The U.S. Department of Health announced yesterday that it will stop “all medical research in federal centres on tissues collected from aborted foetuses”. “Promoting the dignity of human life from conception to natural death is one of the top priorities of President Trump’s administration”, he said. “The federal state cannot be complicit in these horrible circuits of buying foetal tissue from aborted babies”, said Republican Senator Marco Rubio. As a result, the public funding contract, “for an amount of two million dollars per year”, concluded with the University of California at San Francisco (UCSF) “for research work on foetal tissues” will not be renewed.

However, the ban is not absolute and private research will be allowed to continue “as long as it is not co-financed by public funds”. In addition, publicly funded research projects “at other universities or research centres” will not be banned but will be subject to a new procedure involving an advisory ethics committee.

 AFP (5/06/2019)

Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS) are one “of the most important tools in modern biomedical research”. To obtain them, an adult cell, for example a skin cell, has to be transformed into an undifferentiated cell. But current methods are long and ineffective. A study published on Thursday by an American team in Cell Reports describes a method that is apparently more effective.

“The cells undergoing reprogramming do not have to do so in a stepwise manner,” explained Zafirah Zaidan, one of the study’s lead authors. “A skin cell doesn’t have to completely give up being a skin cell before it can begin the journey to becoming a cardiac cell”. This is the main discovery of this team, whereas most scientists believed that reprogramming had to occur sequentially: first, deactivating genes encoding specific functions in the differentiated cell, and then activating differentiation into another type of cell.

The article describes combined laboratory and computational methods that lead to better completion of pluripotency, a faster process, and improved understanding of how cells are reprogrammed from one cell type to another.

Phys.org, Nolan Lendved (8/05/2019)

The researcher Hiromitsu Nakauchi has announced that an experiment is starting in Japan to culture a human pancreas in pigs. This statement comes as Japan has just relaxed its legislation on chimeras [1]. Nevertheless, Nakauchi still needs to obtain approval from the university and government regulatory committees.

He plans to inject human induced pluripotent stem cells into genetically modified pig embryos. These iPS cells will take the place of the removed gene in the embryos to create a human pancreas. The chimera embryo will then be implanted into a carrier sow’s uterus. The foetus will be removed before birth to study how much pancreatic tissue is derived from human iPS cells and how it functions.

[1] Japan now allows animal-human chimera embryos to be implanted into animals. Implanting chimeric embryos into humans is still prohibited, as is reproducing the chimeric animals resulting from these experiments.

Japan Times (28/04/2019)

In Japan, the five patients with age-related macular degeneration, who received the first induced pluripotent stem cell (iPS) transplant in March 2017, “have all endured the surgery well“. The announcement was made last Friday by the team of researchers from the Riken research institute and surgeons from Kobe City General Hospital who conducted the clinical trial. Out of all the patients, “the eyesight in four of them has stabilized and it has improved slightly in the fifth“.

The patients received a ‘heterologous transplant’ of retinal cells, differentiated in vitro from donor iPS cells. The operation involved injecting these cells into the patients’ eyes. These cells “were well attached to the retina in all the patients“. The rejection symptoms observed in one patient were resolved by administering corticosteroids.

In 2014, the same team performed another world first with an “autologous transplant [1] in a patient with an eye disease“.

New clinical trials will be starting to “identify the diseases for which treatment would be most effective“.

For further reading:

The world’s 1st clinical trial with iPS generates excitement in the scientific sector

The sight of the first patient to undergo IPS cell transplantation has improved

iPS cells beneficial for combating retinal degeneration

Japan: clinical trial to focus on iPS cells in cancer treatment

[1] In an autologous transplant, patients receive cells derived from their own iPS cells.

