Researchers at the University of California, Irvine, have found an improved way of working with human embryonic stem cells that makes it easier to study and treat many diseases, from Huntington's disease to muscular dystrophy and diabetes. The method is 100 times better than current methods at producing human embryonic stem cells with the genetic changes wanted, and being able to make large numbers of these cells opens up new research into many degenerative diseases.
Proteins called growth factors keep cells alive and help decide whether they divide or stay as stem cells; without them, the cells die. In this study the scientists used these factors to keep the cells alive, and used a technique called nucleofection to put DNA into the cells. It uses electrical pulses to make holes in the cells' outer layer so the DNA can get in; here the DNA made the cells glow green under a special light, so the scientists could track them after transplanting them into animals.
Scientists usually use chemicals to put DNA into cells, which kills many of them and is inefficient. The growth factor/nucleofection method produces 10 to 100 times more successfully modified cells. It can also be used to make large numbers of cells carrying a disease, so the disease can be studied and understood better, and perhaps to correct the disease in stem cells and then use the healthy cells for treatment.
The method could help with single-gene diseases, caused by a fault in one gene in every cell of the body. According to the World Health Organization there are more than 10,000 such diseases, affecting millions of people, including Huntington's disease, sickle cell anaemia, cystic fibrosis and haemophilia. Stem cells are now being studied for diseases of the brain and spinal cord, brain and spinal injuries, diabetes, muscular dystrophy and cancer.
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