Discovery affirms potential of skin stem cells for the development of nervous system disorders

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Discovery affirms potential of stem cells for the development of

possible therapies for spinal cord injury and nervous system disorders

News-Medical in Medical Research News Monday, 1-Nov-2004

Researchers at The Hospital for Sick Children (Sick Kids) have shown

that stem cells found in adult skin retain their embryonic capability of

making many types of cells.

This discovery affirms the potential that stem cells derived from this

non-controversial source possess for the development of possible

therapies for spinal cord injury and nervous system disorders. This

research is reported in the scientific journal Nature Cell Biology.

" We think these stem cells are actually embryonic cells that go out into

the skin during development and then stay in reservoirs in hair

follicles, " said Dr. Freda , the study's principal investigator, a

senior scientist in Development Biology in the Sick Kids Research

Institute and a professor of Molecular and Medical Genetics, and

Physiology at the University of Toronto.

" These stem cells are similar to a type of embryonic stem cell called a

neural crest stem cell, and like neural crest stem cells, are endogenous

and multipotent in nature. These neural crest stem cells generate the

peripheral nervous system, and we are therefore now confident that we

can make neural and other types of cells from the stem cells found in

adult skin, " added Dr. , also Canada Research Chair in

Developmental Neurobiology.

The research team can now predict what type of cells can be made from

these stem cells (called skin-derived precursors, or SKPs) based on the

role played by neural-crest stem cells during embryogenesis. In addition

to generating the peripheral nervous system, neural crest stem cells

generate other tissues such as bone, cartilage, some types of muscle,

and even part of the heart. This research was conducted in mice, with

similar findings made recently by Dr. 's group in the human cells.

" The cells that Dr. 's group has found in the skin have huge

potential to treat brain disorders because they are capable of

transforming into neurons normally only found in the brain and other

nervous tissue. This new research provides an explanation for the cells'

ability to make neurons and further enhances our understanding of a

potentially valuable cell type for stem cell therapy, " said Dr. Ron

Worton, scientific director of Canada's Stem Cell Network. " The Stem

Cell Network is pleased to have supported this work in Dr. 's

laboratory. "

The co-lead authors of the paper were Dr. Karl Fernandes, a postdoctoral

fellow in Dr. 's lab who holds a Canadian Institutes of Health

Research/Canadian Neurotrauma Research Program fellowship, and Ian

McKenzie, a graduate student in Dr. 's lab from McGill University.

Other members of the research team included Pleasantine Mill,

, Mahnaz Akhavan, Fanie Barnabé-Heider, Jeff Biernaskie, Nao

Kobayashi, Toma, Dr. Kaplan and Dr. Chi-Chung Hui, all from

Sick Kids, Dr. Victor Rafuse and Adrienne Junek from Dalhousie

University, and Dr. Labosky from the University of

Pennsylvania.

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