The Latest Biology News And Medical NewsBiology News 2Health News 2Biology News 3Health News 3
HOME >> BIOLOGY >> NEWS
UCSD researchers maintain stem cells without contaminated animal feeder layers

The growth and maintenance of human embryonic stem cells in the absence of contaminated animal products has been demonstrated by University of California, San Diego (UCSD) School of Medicine researchers in the Whittier Institute*, La Jolla, California.

Published in the April 2005 issue of the journal Stem Cells, the study shows that laboratory culture media enriched by a human protein called activin A are capable of maintaining human embryonic stem cells in a continuous undifferentiated state, ready for research. Undifferentiation means the stem cells have not begun the developmental path to become specific human tissue or organs.

"Our findings provide a new way to generate human stem cell lines without contamination by animal cells or products," said the study's senior author, Alberto Hayek, M.D., UCSD professor of pediatrics and director of the Islet Research Laboratory at the Whittier Institute.

Currently, stem cell lines derived from human embryos are grown and nourished in petri dish material called feeder layers that are made with animal connective tissue, primarily mouse and calf. A recent study in Nature Medicine** by UCSD's Ajit Varki, M.D. showed that human embryonic stem cells grown in this animal-derived tissue become contaminated with a non-human molecule called Neu5Gc. If these stem cells were to be transplanted into people, they would provoke an immune system attack eliminating their therapeutic value.

While several laboratories have attempted to grow stem cells in alternative cultures, problems have remained. In some cases, human feeder layers were developed but this added another measure of complexity to the culture system, Hayek noted. In recent studies in Wisconsin and Massachusetts, new feeder layers were developed, but they did not entirely eliminate the use of animal products. In the Hayek study, the animal-derived feeder layers are completely eliminated. However, the petri dishes themselves are coated wit
'"/>

Contact: Sue Pondrom
spondrom@ucsd.edu
619-543-6163
University of California - San Diego
25-Mar-2005


Page: 1 2

Related biology news :

