Stem cells: Primate patient-specific stem cells

A method of reprogramming rhesus macaque adult fibroblasts into embryonic stem cells using somatic cell nuclear transfer is presented in Nature this week.

Editorial contacts: While the best contacts for stories will always be the authors themselves, in some cases the Nature editor who handled the paper will be available for comment if an author is unobtainable. Editors are contactable via Ruth Francis on +44 20 7843 4562. Feel free to get in touch with Nature's press contacts in London, Washington and Tokyo (as listed at the end of this release) with any general editorial inquiry.

Warning: This document, and the Nature papers to which it refers, may contain information that is price sensitive (as legally defined, for example, in the UK Criminal Justice Act 1993 Part V) with respect to publicly quoted companies. Anyone dealing in securities using information contained in this document or in advanced copies of Nature’s content may be guilty of insider trading under the US Securities Exchange Act of 1934.

The Nature journals press site is at http://press.nature.com

HYPE: We take great care not to hype the papers mentioned on our press releases, but are sometimes accused of doing so. If you ever consider that a story has been hyped, please do not hesitate to contact us at [email protected], citing the specific example.

PLEASE CITE NATURE AND OUR WEBSITE www.nature.com/nature AS THE SOURCE OF THE FOLLOWING ITEMS. IF PUBLISHING ONLINE, PLEASE CARRY A HYPERLINK TO http://www.nature.com/nature

Stem cells: Primate patient-specific stem cells

A method of reprogramming rhesus macaque adult fibroblasts into embryonic stem cells using somatic cell nuclear transfer is presented in Nature this week. Shoukhrat Mitalipov and colleagues injected an adult fibroblast nucleus into an oocyte with its own nucleus removed. They then induced an early-stage embryo called a blastocyst, and teased out and cultured embryonic stem cells.

Although cloning of embryos has been achieved in several species, until now scientists have not achieved this in primates. Furthermore, creating embryonic stem cells via somatic cell nuclear transfer has only been achieved in mice. It is thought that in humans, such embryonic stem cells could be used to treat a variety of diseases without immune rejection, as they could be tailored to individual patients.

The team generated two embryonic stem cell lines from 304 oocytes taken from 14 rhesus monkeys, a 0.7% derivation efficiency from oocytes. Their success with primates suggests that this approach might work in humans for the purpose of generating patient-derived embryonic stem cells.

In a related News and Views article, Ian Wilmut and Jane Taylor discuss the potential of such cells not only for treating diseases but to understand the genetics of disease: “In our haste to use patient-specific cells in therapy, however, we tend to overlook that they have great value for basic research and drug discovery. For example, such cells could provide new ways to study inherited diseases.” they say.

In addition to the paper, an independent team carried out an experimental validation of the research. David Cram and colleagues confirm that the cells have indeed been produced by cloning, and their related report will be published online at the same time and with the same embargo.

CONTACT

Shoukhrat M. Mitalipov Oregon Health & Science University, Beaverton, OR, USA)
Tel: +1 503 614 3709; E-mail: [email protected]

Ian Wilmut (University of Edinburgh, UK)
Tel: +44 131 242 6630; E-mail: [email protected]

David Cram (Monash University, Melbourne, Australia)
+ 61 3 99050778; [email protected]

PRESS CONTACTS…

For North America and Canada

Katie McGoldrick, Nature Washington

Tel: +1 202 737 2355; E-mail: [email protected]

For Japan, Korea, China, Singapore and Taiwan

Mika Nakano, Nature Tokyo

Tel: +81 3 3267 8751; E-mail: [email protected]

For the UK/Europe/other countries not listed above

Rachel Twinn, Nature London

Tel: +44 20 7843 4658; E-mail [email protected]

About NPG

Nature Publishing Group (NPG) is a division of Macmillan Publishers Ltd, dedicated to serving the academic, professional scientific and medical communities. NPG's flagship title, Nature, was first published in 1869. Other publications include Nature research journals, Nature Reviews, Nature Clinical Practice and a range of prestigious academic journals including society-owned publications. NPG also provides news content through [email protected]. Scientific career information and free job postings are offered on Naturejobs.

NPG is a global company with headquarters in London and offices in New York, San Francisco, Washington DC, Boston, Tokyo, Paris, Munich, Hong Kong, Melbourne, Delhi, Mexico City and Basingstoke. For more information, please go to www.nature.com.

Published: 14 Nov 2007

Contact details:

The Macmillan Building, 4 Crinan Street
London
N1 9XW
United Kingdom

+44 20 7833 4000
Country: 
Journal:
News topics: 
Content type: 
Websites: 
Reference: 

NATURE