France diplomatie (22/04/19) – Chirurgie de la rétine : les patients transplantés en 2017 avec des cellules iPS se portent bien

On 15 March, Indian police intercepted a man at Bombay airport. He was carrying a nitrogen-packed canister that turned out to contain human embryos. The arrested man, Partiban Durai, admitted to working for a Malaysian surrogacy agency Heart to Art, which “acts as an agent for illegally sending embryos to India”. Surrogacy is banned in Malaysia due to Islamic law. The regulations in India remain vague, making it a favourite destination for low-cost IVF treatment [2] and surrogacy. The man was responsible for taking Malaysian embryos to the famous Indo Nippon IVF fertility clinic in Bandra, a suburb of Bombay. Partiban Durai admitted that he had made about ten trips in the past 18 months, “arriving in the morning with a package to be delivered and leaving on an evening flight”.

The clinic’s director, the renowned embryologist Dr Goral Gandhi, was also arrested. She denies the facts, despite the SMS messages found in Partiban Durai’s phone indicating the delivery address, and despite the police search of her clinic on March 16, which “recovered incriminating documents relating to embryo smuggling”. Correspondence has been identified between her clinic and various organizations in Malaysia, including “specific requests about the type of gamete donors desired”.

From 2000 to 2017, Dr Goral Gandhi was also the laboratory director and vice-president of the Rotunda Centre for Human Reproduction. This company is involved in several controversies currently pending before the courts, including offering incentives for oocyte donations from minors [3].

On Monday, the High Court of Bombay ordered the directorate of the tax information service not to take any coercive action against Dr Goral Gandhi. The Malaysian embassy, however, asked for the investigation into the Malaysian carrier to be continued. According to DRI officials [4] this is the first time the agency has investigated an alleged case of human-embryo smuggling.

The import of embryos to India is banned for all but research purposes, and then only after obtaining authorization from the Indian Council of Medical Research.

[2] In-Vitro Fertilisation

[3] See India: the horrific reality of surrogate mothers

[4] Directorate of Revenue Intelligence, the Indian agency responsible for monitoring smuggling

The India Express, Khushboo Narayan, Tabassum Barnagarwala, Mohamed Thaver (19/03/02019)

In Japan, a clinical trial is being prepared to treat spinal-cord injuries with induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells. Some two million iPS cells will be transplanted into the spine of four adult patients who have lost their motor and sensory functions. These patients will then follow a rehabilitation programme and be monitored for one year. The team at Keio University in Tokyo has just received approval from the authorities and intends to check that iPS cells are safe and validate the transplantation method (see Japan: iPS cells for patients with spinal-cord injuries).

This is the first clinical trial using iPS cells in this indication. Other trials are testing their efficacy for treating eye diseases and Parkinson’s disease (see iPS and Parkinson’s disease: a French study). “In the future, all diseases could potentially be treated, I do not say cured, with iPS cells, even if only minimal effects are initially observed”, said Professor Masayo Takahashi of the Riken Center in 2017. Professor Takahashi conducted the first clinical trials using these cells (see “In the future, all diseases could potentially be treated with iPS cells”).

AFP (18/02/2019)

Researchers at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) used CRISPR-Cas9 to create induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC) which are “invisible” to the immune system, thus preventing the potential for transplant rejection. These “universal” stem cells could be manufactured on a large scale more easily than “tailor-made” iPS cells designed for each patient.

While iPS cells have a widely accepted therapeutic potential, the immune rejection of these cells in patients receiving them is a major obstacle to their use. The use of immunosuppressants to counter immune activity may be effective, but such treatments have many side effects and make the patient more susceptible to infection and cancer. The researchers thought it would be possible to solve this transplant rejection problem using iPS cells obtained from the patient’s adult cells, but in practice the clinical use of iPS has proven difficult. The quality and reproducibility of “iPS technology” is a critical point for laboratories. Additionally, the production of “customized” iPS for each patient is time consuming and expensive.

