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Stem Cell Related Patent Number US5958767
| Title: | Engraftable human neural stem cells | | Inventors: | Snyder, Evan Y.; Jamaica Plain, MA, USA
Wolfe, John H.; Philadelphia, PA, USA
Kim, Seung U.; Vancouver, Canada | | Summary: | Described herein are engraftable human neural stem cells (NSCs), methods and uses thereof. The invention relates to stable clones of NSCs which have been isolated from the human fetal telencephalon and which have been shown to produce spontaneously in vitro all 3 fundamental neural cell types, namely, neurons, oligodendrocytes, and astrocytes. Further disclosed are methods by which such genetically modified NSCs may be maintained as a stable cell line in vitro and implanted in vivo into a living host subject as needed. | | Abstract: | Stable clones of neural stem cells (NSCs) have been isolated from the human fetal telencephalon. In vitro, these self-renewing clones (affirmed by retroviral insertion site) can spontaneously give rise to all 3 fundamental neural cell types (neurons, oligodendrocytes, astrocytes). Following transplantation into germinal zones of the developing newborn mouse brain, they, like their rodent counterparts, can participate in aspects of normal development, including migration along well-established migratory pathways to disseminated CNS regions, differentiation into multiple developmentally- and regionally-appropriate cell types in response to microenvironmental cues, and non-disruptive, non-tumorigenic interspersion with host progenitors and their progeny. Readily genetically engineered prior to transplantation, human NSCs are capable of expressing foreign transgenes in vivo in these disseminated locations. Further supporting their potential for gene therapeutic applications, the secretory products from these NSCs can cross-correct a prototypical genetic metabolic defect in abnormal neurons and glia in vitro as effectively as do murine NSCs. Finally, human cells appear capable of replacing specific deficient neuronal populations in a mouse model of neurodegeneration and impaired development, much as murine NSCs could. Human NSCs may be propagated by a variety of means--both epigenetic (e.g., chronic mitogen exposure) and genetic (transduction of the propagating gene vmyc)--that are comparably safe (vmyc is constitutively downregulated by normal developmental mechanisms and environmental cues) and effective in yielding engraftable, migratory clones, suggesting that investigators may choose the propagation technique that best serves the demands of a particular research or clinical problem. All clones can be cryopreserved and transplanted into multiple hosts in multiple settings. | | US Patent Website: | Click Here for Full Text of Patent | | Title Number: | US5958767 | | Application Number: | US1998000133873 | | Date Filed: | 14/08/1998 | | Date Published: | 28/09/1999 | | Assignee: | The Children's Medical Center Corporation, Boston, MA, USA |
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