Stage of Program: Basic or Applied Basic Research (DISC1 and many 1.0 Projects)
microRNA Regulation of Cardiomyocyte Differentiation from Human Embryonic Stem Cells
Regenerative therapies could be particularly beneficial for heart disease, which is the leading killer of adults in the U.S, and is responsible for the 5 million Americans with insufficient cardiac function. At the other end of the age spectrum, malformations of the heart involving abnormal cell lineage or morphogenetic decisions are the leading noninfectious cause […]
Molecular and Cellular Transitions from ES Cells to Mature Functioning Human Neurons
Human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) are pluripotent entities, capable of generating a whole-body spectrum of distinct cell types. We have developmental procedures for inducing hESCs to develop into pure populations of human neural stem cells (hNS), a step required for generating authentic mature human neurons. Several protocols have currently been developed to differentiate hESCs to […]
Human oocyte development for genetic, pharmacological and reprogramming applications
Constructing a fate map of the human embryo
The United States government does not fund research involving human embryos or cells that were grown from them after August 9, 2001. In addition, other restrictions have been imposed that make these types of experiments extremely difficult to do. For example, work cannot be conducted alongside research that is funded by government agencies, the typical […]
The Dangers of Mitochondrial DNA Heteroplasmy in Stem Cells Created by Therapeutic Cloning
n therapeutic cloning, a patient’s cell is combined (fused) to an enucleated donated egg (oocyte) from an unrelated woman or from another animal. It is hoped that cellular factors in the egg cytoplasm will reprogram the patient’s cell nucleus making it capable of generating replacement cells for the patient’s body. Thus, if a patient is […]
Using Human Embryonic Stem Cells to Understand and to Develop New Therapies for Alzheimer’s Disease
Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) is a progressive incurable disease that robs people of their memory and ability to think and reason. It is emotionally, and sometimes financially devastating to families that must cope when a parent or spouse develops AD. Unfortunately, however, we currently lack an understanding of Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) that is sufficient to drive […]
Functional Genomic Analysis of Chemically Defined Human Embryonic Stem Cells
Regenerative medicine holds the promise that tissues can be engineered in vitro and then transplanted into patients to treat debilitating diseases. Human Embryonic Stem Cells differentiate into a wide array of adult tissue types and are thought to be the best hope for future regenerative therapies. This grant has three main goals: 1. The creation […]
Derivation and characterization of human ES cells from FSHD embryos
Facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy (FSHD) is the third most common hereditary muscular dystrophy. It is autosomal dominant, meaning that if one of the parents has the disease, their children have a 50:50 chance of getting it, too. FSHD is characterized by progressive weakness and atrophy of facial, shoulder and upper arm musculature, which can spread to […]
Hair Cells and Spiral Ganglion Neuron Differentiation from Human Embryonic Stem Cells
Hair cells (HCs) convert sound and balance signals into electrical impulses in the inner ear, including the cochlea and the vestibular endorgans, with remarkable precision and sensitivity. Our long-term goal is to stimulate HC regeneration in human inner ears and to enable the functional innervations of HCs by neurons. Hair cells are terminally-differentiated cells. Once […]
Induction of pluripotency in fibroblasts by fusion with enucleated human embryonic stem cell syncytia
Embryonic stem cells are pluripotent which means they can in principle be instructed to become every cell type in the body. Moreover, they can produce an infinite number of daughter cells. Therefore, human embryonic stem cells have great potential as a cell source for regenerative therapies of a wide range of diseases, some of which […]