In response to these issues, Tobias Deuse, author of the study, and Sonja Schrepfer have created “universal iPSCs”, which can be used for all patients. In their study published on 18 February by Nature Biotechnology, they describe their protocol, which includes modifying the activity of three genes to prevent graft rejection; two are related to the functioning of the major histocompatibility complex and the third protects cells from destruction by natural killer immune cells. For the first two they used CRISPR and for the third they used a virus providing a copy of the CD47 gene.

When researchers transplanted their mouse stem cells into HLA-incompatible mice with normal immune systems, they found no rejection. They then transplanted human iPS cells in the same way into humanized mice (whose immune systems have been replaced by components of the human immune system), and did not observe any rejection. They have also successfully derived these human iPSCs in cardiac cells and transplanted them into humanized mice.

“This is the first time anyone has engineered cells that can be universally transplanted and can survive in immunocompetent recipients without eliciting an immune response”, the authors excitedly declared. “Our technique solves the problem of rejection of stem cells and stem cell-derived tissues, and represents a major advance for the stem cell therapy field”, said Tobias Deuse, in the hope that many teams will benefit from their discovery.

Medical press (18/02/2019)

Dieter Egli, a biologist at Columbia University in New York, is conducting experiments with CRISPR on human embryos to “one day” prevent the occurrence of hereditary diseases, specifically retinitis pigmentosa. His research seeks to establish whether CRISPR can safely repair mutations in the human embryo. These embryos will not be implanted but destroyed. “Right now we are not trying to make babies. None of these cells will go into the womb of a person. However, this restriction is only temporary: “If the approach is successful, Egli would likely allow edited embryos to develop further to continue his research“.

Although it uses the same technique, this type of research does not raise the same indignation as that carried out by He Jiankui, a Chinese researcher who announced the birth of the world’s first two genetically modified babies last November[1]. The only fear expressed is that “such experiments could encourage more irresponsible scientists to misuse gene-editing technologies”.

Dieter Egli’s technique was developed by a team led by Shoukhrat Mitalipov. Initially sceptical about the team’s statements[2], Dieter Egli is now seeking to confirm them and to verify their efficacy and viability. Mitalipov’s team is also continuing its research (see Genetically modified embryos: details of the American study are published).

For further reading:

Dieter Egli has also conducted research on parthenogenesis and human cloning:

• Scientists show an interest in parthenogenesis
• Should we be concerned about the return of therapeutic cloning?
• Therapeutic cloning for diabetes care
• Obtaining pluripotent stem cells from eggs

[1] The purpose of genetic modification was to protect them from HIV infection, an objective already achieved today by other means.

[2] Genetically modified human embryos: results questioned

NPR (01/02/2018)

Japanese researchers are about to start a clinical trial in cancer patients to assess treatment based on induced pluripotent stem cells, also known as iPS cells. This research is being conducted by Haruhiko Koseki of Riken research institute and Professor Yoshitaka Okamoto of Chiba University.

The trial will involve three patients with head and neck cancer—a recurrent cancer that cannot be treated surgically. The team will collect a type of white blood cell called the Natural Killer T cell , which attacks cancer cells and activates other cells in the immune system. The harvested cells will be converted into iPS cells, which will once again develop into Natural Killer T cells. The new NKT cells thus obtained will be transplanted to the three patients in three injections. The first injection will contain 30 million NKT cells. The next two injections will be adjusted depending on the positive or negative effects of the first injection.

In a previous study at Chiba University, injection of the patient’s own NKT cells reduced the number of cancer cells detected in the body. “Blood contains only a small number of cells and it takes time to culture them. However, the iPS cell count can easily be increased, thus facilitating the production of large numbers of Natural Killer T cells.”

Unconverted iPS cells could turn malignant, but this should not pose a problem in this experiment. Since they are derived from other individuals, the cells should, in fact, be eliminated by the patient’s immune system, regardless of whether or not they are malignant.

See also:

IPS cell-based treatments: the race to market launch

Genetically modified T-lymphocytes: two treatments available in France

Japan Times (11/01/2019)

On the occasion of draft bill HR 265, which examines funding issues relating to the activities of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the US House of Representatives is expected to renew its ban on the genetic modification of human beings.

