Category Archives: Stem Cell Videos

Stem cells taken from amniotic fluid can be transformed into a more versatile state similar to embryonic stem cells and may offer an alternative to the medically valuable but controversial cells, scientists said on Tuesday.

British researchers said they had succeeded in reprogramming amniotic fluid cells without having to introduce extra genes.

This suggests the possibility that stem cells derived from donated amniotic fluid could be stored in banks and used for medical therapies and in research, they said, offering a less problematic alternative to embryonic stem cells.

Stem cells are the body's master cells, the source for all other cells. Scientists say that by helping to regenerate tissue, they could offer new ways of treating diseases for which there are currently no treatments - including heart disease, Parkinson's and stroke.

Embryonic stem cells are harvested from embryos and have the potential to become almost any type of tissue. Other types of stem cells, including adult or so-called "induced pluripotent" stem cells, are less controversial, but are also less flexible.

Alternatives to embryonic stem cells are always being keenly sought, partly due to ethical concerns and also due to the limited availability of donor embryos.

In this study, published in the journal Molecular Therapy, scientists from Imperial College London and University College London's (UCL) Institute of Child Health said amniotic fluid stem cells are an intermediate between embryonic and adult stem cells.

Pluripotent

"They have some potential to develop into different cell types but they are not pluripotent," said Pascale Guillot, from the Imperial's department of surgery and cancer.

But he said their study had shown that these cells can revert to being fully flexible, or "pluripotent", by adding a chemical that modifies the configuration of the DNA.

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Amniotic fluid offers alternative stem cell source

ZUTPHEN, The Netherlands, July 3, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

Free of charge, Cryo-Saves programme gives the opportunity to treat a family member diagnosed with a life-threatening disease treatable with stem cells.

Cryo-Save, the leading international family stem cell bank, shows continuous commitment to its corporate social responsibility programme. Family and childrens health is the companys number one priority. The Cryo-Save Cost-Free Family Donation Programme is specifically designed to offer families in need the collection and cryopreservation of their newborns umbilical cord blood stem cells. Free of charge, it gives the opportunity to treat a family member diagnosed with a life-threatening disease treatable with stem cells. This includes diseases such as Sickle Cell Anaemia and some forms of Leukaemia.

Arnoud van Tulder, CEO of Cryo-Save: "Our goal is to help as many families as possible with the stem cells they store with Cryo-Save. Through our Cost-Free Donation Programme, we offer direct help to families in need. This is very important for us; being able to apply our knowledge and expertise to help save lives!"

Thanks to Cryo-Saves international reach and more than 40 local offices which are in touch with their communities needs, each country is striving to make a positive difference in their community. The Cost-Free Donation Programme is promoted in each country. Among other activities, the company recently supported two fundraising events: Cryo-Saves Netherlands office sponsored a cycling event organised by the Alpe dHuZes Cancer Rehabilitation (A-CaRe) programme, which aims to develop and implement rehabilitation programmes for specific cancer patients and survivor groups in the Netherlands. Cryo-Save Serbia is supporting the NGO Everything for a Smile where children suffering from renal diseases are invited to enjoy a rare weekend in nature.

Along with its continuous efforts to educate the general public about stem cells, Cryo-Save strives to make a difference in peoples lives and encourages all its employees to consider the impact their work makes on the environment and local communities.

Cryo-Save, the leading international family stem cell bank, stores more than 200,000 samples from umbilical cord blood, cord tissue and adipose tissue. There are already many diseases treatable by the use of stem cells, and the number of treatments will only increase. Driven by its international business strategy, Cryo-Save is now represented in over 40 countries on three continents, with ultra-modern processing and storage facilities in Arabia, Belgium, Germany, India and South Africa.

Cryo-Save: http://www.cryo-save.com/group

Cryo-Save Group N.V.

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Cryo-Save´s Cost-Free Donation Programme Serves Families in Need

LEUVEN, BELGIUM--(Marketwire -07/02/12)- TiGenix (EURONEXT:TIG) announced today that it has successfully completed the company's Phase I clinical trial to assess the safety of intra-lymphatic administration of its expanded adipose stem cells product (Cx621). Cx621 aims to capitalize on the benefits of TiGenix's proprietary approach of intra-lymphatic administration to treat autoimmune disorders.

The confirmation of the safety of intra-lymphatic administration of TiGenix's expanded adipose stem cells (eASCs) has potentially important clinical and commercial implications. It opens up the possibility of achieving efficacy at much lower dosage, which would further increase the safety profile of TiGenix's eASCs, while it would simultaneously significantly reduce the cost of goods (COGS) and improve margins. An additional benefit is that the subcutaneous lymph nodes are superficial and readily visible by ultrasound, and thus allow for a rapid and easy injection.

"We are delighted to have demonstrated the feasibility and safety of intra-lymphatic administration of our stem cell product," said Eduardo Bravo, CEO of TiGenix. "The validation of this new route of administration reinforces TiGenix's leadership position in the field of stem cell treatments for autoimmune diseases."

About the studyThe Cx621 Phase I placebo-controlled trial evaluated two different cell doses in ten healthy volunteers, five males and five females. Physical, analytical and also morphological measures were included. The ten volunteers were randomly assigned to the two cohorts. After treatment of the first volunteer in each cohort and confirmation of tolerability, the remaining volunteers for each cohort were randomized 1:1 to receive Cx621 or placebo. The study treatment consisted of two administrations one week apart, two lymphatic injections each, one in the left and one in the right inguinal lymph node. Volunteers were followed-up during 21 days after treatment to establish safety and tolerability of the treatment.

