An international team of researchers has successfully converted adult cells into embryonic-type stem cells without a potentially dangerous method previously used in this transformation.
In the brilliantly named journal Cell Stem Cell, the team reports that they successfully generated pluripotent stem cells from mouse cells that normally generate connective tissue. Crucially, their technique does not involve the use of genetic material or viruses.
“Scientists have been dreaming about this for years,” says paper author Sheng Ding, of the Scripps Research Institute in California (press release).
Instead of using introduced genes, the new technique uses introduced proteins.
On Nature’s stem cell blog The Niche, Monya Baker writes: “Though the work has not yet been reported in human cells, and other groups will need to replicate the results, Ding predicts that his and similar techniques will replace those requiring DNA, partially because it does not require the preparation of viruses and plasmids. “Whenever you use a genetic method, even if you claim there’s nothing left [of the added DNA], it’s still not as convenient as using chemically defined methods.””
The Wall Street Journal health blog says:
It’s pretty striking how steady the progress has been on this front. The first reports of using genetic techniques to reprogram adult mouse cells into embryonic stem cells came in April, 2007. The leap from mouse cells to human cells can often be a tricky one, but scientists managed the feat in human cells just months later.
The authors of today’s research, based at the Scripps Research Institute in San Diego, hope to replicate their results in human cells. Other researchers have shown success with other techniques, such as one that uses a virus like those that cause the common cold to reprogram adult cells.
“This protein transduction method represents a significant advance in generating iPSCs and has several major advantages over previous iPSC methods,” the researchers write. Firstly, they say, if eliminates any risk of modifying the target cell genome, secondly the method is simpler and faster and could also be more economical.
In the wider context, creating stem cells from adult cells could also sidestep concerns about the use of embryos, although many researchers emphasise that we should not abandon this avenue of research yet.
Other stem cell stories in the news this week
In a testament to the pace of the field, on the very day two features on induced pluripotent stem cells publish, so does a new paper showing how to reprogram without DNA, perhaps the most obvious milestone in the reprogramming race. Here are related stories on Nature Reports.
– (Nature blog) The Niche
Scientists at University College London have signed an agreement with Pfizer to develop a treatment for age-related macular degeneration (AMD), indicating the pharmaceutical industry’s growing confidence in the medical potential of stem cells.
The Obama administration took the easy political path on embryonic stem cells last week by proposing to pay for research only on stem cell lines created from surplus embryos at fertility clinics but not on lines created in the laboratory to study particular diseases.
One of the most compelling arguments for California’s bold experiment in funding stem cell research — Proposition 71 — was that it would remove the political whims of Washington as a barrier to scientific advances. That was obvious in 2004, when state voters overwhelmingly approved the proposition while George W. Bush was president. But it’s still proving to be true with Barack Obama in the Oval Office.
Scientists have been able to reverse the symptoms of multiple sclerosis using stem cells from patients’ own body fat.