Coaxing ES cells to neurons

Hong Kong, China -

Numerous groups are currently working on protocols for induction of differentiation of embryonic stem cells into specific cell types that are therapeutically useful. One logical method of stimulating differentiation involves co-culture with cells that would appear to have an "inductive" effect on the undifferentiated cell.

On the one hand, numerous groups use methods such as culturing stem cells in the supernatant of differentiated tissue, or "stressed" differentiated tissue, so as to coax this process.

In a recent paper (Fong et al. Trophism of neural progenitor cells to embryonic stem cells: Neural induction and transplantation in a mouse ischemic stroke model. J Neurosci Res. 2007 May 10) it was demonstrated that coculture of the C17.2 neural stem cell line with embryonic stem cells was not only capable of causing differentiation of the stem cells along the neural pathway, but also that the neural-like cells that were generated were capable of restoring some function in a mouse model of stroke.

These data support the development of protocols for inducing differentiation using other cell type. The data also caution against the possibility of teratoma formation, since one of the animals treated with the differentiated ES cell actually developed a teratoma.