July 29, 1999

Researchers Show New Stem Cell Use
By PAUL RECER AP Science Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) - Researchers have shown that master cells from rodent
embryos can be used to repair nerves in the spinal cord and brain, a
step toward new treatment for nerve disorders such as PARKINSON'S
disease and multiple sclerosis.

In laboratory studies, researchers guided the evolution of embryonic
stem cells from mice into mature nerve cells that were transplanted into
rats where they produced a nerve insulating material that the rats
lacked.

``We have shown that you can make olgiodendrocytes and astrocytes (two
types of nerve cells) from embryonic stem cells'', said Dr. Ronald D.G.
McKay, a molecular biologist at the National Institutes of Health.
``This approach could be used for a number of diseases,'' including
Parkinson's and multiple sclerosis.

McKay is a co-author of a study appearing Friday in the journal Science.

In the study, the olgiodendrocytes and astrocytes grown from stem cells
were put into rats with a genetic disease that blocks formation of the
nerve insulating material called myelin. The rats' disorder is the
rodent equivalent of a human myelin disorder called Pelizaeus-Merzbacher
disease.

The researchers found that the transplanted cells caused myelin to grow
around the nerve fibers in the rats. McKay said that by starting with
mouse embryonic stem cells, researchers had a biological marker that
enabled them to prove that the new myelin growth in the rats originated
from the transplanted mouse cells.

The loss of myelin is a key part of several neurological diseases,
particular multiple sclerosis. In MS, the body attacks and destroys
myelin, causing a crippling loss of nerve function.

``A considerable amount of science has to be generated before it can be
used in humans with multiple sclerosis, but this holds great promise,''
said Dr. Ian D. Duncan of the University of Wisconsin, a co-author of
the study.

Stephen Reingold, a vice president for science at the National Multiple
Sclerosis Society, said the study is ``intriguing and exciting'' because
it showed stem cells could be used to grow new myelin. But he cautioned
that the myelin disorder in the rats is different from multiple
sclerosis.

``We have to keep the perspective that these are not human cells they
are playing with,'' Reingold said. ``One can hope that a similar
(technique) will be applicable to human stem cells'', but that has yet
to be proved, he said.

Reingold also said that even though the researchers showed that the
transplanted cells grew new myelin, it is not clear if this improved the
function of the nerves themselves.

McKay said the most important element of the study is that it advances
the fundamental understanding of how to cause embryonic stem cells to
mature into specific types of cells that may then be useful in treating
patients.

``We have shown that you can take embryonic stem cells and make them
brain stem cells and that it is really quite simple,'' he said.

Embryonic stem cells arise early after conception and are the ancestral
cells for all of the body's tissue, such as muscle, bone, nerves, skin
and blood. Experts believe if researchers can learn how to direct stem
cells to make specific types of cells then it may be possible to replace
diseased tissue with new growth.

In the new study, McKay and his colleagues demonstrated they can direct
the stem cells to grow specific types of nerve cells and that these
cells, in turn, will grow new nerve tissue when they are transplanted
into rats.

``This is the first study showing that embryonic stem cells can be used
for brain and spinal cord repair in an animal model of a human
neurological disease,'' Dr. Oliver Brustle, a University of Bonn
researcher and first author of the paper, said in a statement.

``The next trick,'' said Duncan, ``will be to get human embryonic stem
cells to do the same thing. If they do, then potentially those cells
could be use for grafting into patients with myelin disease'' such as
MS.

The use of human embryonic stem cells remains an unresolved ethical
controversy. For now, federal funding of human embryo research is
forbidden by law.

Privately funded researchers have grown a cell line that originated from
human embryos and have made such cells and have made them available to
other researchers.

Dr. Harold Varmus, head of the National Institutes of Health, has
announced that he believes these cells can be used in federal research.
Varmus has been supported by the Clinton Administration, but many in
Congress oppose human embryo research.

Copyright © 1996-1999 The Associated Press.
--
Judith Richards, London, Ontario, Canada
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