Company Tests Stem Cells Creating Liver Cells in Animals

Stem Cells (National Science Foundation)

International Stem Cell Corporation (ISCO) in Carlsbad, California says it completed the first animal lab tests of hepatocytes — cells that make up most of the tissue in the liver — derived in the lab from human unfertilized egg stem cells. The results of the tests will be presented at scientific meetings in May and June 2011.

In mice where cells were transplanted, inoculated cells were capable of attaching to and surviving in specific niches within the liver. The transplanted cells also developed further into cells with key hepatocyte-like features. In addition, the transplanted cells could be identified in recipient tissue in mice for an extended period of time.

The company also says it signed a joint collaboration agreement with Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, California to conduct research to develop therapies for liver diseases, in particular urea cycle disorders. These disorders are genetic deficiencies of the liver , which mostly affect newborns and can cause catastrophic neurological injury.

ISCO uses unfertilized eggs or oocytes to create what it calls human “parthenogenetic” stem cells (hpSCs). Like human embryonic stem cells (hESCs), hpSCs are pluripotent, which means they can become almost any cell type in the body, yet avoid potential ethical issues associated with use or destruction of what some people believe are viable human embryos.

The findings of these studies will be presented at the annual meeting of American Society of Gene and Cell Therapy, 18-21 May in Seattle, Washington, and at the International Society for Stem Cell Research annual conference, 15-18 June in Toronto, Canada.

Read more: Stem Cell Source Collection Gets Review Board OK

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