Since 2015, funding bills have prohibited the FDA from considering applications to create children from genetically modified embryos through in-vitro fertilisation. However, this clause must be reintroduced and voted on each year. This ban concerns the production of genetically modified babies, as well as the “three-parent baby” technique (see One baby, 3 DNA, 3 transgressions).

FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb left no doubt about his opposition to relaxing the CRISPR ruling on the genetic handling of human embryos. In a tweet published last November, he considered that “certain uses of science” should be considered “intolerable”. They should “cause scientists to be cast out. The use of CRISPR to edit human embryos or germ line cells should fall into that bucket. Anything less puts the science and the entire scientific enterprise at risk”.

MIT, Antonio Regalado (10/01/2019)

A U.S. government order has suspended all purchases of foetal tissue for research purposes. The ban took effect in September, with no public announcement. The order follows the government’s decision to conduct a comprehensive review of the protections applicable to federally-funded foetal tissue research.

As a result of the ban, several laboratories are unable to purchase their “raw material” – foetal tissue from abortions – and have had to suspend their work until further notice. This week, the HHS, the US Department of Health and Human Services, reduced the duration of a contract with the University of California for human foetal research, to the great surprise of the researchers concerned. “We were all poised to go and then the bombshell was dropped,” complained Warner Greene, director of a laboratory doing AIDS research. The HHS has halted all purchases of human foetal tissue until the review is completed.

Two major laboratories are directly impacted by the government order: the National Eye Institute, which uses foetal retinal tissue to study eye diseases, and the National Institute of Allergic and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) in Montana, which uses aborted foetuses to create series of “humanized mice” with human-like immune systems. NIAID is looking for treatments for diseases such as AIDS[1].

In the USA, researchers cannot buy human foetal tissue directly. Advanced Bioscience Resources (ABR), based in Alameda, California, provides all researchers in the country with aborted foetuses. In September, the FDA[2] was forced to terminate a contract to procure human foetal tissue from ABR for use in drug testing. They use human foetuses “to move from discoveries in the lab to clinical treatments.

Researchers who do not work directly for the NIH will also be impacted by the ban on the purchase of human foetuses, and many do use them. “Everything I am doing involves humanized mice. It would shut my lab down if we were not able to use foetal tissues,” says Jerome Zack, a virologist in Los Angeles who has been buying human foetuses for 25 years to work with “humanized mice”.

For further reading:

United States: The American Senate confirms the key role of the Family Planning Association in foetus organ trafficking).

[1] A single human foetus can generate a group of 40 to 50 genetically identical humanized mice. Potential drugs can then be tested on all the mice, improving the quality of the statistics.

[2] Food and Drug Administration.

Science Mag, Meredith Wadman (07/12/2018)

The U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH)[1] announced that it will allocate $20 million over two years to research alternatives to human foetal tissue. The use of these human foetuses for research is not illegal in the USA, but it is highly controversial since this lucrative trade comes from abortion clinics. In a statement issued on Monday, the NIH announced that it was embarking on a major research effort to “develop and/or further refine human tissue models that closely mimic and can be used to faithfully model human embryonic development or other aspects of human biology, for example, the human immune system, that do not rely on the use of human foetal tissue obtained from elective abortions”.

Since September 2018, the 6,000 American researchers funded by the NIH have been prohibited from purchasing human foetal tissue. The contract between the HHS[2] and Advanced Bioscience Resources – the main supplier of aborted foetuses in the USA – was terminated because “it was not sufficiently assured that the contract included the appropriate protections applicable to foetal tissue research”. The HHS has launched a comprehensive review of human foetal tissue research and has imposed a total freeze on procurement until the end of the review. The project to develop effective alternatives is still in its infancy. Procurement has been halted, but foetal research has not been banned. Researchers do not yet know whether the HHS, at the end of the review, will decide to suspend the research until alternatives are available.

