Initiative Makes Stem Cell Lines Available for Research Worldwide
Stem cell lines currently available contain mutations linked to ALS, frontotemporal dementia, Alzheimer’s disease, and Parkinson’s disease. They now can be ordered through a web portal run by the Jackson Laboratory.
Induced pluripotent stem cells, or iPSCs, are one way of studying genetic contributions to disease. When generated from an individual patient, the stem cells will carry the same disease-causing mutations the patient does. Using specific chemicals, the stem cells can mature into nerve cells or other cell types of interest, and then can be studied in the lab.
However, making sense of findings from this type of research can be challenging, as other background genetic factors may differ between patients and also affect the cells’ behavior. This can obscure the true effects of a particular mutation.
iNDI aimed to overcome that challenge by generating a single, standard stem cell line from healthy human cells without any mutation linked to neurodegeneration.
For each mutation, there also is a cell line carrying the mutation in only one chromosome and another carrying it in the two chromosomes where the gene resides.
In this way, the lines will be identical in every way except for the mutation or other modification of interest, allowing the true effects of these variants to be studied more easily in the lab.
https://alsnewstoday.com/news/stem-cell-lines-available-research-als-other-diseases/
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