MEDICAL RESEARCH
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UCI stem cell study meets with success, continued ...
One week after test rats with complete walking ability suffered neck spinal cord injuries, a selection of them received the therapy. While those that didn't receive the treatment saw their functions fall to 38 percent, treated rats were restored to 97 percent ability.
UCI's therapy uses oligodendrocytes – or human embryonic stem cells that will become spinal cord cells. They form the base for myelin, the biological insulation for nerve fibers that is necessary for the central nervous system to function correctly.
Keirstead and Jason Sharp, the lead author of the study, among others found that the stem cells rebuilt myelin, stopped tissue death and triggered nerve fiber regrowth.
"The transplant created a healing environment in the spinal cord," says Keirstead, who is also on the faculty of the Reeve-Irvine Research Center, which is named after Christopher Reeve.
The study is supported by Geron Corp., a firm that is working to develop biopharmaceuticals for the treatment of cancer and chronic degenerative diseases; a University of California Discovery grant; the Roman Reed Spinal Cord Injury Research Fund of California; Research for the Cure; and other donations to the Reeve-Irvine Research Center.
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UCI stem cell study meets with success, continued ...
One week after test rats with complete walking ability suffered neck spinal cord injuries, a selection of them received the therapy. While those that didn't receive the treatment saw their functions fall to 38 percent, treated rats were restored to 97 percent ability.UCI's therapy uses oligodendrocytes – or human embryonic stem cells that will become spinal cord cells. They form the base for myelin, the biological insulation for nerve fibers that is necessary for the central nervous system to function correctly.
Keirstead and Jason Sharp, the lead author of the study, among others found that the stem cells rebuilt myelin, stopped tissue death and triggered nerve fiber regrowth.
"The transplant created a healing environment in the spinal cord," says Keirstead, who is also on the faculty of the Reeve-Irvine Research Center, which is named after Christopher Reeve.
The study is supported by Geron Corp., a firm that is working to develop biopharmaceuticals for the treatment of cancer and chronic degenerative diseases; a University of California Discovery grant; the Roman Reed Spinal Cord Injury Research Fund of California; Research for the Cure; and other donations to the Reeve-Irvine Research Center.
<< PREVIOUS PAGE
Related headlines
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'OC METRO Minute,' Oct. 29: UCI's enrollment
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