UCLA launches $20m stem cell institute to investigate neurological disorders & others

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UCLA launches $20m stem cell institute to investigate HIV, cancer and

neurological disorders

16 Mar 2005 Medical News Today

Experts in bioengineering, imaging, molecular genetics, immunology, ethics,

hematology/oncology and cellular biology to collaborate on Proposition 71

research -

Drawing together experts from fields as diverse as engineering to molecular

biology, UCLA officials announced March 16 the formation of the Institute for

Stem Cell Biology and Medicine to conduct embryonic and adult stem cell research

that may lead to better treatments for HIV, cancer and neurological disorders.

" As one of the world's leading research universities, UCLA has long been engaged

in adult and embryonic stem cell research with activities in areas ranging from

the AIDS Institute to the Brain Research Institute to the UCLA College, " said

UCLA Chancellor Albert Carnesale. " The new UCLA Institute for Stem Cell Biology

and Medicine will enable us to continue fostering such interdisciplinary

collaborations and to build upon the existing body of knowledge for the benefit

of people worldwide. "

UCLA will provide $20 million over five years to launch the campuswide

institute, which will enable teams of researchers to compete for state grants

created by the passage of Proposition 71. The money will pay for recruitment for

a dozen new faculty positions, salaries and expansion of highly sophisticated

laboratory space, infrastructure, and supplies.

Dr. Owen Witte, a renowned scientist whose laboratory research laid the

groundwork for development of the targeted leukemia therapy Gleevec, is director

of the new institute. He also stressed the interdisciplinary approach necessary

to face the challenges related to stem cell research. " Embryonic stem cells have

the power to develop into every type of human tissue, " said Witte, who also is a

professor of microbiology, immunology and molecular genetics, and a

Medical Institute investigator. " If we can learn how they are regulated

for growth and development, we can harness this knowledge to study tissue

development and regeneration and potentially come up with new ways to fight many

life-threatening diseases. "

Researchers are hopeful that stem cell research will lead to revolutionary new

treatments for Parkinson's, spinal cord injuries, Alzheimer's, cancer and other

diseases, and perhaps shed new light on how some diseases develop. However, most

scientists agree that human treatments are years or even decades away.

Proposition 71, passed by 59 percent of California voters in November, will

provide $3 billion for stem cell research. A state institute is being created in

Northern California to allocate funding to stem cell scientists at universities,

medical schools and research facilities. Grant applications will be available in

May. A 29-member oversight and governing board will oversee the institute and

review requests for funding.

" With the launch of this institute, we realize our goal of bringing together

scientific, ethical, legal and policy experts from across the UCLA campus to

focus on the great promise of stem cell research, " said Dr. Gerald S. Levey,

vice chancellor for medical sciences and dean of the Geffen School of

Medicine. " As dean, I am committed to advancing the full potential of stem cell

research to find novel and more effective therapies to treat many diseases for

which present-day therapy is either unsatisfactory or unavailable. "

Because the university and medical school at UCLA are located on the same

campus, researchers are well positioned to compete for stem cell grant funding,

Witte said. UCLA researchers have proven their skill at ushering scientific

discoveries from the lab to modern medicine. Several targeted therapies were

developed based on UCLA research, including Gleevec and the breast cancer drug

Herceptin. Additionally, UCLA scientists played key roles in testing the

targeted therapies Avastin and Tarceva.

UCLA also is the only public university in California to boast a sophisticated

Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) suite, a specialized laboratory that is

critical for the safe growth and manipulation of stem cell lines. Compliance

officers oversee all research in the GMP suite, which must follow stringent

federal guidelines for reintroduction of manipulated cells into the human body.

In addition, UCLA's Jonsson Cancer Center features an established clinical

trials infrastructure that could be used to test new therapeutics that may

develop as a result of the stem cell studies, said Judith C. Gasson, cancer

center director, stem cell institute co-director, and a professor of medicine

and biological chemistry.

" I see cancer and stem cells as tightly linked, " Gasson said. " More and more

evidence suggests that cancer is a stem cell disease. Many of our current

therapies are not effective because they don't target the cancer stem cells. Our

experience with gene medicine and the GMP facilities will make it easier for us

to translate our basic stem cell research into human therapies by using

facilities and procedures already in place. "

The UCLA Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Medicine will focus its embryonic

and adult stem cell research in three areas:

-- HIV: UCLA scientists are exploring how the AIDS virus blocks stem cell

function, as well as stem cell approaches to combating HIV disease. One

potential therapeutic example includes inserting antiviral genes into

blood-forming stem cells and reintroducing them into the body. As these blood

cells develop, the gene protects the mature cell against HIV infection. The UCLA

AIDS Institute already has completed a Phase I clinical trial using adult stem

cells. Embryonic stem cells also could be engineered for this strategy to avoid

the need for isolating patients' cells, ease transplantation and increase

clinical usefulness.

-- Cancer: Research will seek to shed more light on cancer stem cells and how

they develop. Not much is known about cancer stem cells and new findings may

lead to therapies that target cell signaling pathways specific for cancer stem

cells. These therapies hone in on what is broken in a cancer cell while leaving

the healthy tissue intact. Several Jonsson Cancer Center researchers already are

doing stem cell research in laboratories, and that work will be folded into the

institute.

-- Neurological disorders: UCLA researchers are studying many aspects of the

roles that stem cells may play in healing neurological disorders, including

stroke, spinal cord injury, brain tumors, multiple sclerosis and genetic

diseases. Future studies will include investigation of stem cell biology and

development, as well as therapeutic based research using adult and embryonic

stem cells.

The Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Medicine is a collaboration of the

Geffen School of Medicine, UCLA's Jonsson Cancer Center, the Henry i

School of Engineering and Applied Science, and the UCLA College. Each

collaborator brings leading-edge technologies to the table: integrated

microfluidics to aid in cell isolation, microarrays and shape encoded particle

approaches for gene expression analysis, proteomics using advanced mass

spectroscopy, large-scale computational facilities for bioinformatics, and

world-class multi modality imaging facilities for analysis of stem cell

therapies in laboratory models and, ultimately, in patients enrolled in clinical

trials.

" UCLA encourages strong collaborations between faculty in the life sciences and

the health sciences, " said O'Brien, executive dean of the UCLA College.

" As biomedicine grows increasingly complex, new academic partnerships hold the

key to discovery; this institute will create novel opportunities for research

that spans many disciplines. "