Life Tech product speeds brain cell research

Neural stem cells can be produced in a week instead of months, with a new product from Life Technologies. Carlsbad-based Life Tech says its product will speed development of treatments for brain injuries and diseases.

A team of researchers led by Life Tech scientists published their findings Thursday in the journal Stem Cells Translational Medicine. The study was led by Mohan C. Vemuri, a director of research and development at the company.

The method is far superior to many of the most common methods used to make neural stem cells, said Paul Knoepfler, a stem cell scientist at UC Davis. Knoepfler was not involved in the research.

"There is a strong need for human neural stem and progenitor cells as well as differentiated human brain cells," Knoepfler wrote in an an email after reviewing the research. "It is important to note that on the Life Technologies website the product is still listed as a 'prototype' so it'll be critical to see how this product functions in the 'real world' of a relatively larger number of research labs."

Parkinson's disease is a major focus of stem cell therapies. The goal is to replace neurons that make the neurotransmitter dopamine, which are destroyed in the disease. In San Diego County, a team at The Scripps Research Institute is growing dopamine-making neurons from patients' own skin cells. Carlsbad-based International Stem Cell Corp. is preparing for clinical trials of its own replacement neurons, grown from parthenogenetic stem cells, created from unfertilized human egg cells.

Researchers produce the neural stem cells from either embryonic stem cells or so-called "induced pluripotent stem cells," which can turn into nearly any type of cell into the body. These neural stem cells are the material from which researchers aim to grow various kinds of replacement brain and nerve cells.

There are a number of methods of growing neural stem cells, but many are inefficient and can take months, Knoepfler wrote.

The Life Tech product, called PSC Neural Induction Medium, is efficient and takes just seven days. Beginning with 1 million pluripotent cells, about 40 million to 50 million neural stem cells can be made in a week, the company says.

Knoepfler said the product is costly, about $400 for half a liter. However, existing methods are also costly in time and labor. A competing product from Stem Cell Technologies reportedly works as fast, but is more than three times as expensive, Knoepfler said.

(This article has been corrected since its publication to reflect that International Stem Cell Corp. creates stem cells from parthenogenetic, or unfertilized human egg cells).

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Life Tech product speeds brain cell research