See also:

United States: sales of human foetal tissue banned

United States: The American Senate confirms the key role of the Family Planning Association in foetus organ trafficking).

[1] The National Institutes of Health are U.S. government institutions involved in medical and biomedical research. They are part of the United States Department of Health and Human Services.

[2] HHS: The United States Department of Health and Human Services is a department of the United States administration responsible for health policy.

TIME, Jamie Ducharme (11/12/2018)

Following the revelation of the birth of two genetically modified babies in China last week, WHO announced the establishment of a “panel to study gene editing”. WHO “brings together experts and we work with Member States (…) to discuss criteria and guidelines that can address ethical and safety issues in society,” said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. He stated that gene editing “cannot be just done without clear guidelines”, and declined to speculate on whether some form of gene editing could offer public health benefits. “We have to be very, very careful. […] We should not go into gene editing without understanding the unintended consequences,” he said, suggesting that the members of the panel should start by asking whether gene editing should even be considered. This working group will be composed of academics, WHO experts and government medical specialists.

While the work of Chinese scientist He Jiankui behind these GMO babies has stirred controversy, an American team at Harvard intends to pursue the goal of producing genetically modified babies with a reduced risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease in adulthood. While no embryos have been genetically modified by this team so far, their first step is to edit the DNA of sperm collected from fertility clinics. Moreover, George Daley, dean of Harvard Medical School, did not condemn the Chinese researcher at the Hong Kong summit. He acknowledged that the conditions were not right and regrets the “lack of transparency” that could cause problems for his own research, but he believes that editing the germ line should not be prohibited. In his opinion, it is a “transformative technology with the power for great medical use”.  He drew up a list of genes that he thought it would be acceptable to edit. His ultimate goal is to ensure that “babies are born as healthy as possible”, using genetic testing, IVF, PGD and gene editing.

AFP (3/12/2018), MIT (3/12/2018)

On Thursday, a team of researchers at the Chinese Academy of Sciences announced the successful creation of offspring from two female mice using embryo stem cells “and targeted genome editing”. On reaching adulthood, the mice were able to produce their own healthy offspring.

For “viable embryo development”, the parental imprint produced from chemical modification of part of the DNA can inactivate either the maternal or the paternal gene. This parental imprint hampers parthenogenesis—the technique used by the researchers to create bi-maternal embryos.

In addition, in the study published in the journal Cell Stem Cell, the researchers—who endeavoured to explain “why, unlike reptiles, amphibians and certain fish which produce by parthenogenesis, mammals reproduce only via sexual reproduction “—used embryo stem cells containing only one set of chromosomes as opposed to two as in conventional sexual reproduction. Generally, these haploid stem cells are derived from eggs by chemical and electrical treatment during cell division; the “three regions identified as participating in the parental imprint” were genetically modified. These cells were then introduced into the egg of another female mouse to reconstitute “the twenty pairs of chromosomes which constitute their genetic heritage”.

The embryos were transferred to the uterus of another mouse where they developed to term. Out of 210 embryos, 29 mice were born alive and reproduced. These mice were later able to produce their own healthy offspring.

A second experiment was performed using two male mice: modified haploid cells were injected “at the same time as the sperm from another male mouse” into the egg, the nucleus of which had been removed, i.e. without the DNA of the female mouse. Although twelve mouse pups were born following this procedure, they all died within 48 hours of birth.

This technique inevitably raises numerous ethical questions including the potential use of this technique “in humans in the future”. For Dr Dusko Ilic from King’s College London, who did not take part in the study, “to consider exploring similar technology for human applications in the near future is implausible. The risks of severe abnormalities is too high and it would take years of research in various animal models to fully understand how this could be done safely”.

A similar experiment was carried out in 2004 but without a satisfactory outcome (see Birth of a “gynogenic” mouse).

