenics." Mental exercises such as doing crossword puzzles revs up young brains, keeps old brains functioning, and may even stave off Alzheimer's. Physical exercises may help too, according to research led by Gage, a prolific author of influential papers on neuroscience and stem cell research.
Brain damage may even be reversible. Certain primitive cells in the brain called neural stem cells produce functioning neurons that integrate into the brain's circuitry, Gage and colleagues have found. It may be possible to coax these cells into regenerating tissue for diseased or injured brains.
Gage's platform for advancing stem cell science has just become a lot bigger. In June, he was elected president of the International Society for Stem Cell Research, which represents about 4,000 stem cell researchers from around the world. These researchers include those studying the basic science of stem cells and clinicians using stem cells for therapy, a field called regenerative medicine.
"Having close ties to the mother ship, as it were, will be very important to our community here," Gage said.
As society president, Gage said he will be an ambassador and advocate to the public and politicians, helping explain the importance of research on stem cells, the "ancestral" cells that develop into the hundreds of kinds of mature cells in the body, for now-incurable diseases and injuries.
Members of the society study all kinds of stem cells, Gage said. These include so-called adult stem cells like the ones in the mature brain; embryonic stem cells derived from days-old human embryos; induced pluripotent stem (IPS) cells "reprogrammed" to act like embryonic stem cells but are derived from mature cells; and "parthenogenetic" stem cells, produced from unfertilized human egg cells.
"There's been a lot of fantastic basic research that has been done," he said. "We realize that part of our mission as a society is to translate this basic science into clinical applications. We call it bench to bedside. We're thinking about ways to do this most effectively."
Powerful findings
Gage said he's most excited about the potential of IPS cells.
"This changed the game. There are two parts about IPS cells that are important. One is that it's individualized medicine, on the table, immediately. You can look at tissues and the progression of the disease in an individual who's still living. The whole mindset of doing research with stem cell biology has changed."
The other part is that using IPS cells, commonly made from skin cells, doesn't involve the ethical objections to research with human embryonic stem cells, taken from days-old embyros that are destroyed in the process.
IPS cells have been especially useful in studying neurodegenerative diseases, Gage said. These cells can be turned into brain cells and the molecular and genetic basis for the diseases studied for living patients. It's like getting access to the patient's brain cells without having to remove them.
"The technology has reached a point now ---- this is published data ---- where cells from patients with Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, schizophrenia, autism, have been reprogrammed" to function like brain cells, Gage said.
When those cells are then examined ---- rather than having to wait to autopsy a person ---- the researchers detected differences that appeared to indicate the presence of the disease, he said.
Researchers are now testing potential drugs on these brain cells in a lab dish to find drugs to reverse the symptoms of those diseases.
Translators needed
But translating these findings into therapies for people requires a combination of scientific and medical knowledge that is rare, Gage said, and the stem cell society can help.
The society is going to raise money for "transition fellowships" to train doctors in stem cell biology, Gage said. These doctor-scientists will have the education and medical credentials to turn basic research into treatments. That's easier than training scientists as doctors, he said, because that process takes years and is highly regulated. Doctors have already gone through that process.
"You have to have the basic biologists helping in this, but we need the clinicians too, even though they don't have the (scientific) knowledge," Gage said. "We need to bring them up to speed. And underlying all this, we need to have a very effective fundraising effort for the society."
The stem cell society is looking to raise the money from private philanthropists and government grants. The society would also serve as an information hub shared by all the stem cell centers around the world.
From politicians, Gage and the society are asking for clear regulations that can be applied across state and national boundaries. For example, scientists are required to get consent from patients whose cells are used for research, but the rules governing consent differ from country to country. So research with stem cells taken from a certain patient may be legal in one country but not in another. That hurts the ability of international teams of scientists to collaborate, he said.
"If I take a skin biopsy from you, and I reprogram those into (induced pluripotent) embryonic stem cells ... they're your cells," Gage said. "If those cells become important for a commercial use, there are complexities in the legal domain that are beyond my expertise. I know enough that we need to get the appropriate people looking at this."
Call staff writer Bradley J. Fikes at 760-739-6641.
Copyright 2011 North County Times. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Posted in Business on Sunday, July 31, 2011 12:00 am Updated: 7:00 pm. | Tags: Neurobiology, Rusty Gage, Brain, Neuroscience, Neurogenesis, Neuroplasticity, Stem Cell Research, Biotechnology, Stem Cells, Science, Business, Fred Gage, Schizophrenia, Autism, Neurodegenerative Diseases, Regenerative Medicine
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