1. Innovative tagging technique may help researchers better protect fish stocks
2. Penn researchers discover how key protein stops inflammation
3. ASU researchers partner with UOP to make biofuel for military jets a reality
4. Einstein researchers prototype vaccine could provide improved protection against tuberculosis
5. Penn researchers discover pathway that eliminates genetic defects in red blood cells
6. U-M researchers find family of on switches that cause prostate cancer
7. 2007 EURYI: 20 young researchers to receive Nobel Prize-sized awards for breakthrough ideas
8. Pets could be source of multiresistant bacteria infections in humans, MU researchers investigate
9. MGH researchers confirm that bone marrow restores fertility in female mice
10. Smithsonians National Zoo researchers use electronic eggs to help save threatened species
11. U-M researchers identify gene involved in breast cancer
Post Your Comments:
(Date:11/19/2008)...gricultural research will convene more than 700 le...kers and donor representatives in Maputo, Mozambiq...aches for meeting the food needs of the poor in Af...ystem to its coreclimate change, skyrocketing food...ide financial crisis. In just the past three years...
(Date:11/19/2008)..., 2008Biotech scientists increasingly are applying...etter understand the effects of novel drug candida...c Engineering & Biotechnology News ( GEN ). They ...mpound,s mechanism of action and eventually develo...to the November 15 issue of GEN . ( http://www.ge...
(Date:11/19/2008)... A team of researchers led by investigators at th...niversity has determined that certain commonly-pre...uence of increasing the frequency of migraine atta...ctors prescribe migraine medicines. , In a recen... Einstein-led study of more than 8,000 migraine su...
(Date:11/19/2008)...tific journal PLoS ONE highlights how the explor...his is the story of a voyage of discovery, startin...n of the molecules responsible and their applicati...nisms such as sea anemones and corals produce fluo...ing hues. Fluorescent proteins have revolutionized...
Breaking Biology News(10 mins):Major conference on food Dec. 1-2, 2008 2Overuse of narcotics and barbiturates may make migraine worse 2Biomedical research profits from the exploration of the deep sea 2Caliper Life Sciences and DiscoveRx Announce Availability of PathHunter eXpress Reagents for GPCR Assays 8124 1Caliper Life Sciences and DiscoveRx Announce Availability of PathHunter eXpress Reagents for GPCR Assays 8124 2Caliper Life Sciences and DiscoveRx Announce Availability of PathHunter eXpress Reagents for GPCR Assays 8124 3Burcon announces GRAS status for Puratein 28R 29 26 Supertein 28TM 29 3242 1Burcon announces GRAS status for Puratein 28R 29 26 Supertein 28TM 29 3242 2Burcon announces GRAS status for Puratein 28R 29 26 Supertein 28TM 29 3242 3Barcelona Declaration 2008 3A Challenges and Pathways to Earth Sustainability 5268 1Barcelona Declaration 2008 3A Challenges and Pathways to Earth Sustainability 5268 2Barcelona Declaration 2008 3A Challenges and Pathways to Earth Sustainability 5268 3Barcelona Declaration 2008 3A Challenges and Pathways to Earth Sustainability 5268 4Study provides insight on a common heart rhythm disorder 5264 1Study provides insight on a common heart rhythm disorder 5264 2Study provides insight on a common heart rhythm disorder 5264 3
Other News:
...y diseases such as arthritis, chronic infections a...ndition called anemia of chronic disease (ACD). Wh...ives miserable. A discovery at EMBL, in collaborat... and Harvard Medical School, now links the gene HF...
...inners of the 2004 Wistar Institute Science Journa...ter for The Dallas Morning News, and W. Wayt Gibbs...d award and cash prize of $5,000 will be presented...hia on June 4.......The judges chose to honor the ...
...rtant in your brain as it is on the playing field:... Proceedings of the National...Academy of Sciences...lly...improve their ability to discriminate betwee...ns by synchronizing their electrical activity....T...
...Thomas F. Frist Sr. Professor of Medicine and prof...ical Center, received the Sixteenth Annual Award o... Clinical Research Centers Program April 17. ...Th..., supported by the National Center for Research Re...
Hemochromatosis, inflammation and anemia 22004 Wistar Institute Science Journalism Award winners announced 2Brain cells become more discriminating when they work together 2Brain cells become more discriminating when they work together 3Vanderbilt's John Oates wins clinical research award 2
... from urinary incontinence can benefit from pelvic...ercises, according to a new review of studies. ......least three months was found to be especially effe...gel exercises, but were not included in the analys...
... risk for aggressive prostate cancer - black men w... screening even during peak ages of risk, research...peak ages of 60-69 are screened using the common b...levels and 36 percent get annual digital rectal ex...
...ug Administration (FDA) today announced the licens... for tens of thousands of hospitalizations in the ...around the world each year. The vaccine, developed... will protect infants against rotavirus infection....
Because premature and small babies are at risk for SIDS later and longer than full-term infants, pediatricians should adjust when they offer counseling to parents about preventing SIDS, according to r
health news:Kegel exercises reduce urinary incontinence in women, study confirms 2health news:High-risk black men are screened less for prostate cancer 2health news:The long research road to a new vaccine 2health news:The long research road to a new vaccine 3health news:Premature babies and SIDS: Doctors should make special effort to talk to parents About Risk 2
...son today announced that the National Institute of...ed a six-year, $55.8 million contract to the Unive...establish a nationwide research network with the g...ing the disease in inner-city children, a group th...
...on Thrombosis, Bologna, 26 October 2002: Importan...oral direct thrombin inhibitor (Oral DTI), EXANTA ...) show its superior efficacy in reducing risk of m... routinely used prophylactic treatment, enoxaparin...
...ges from hundreds of people with schizophrenia at ...irst-of-its-kind research project funded with $10....sources (NCRR), a branch of the National Institute...ensive and unique database of brain information th...
There's been quite a bit of "noise" in the cholesterol category within the...past year -- statins being recalled or relabeled due to safety concerns and...future "super statins" now being called into
health news:HHS awards University of Wisconsin $55.8 million to fight asthma in inner-city children 2health news:EXANTA (TM), an oral direct thrombin inhibitor, significantly reduces risk of VTE in major OS 2health news:EXANTA (TM), an oral direct thrombin inhibitor, significantly reduces risk of VTE in major OS 3health news:Brain images from patients with schizophrenia will be shared in first nationwide imaging network 2health news:Brain images from patients with schizophrenia will be shared in first nationwide imaging network 3health news:Brain images from patients with schizophrenia will be shared in first nationwide imaging network 4health news:Important information to consider about non-systemic cholesterol lowering agents 2