Le Monde, Paul Benkimoun (12/10/2018) – Europe 1 (12/10/2018) – Afp (12/10/2018)

An international team of researchers led by Professor Magdalena Zernicka-Goetz at Cambridge University claims to be very close to the creation of artificial embryos. Using murine stem cells, the scientists have produced artificial structures resembling embryos, which are capable of “gastrulation”—a key stage in embryonic development. Gastrulation occurs when the embryo cells reorganise themselves into the structure that allows embryo formation.

The team had previously created a much simpler structure resembling a mouse embryo in culture using two types of stem cells, namely embryonic cells and trophoblast stem cells, and a 3D matrix on which the cells were developed (see British scientists attempt to create artificial murine embryos before focusing on humans). But “correct gastrulation during normal development is feasible only if you have three types of stem cells”. We have also had to add the third missing stem cell”, explains Professor Zernicka-Goetz.

The study, published on 23 July in Nature Cell Biology, expands on the results obtained with a structure using three types of blastocyst stem cells with primitive endoderm stem cells being added to the first two: “By replacing the jelly that we used in earlier experiments with this third type of stem cell, we were able to generate structures whose development was astonishingly successful.”

Professor Magdalena Zernicka-Goetz considers they are “now extremely close to real embryos”. The scientists believe they are closer to understanding how the three types of stem cells interact to allow the embryo to develop.

The experts suggest that, eventually, human embryos could be produced in the same way (see British scientists attempt to create artificial murine embryos before focusing on humans). Rather than use real human embryos, these artificial embryos could be used to conduct research into the first stages in human development.

Reuters (23/07/2018) – Scientists take step toward creating artificial embryos ; Phys.org (23/07/2018) – 

Scientists generate key life event in artificial mouse ’embryo’ created from stem cells

“There has been a direct link between medically assisted reproduction and human embryo research since the practice of the former in France has generated a stockpile of ‘available’ embryos”, explains Jean-Marie Le Méné, President of the Lejeune Foundation, “and therefore surplus embryos. In an IVF setting, technicians produce four to ten embryos but actually transfer only one or two. The others are frozen pending a potential parenting project or will be donated for research or destroyed. This has generated a ‘stockpile’ of over 220,000 embryos. They are suspended in time, between potential adoption, possible ‘recycling’ or pure and simple destruction”. Jean-Marie Le Méné denounces the procreation industry and pharmaceutical laboratories that “manipulate this under the guise of numerous projects”.

Pierre Jouannet, member of the Inserm Ethics Committee, classifies these projects as follows:

• Fundamental research, “intended to promote the understanding of early embryo development and possible disruptions”.

• Preclinical research comprising “the development of new methodologies and procedures that may ultimately be used for therapeutic purposes”. The researcher explains that, since 2015, French legislation has allowed for “embryos that have been the subject of research within a medically assisted procreation programme to be transferred to the uterus, conditions permitting”.
• The procurement of embryo stem cells “for the purpose of conducting basic, preclinical or clinical research, for instance, to develop new methods of cell therapy. However, in this case, the end result of the research is no longer focused on the embryo per se”.

These embryos are indeed obtained through in-vitro fertilisation—they either present early anomalies or have been discarded following pre-implantation diagnostics because they carry a genetic anomaly. They can also be surplus embryos, which are no longer required for a potential parenting project and are therefore destined for destruction. As far as the researcher is concerned, at this point they become the “subject/object of research”. In 2014, “21,539 embryos were donated to research via this route”.

The scientist points out that, nowadays, it is “inconceivable to modify the genome of an embryo intended for procreation”, according to the Inserm Ethics Committee, but also under the terms of the protection granted by the Oviedo Convention, a treaty ratified in France. He finds it regrettable. He believes that genome editing could provide a solution for infertile couples: “It would involve correcting the suspected mutation in the embryo or, even better, in the germ cells prior to fertilisation, as in the case of adult and paediatric gene therapy”. Pierre Jouannet is also in favour of extending the duration of embryo preservation beyond the legally stipulated seven-day period, and in authorising the creation of embryos for research.

Once again, Jean-Marie Le Méné regrets the fact that “the human embryo is the adjustment variable in a political game”. As in 2011, human embryos are the designated victims of eugenic practices to be incorporated in the next bioethics law, “with total indifference”.

France Catholique (29/06/2018) ; INSERM (27/06/2018)

It is estimated that 80% of adults in the United States will suffer from back and neck pain once or twice in their lifetime. This is usually caused by the breakdown of discs: these load-bearing structures, which cushion the spinal vertebrae, are mainly composed of a tissue called nucleus pulposus which can degenerate with age. 

Scientists, who are trying to find early therapeutic options to combat degenerative disc disease, have turned to stem cells. Previous research has shown that human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs), produced directly from adult cells, can express markers for a wide variety of cells, including those that secrete nucleus pulposus (NP). 

Now, a collaborative team of scientists at Washington University in St. Louis has developed a new process to generate NP-like cells from hiPSCs, one that truly goes back to the beginning and mimics the process of embryonic development. What distinguishes this study, published in the journal Stem Cell Reserch and Therapy, is, “a differentiation protocol that mimics embryonic development,” explains Lori Setton, the Lucy & Stanley Lopata Distinguished Professor of Biomedical Engineering and chair of the Department of Biomedical Engineering in the School of Engineering & Applied Science that led the research team.

The researchers, who studied developmental biology before designing their experiment, developed a series of steps to first produce one of the earliest-forming embryonic structures, the notochord. In humans, the notochord is a cartilage-like rod that turns into the spinal column during in-vitro development. “We know that the intervertebral discs arise from the notochord,” Setton said. After converting “the stem cells into notochordal cells, and only after passing through the notochordal phase, did we take them on to the intervertebral disc phase.” A chemical exposure process was then used to develop them into NP-type cells.

For Professor Setton, the multi-step process used to derive “NP-type” cells from hiPSCs provides the “quality control” needed by scientists for developing additional stem cell therapies.

Medical Press, Erika Ebsworth-Goold (17/04/2018)

According to scientists at Stanford University, the injection of induced pluripotent stem cells, inactivated by irradiation, has triggered a strong response against breast, lung and skin cancers in mice. The vaccine has also prevented relapses in animals whose tumour had been removed. The study, which was published in Cell stem cell on 15 February, focuses on a sample of 75 mice. Within four weeks, 70% of them had rejected the implanted cancerous cells and 30% presented significantly smaller tumours.

The main author, Joseph Wu, explains that many of the antigens contained in iPS cells are also found in cancerous cells. Following vaccination with iPS cells, the mice develop a simultaneous immune response to iPS antigens and cancer cells.

Medical press (15/02/2018)

Studies just published in the Cell Reports journal by scientists at the National Eye Institute (one of America’s national health institutes) and the Molecular Physiology Institute at Johannes-Gutenberg University, Germany, “could have strong implications in the development of ocular cell therapies”. These treatments are intended to replace the retinal pigment epithelium in patients suffering from conditions such as age-related macular degeneration. The scientists showed that the effectiveness of this epithelium is related to the presence of primary eyelashes on the surface of the component cells. To demonstrate their findings, they carried out “in-vitro experiments on retinal pigment epithelia created from iPS cells derived from mature human cells”. The presence of molecules stimulating primary eyelash growth improved the maturation of epithelial cells whilst molecules inhibiting lash development led to a “defective” epithelium. The results were corroborated by a targeted mutagenicity experiment.

“Now we have a better idea of how to regenerate and replace pigment epithelium,” announced Kapil Bharti, lead author of the study. Based on these conclusions, he has also “amended the protocol of a cell therapy trial involving AMD patients scheduled for 2018”. Scientists have also noted that the role of these primary eyelashes is not retina-specific but could apply to lung epithelial cells.

Le quotidien du médecin, Damien Coulomb (3/01/2018)