appeared in the latest edition of the local Bradley University Newspaper
under a heading called "IN The Spotlight" and the title:
"Microscopes, Lab Coats and Stem Cells" and is about my friend Dr. Craig
Cady:

Dr. Craig Cady, assistant professor of biology, hopes his stem cell
research will help patients suffering from brain-related disease and
injury by replacing dead cells with altered stem cells.
Finding a cure for diseases such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s is the
ultimate goal for Dr. Craig Cady, assistant professor of biology. “When
you meet people suffering from these diseases, you feel a lot of
self-imposed drive.”

Working in a neurophysiology lab within the Biology Department at Olin
Hall, Cady’s research involves forcing stem cells to function like
neurons. His research also involves working with Dr. Ken Franco, a
cardio-thoracic surgeon at Methodist Medical Center, to study the
possibility of altering stem cells to function as heart cells. The lab
is funded by a $25,000 grant from PeoriaNEXT, an organization formed to
promote science, technology, and creativity in the Peoria area; a
$75,000 Methodist Medical Center Foundation grant; and start-up dollars
from Bradley.

“We work with three kinds of stem cells,” Cady explains, noting he is
not conducting research with the controversial embryonic stem cells,
“human bone marrow, rat bone marrow, and human umbilical cord stem cells.”

Spearheaded by Illinois State Representative David Leitch (R-93rd
District), a stem cell cord blood law has been passed, making Illinois
the only state that mandates that a pregnant woman is asked during her
second trimester if she wants to donate the umbilical cord for stem cell
research at no cost to the donor. Typically, the umbilical cord is
disposed of.
Cady explains, “Cord blood stem cells are very primitive, so they can
become many types of cells. Embryonic stem cells have the potential to
become any type of cell in the body.”
He says, “Stem cell research has gotten a lot of bad press, some from
people who are against research using embryonic stem cells, so they
speak out against all stem cell research. There’s been criticism that
scientists haven’t found a cure for any diseases through stem cell
research, but it’s a very new field. We’ve only been studying stem cells
for about six years.”
THE VALUE OF STEM CELLS

Cady addresses why stem cell research is important. “A couple of things
make stem cells differ from other cells. First, stem cells remain stem
cells when they divide. They don’t become brain cells or heart cells.
They’re undifferentiated, meaning they have no one specific function.
They’re found in many parts of the body. The reason they’re all over is
they can become specialized cells under the right stimulation. Stem
cells play an important role in replacing damaged cells. However, stroke
or certain diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease can result in the death
of neurons that are not replaced. Now, we hope we are able to replace
those dead neurons with stem cells that can convert to neurons.”

". . . they can become specialized cells under
the right stimulation.
Stem cells play an important role in
replacing damaged cells."

Cady continues, “I got into this field when I was at Southern Illinois
University College of Medicine. A woman at the National Institutes of
Health in Washington, D.C., did an experiment on mice. She injected stem
cells into the blood vessel in the tails of mice. She was studying heart
diseases, and when she looked at where these stem cells went, she found
that they went to the heart and also into many areas of the brain.
There’s a barrier between general circulation and the brain, but the
stem cells could get across that and got into the brain without damage.
Stem cells show a behavior called chemotaxis, meaning they migrate to
injury sites in response to chemical signals from injured cells. We
don’t know why they exhibit this behavior, but if you can inject stem
cells into the general circulation and they can move into the brain,
this is something that has great potential for using stem cells to treat
brain injury and diseases. It’s that exciting feature that got me in the
field. Patients with Parkinson’s disease have had a very specific group
of neurons die in the brain as a result of the disease.”

Ultimately, the goal is to help patients suffering from brain-related
disease and injury by replacing the dead cells with the altered stem
cells. Four undergraduate research assistants have helped Cady in the
research lab. With Cady at the helm, they have found a mix of stem
cells, chemicals, and gases that stimulate the stem cells to behave like
neurons.
RESEARCH FOR THE RIGHT RECIPE

Finding that correct mix took nearly a year of research to get the cells
to the point where they looked like neurons. From there, they began to
reach out and contact each other like neurons do. The stem cells can be
stimulated to work like neurons over a 24-hour period. “Next, we checked
to see if they have proteins only found in neurons. We’ve started
testing and found they are expressing these proteins. Since we can
successfully make stem cells look like neurons and stimulate them to
make proteins found only in neurons, we are now determining if they
function like neurons.”

Another branch of Cady‘s research involves transplanting stem cells into
animals. “We are collaborating with Dr. Dzung Dinh, the head of the
Neurosurgery Department at the University of Illinois College of
Medicine here in Peoria. We have a rat model of a spinal cord injury. We
transplant the stem cells into the spinal cord of the injured animal and
determine if the stem cells integrate into the damaged areas of the
spinal cord. These experiments are designed to replace damaged cells in
the spinal cord in order to recover limb function and improve mobility.”

Looking at the stem cell research for heart cells, Cady says his work is
still in the early stages of development. He says, “I don’t know as much
about heart cells. Kate [Koehler Pastucha ’06, a cell and molecular
biology major,] and I designed a technique to culture heart muscle cells
from sheep. We were able to isolate and culture these cells the first
time we attempted this. Exposing the stem cells to lower amounts of
oxygen improved their
ability to grow and divide.”

Cady is part of a stem cell research team based in Peoria. Also on the
team are Dr. Franco, Dr. Dinh, and Dr. Jasti Rao, a cancer researcher at
the University of Illinois College of Medicine. The team meets weekly to
discuss stem cell research as it applies to cancer, cardiac, and
neurological patients. “We want the Peoria area to become a center for
stem cell research in Illinois,” says Cady.

In addition to his stem cell research, Cady is researching how estrogen
protects the
brain from Alzheimer’s disease, stress-related injuries in the brain,
Parkinson’s disease,
and dementia.


--
Joan Blessington Snyder   54/14
[log in to unmask]
http://www.pwnkle.com/jes/jes_web/index.htm
“Hang tough……..no way through it but to do it.”
Chris in the Morning      Northern Exposure

----------------------------------------------------------------------
To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask]
In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn