Stem Cell Clinic Applauds Breakthrough

Jun 09, 12:04 AM

Current Headlines: The Institute for Cellular Medicine (www.cellmedicine.com), an international organization offering adult stem cell therapy for degenerative conditions, applauds the recent publications in Nature and Cell Stem Cell describing the identification of molecular switches for inducing "dedifferentiation" of adult cells into pluripotent stem cells.

The DNA blueprint is the same in all tissues in the adult body; however, specific parts are silenced in specific tissues. For example, in the skin, the DNA encoding liver enzymes is silenced. Originally, it was thought that silencing of DNA is permanent and that a skin cell can only generate a skin cell. This concept was shattered by experiments in the 1990s demonstrating DNA from an adult cell can be "desilenced" and induced to become any cell in the body by introduction of the adult DNA into an oocyte. The recently published experiments have now identified distinct molecular mechanisms by which this process can be reproduced without the need for an oocyte.

"The Institute for Cellular Medicine treats patients with adult stem cells that have already been published by numerous groups to be useful with minimal side effects. Adult stem cells are a clinical reality. However, in order to take this discipline to the next level, it is critical to understand what molecules are involved in allowing a stem cell to perform its regenerative functions, as well as taking a non-stem cell and converting it into a stem cell," said Dr. Eduardo Glenn, Laboratory Director of the Institute for Cellular Medicine.

Through the introduction of four genes (Oct4, Sox2, c-Myc, and Klf4) into adult mouse skin cells, and subsequently selecting for cells expressing NANOG, the scientists were able to generate a cell population that could differentiate into all tissues, and resembled pluripotent stem cells.

"These studies provide strong support for the possibility of using currently available medicines such as valproic acid or sodium phenylbutyrate, which act on similar molecular mechanisms, in order to rejuvenate the stem cell compartment of an aged patient. We at the Institute of Cellular Medicine, along with the rest of the community, are carefully watching this rapidly moving field and working on translating the current findings into clinically useful treatments," concluded Dr. Glenn.

About the Institute for Cellular Medicine

The Institute for Cellular Medicine is an international organization offering adult stem cell therapy for a variety of degenerative conditions ranging from multiple sclerosis, to rheumatoid arthritis, to heart failure. More information may be found at www.cellmedicine.com