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Stem Cell Related Patent Number US6686198
| Title: | Method of inducing and maintaining neuronal cells | | Inventors: | Melton, Douglas A.; Lexington, MA, USA
Hemmati-Brivanlou, Ali; New York, NY, USA | | Summary: | Described herein are methods of inducing and maintaining neuronal stem cells by preventing or antagonizing a signal pathway in a cell for a growth factor of the TGF-beta family. The invention relates to a method for inducing a stem cell with activin receptors to differentiate into a neuronal cell phenotype, thus inducing neuronal differentiation and preventing the death or degeneration of neuronal cells both in vitro and in vivo. Central to the invention is the discovery that the default fate of ectodermal tissue is neuronal rather than mesodermal or epidermal, and that preventing or antagonizing a signaling pathway in a cell for a growth factor of the TGF-? family can result in neuronal differentiation of that cell. Therapeutic applications are included for the treatment of diseases that can benefit from neuronal induction, such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease and multiple sclerosis, among others. | | Abstract: | The present invention makes available a method for inducing neuronal differentiation and preventing the death or degeneration of neuronal cells both in vitro and in vivo. The subject method stems from the unexpected finding that, contrary to traditional understanding of neural induction, the default fate of ectodermal tissue is neuronal rather than mesodermal and/or epidermal. In particular, it has been discovered that preventing or antagonizing a signaling pathway in a cell for a growth factor of the TGF-.beta. family can result in neuronal differentiation of that cell. | | US Patent Website: | Click Here for Full Text of Patent | | Title Number: | US6686198 | | Application Number: | US1997000835279 | | Date Filed: | 09/04/1997 | | Date Published: | 03/02/2004 | | Assignee: | President and Fellows of Harvard College, Cambridge, MA, USA |
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