The final report of the Cx621 Phase I clinical trial confirms that there were no severe adverse events. Reported adverse events were mild and transient, and not related to the study medication. All changes in vital signs and blood analysis tests were within the normal limits. Imaging ecographic data showed increased lymph node size after administrations, with no clinical or symptomatic effect. Visual Analogic Scale (VAS) for pain produced no significant changes in any volunteer. Some subjective, short-lived "sensations" around the injected inguinal zone occurred more frequently in the placebo arm.

About Cx621 for autoimmune disordersCx621 is an allogeneic eASC product candidate for the treatment of autoimmune diseases via a proprietary technique of intra-lymphatic or intra-nodal administration. The intra-lymphatic route is believed to offer significant benefits, as the systemic effect of the cells has been shown to be mediated at the level of the secondary lymphoid organs, the draining lymph nodes and spleen. TiGenix has filed patents applications for this unique and innovative route of administration.

About TiGenixTiGenix NV (EURONEXT:TIG) is a leading European cell therapy company with a marketed cell therapy product for cartilage repair, ChondroCelect, and a strong pipeline with clinical stage allogeneic adult stem cell programs for the treatment of autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. TiGenix is based out of Leuven (Belgium) and has operations in Madrid (Spain), and Sittard-Geleen (the Netherlands). For more information please visit http://www.tigenix.com.

Forward-looking information This document may contain forward-looking statements and estimates with respect to the anticipated future performance of TiGenix and the market in which it operates. Certain of these statements, forecasts and estimates can be recognised by the use of words such as, without limitation, "believes", "anticipates", "expects", "intends", "plans", "seeks", "estimates", "may", "will" and "continue" and similar expressions. They include all matters that are not historical facts. Such statements, forecasts and estimates are based on various assumptions and assessments of known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, which were deemed reasonable when made but may or may not prove to be correct. Actual events are difficult to predict and may depend upon factors that are beyond TiGenix' control. Therefore, actual results, the financial condition, performance or achievements of TiGenix, or industry results, may turn out to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such statements, forecasts and estimates. Given these uncertainties, no representations are made as to the accuracy or fairness of such forward-looking statements, forecasts and estimates. Furthermore, forward-looking statements, forecasts and estimates only speak as of the date of the publication of this document. TiGenix disclaims any obligation to update any such forward-looking statement, forecast or estimates to reflect any change in TiGenix' expectations with regard thereto, or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statement, forecast or estimate is based, except to the extent required by Belgian law.

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TiGenix Reports Positive Results of Cx621 Phase I

Scientists have for the first time watched and manipulated stem cells as they regenerate tissue in an uninjured mammal, Yale researchers report July 1 online in the journal Nature.

Using a sophisticated imaging technique, the researchers also demonstrated that mice lacking a certain type of cell do not regrow hair. The same technique could shed light on how stem cells interact with other cells and trigger repairs in a variety of other organs, including lung and heart tissue.

This tells us a lot about how the tissue regeneration process works, said Valentina Greco, assistant professor of genetics and of dermatology at the Yale Stem Cell Center, researcher for the Yale Cancer Center and senior author of the study.

Greco and her team focused on stem cell behavior in the hair follicle of the mouse. The accessibility of the hair follicle allowed real-time and non-invasive imaging through a technology called 2-photon intravital microscopy.

Using this method, Panteleimon Rompolas, a post-doctoral fellow in Grecos lab and lead author of this paper, was able to study the interaction between stem cells and their progeny, which produce all the different types of cells in the tissue. The interaction of these cells with the immediate environment determines how cells divide, where they migrate and which specialized cells they become.

The technology allowed the team to discover that hair growth in mice cannot take place in the absence of connective tissue called mesenchyme, which appears early in embryonic development.

Stem cells not only spur growth of hair in mammals including humans, but also can serve to regenerate many other types of tissues.

Understanding how stem cell behavior is regulated by the microenvironment can advance our use of stem cells for therapeutic purposes and uncover mechanisms that go wrong in cancer and other diseases, Greco said.

The study was funded by an Alexander Brown Coxe postdoctoral fellowship. This work was supported in part by the American Skin Association and the American Cancer Society and the Yale Rheumatologic Disease Research Core Center and the National Institutes of Health.

Other Yale authors include Elizabeth Deschene, Giovanni Zito, David G. Gonzalez, Ichiko Saotome and Ann M. Haberman.

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In real time, Yale scientists watch stem cells at work regenerating tissue

Public release date: 2-Jul-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Kim Newman sciencenews@einstein.yu.edu 718-430-3101 Albert Einstein College of Medicine

July 2, 2012 -- (Bronx, NY) -- Researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University have found that abnormal bone marrow stem cells drive the development of myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), serious blood diseases that are common among the elderly and that can progress to acute leukemia. The findings could lead to targeted therapies against MDS and prevent MDS-related cancers. The study is published today in the online edition of the journal Blood.

"Researchers have suspected that MDS is a 'stem cell disease,' and now we finally have proof," said co-senior author Amit Verma, M.B.B.S., associate professor of medicine and of developmental and molecular biology at Einstein and attending physician in oncology at Montefiore Einstein Center for Cancer Care. "Equally important, we found that even after MDS standard treatment, abnormal stem cells persist in the bone marrow. So, although the patient may be in remission, those stem cells don't die and the disease will inevitably return. Based on our findings, it's clear that we need to wipe out the abnormal stem cells in order to improve cure rates."

MDS are a diverse group of incurable diseases that affect the bone marrow and lead to low numbers of blood cells. While some forms of MDS are mild and easily managed, some 25 to 30 percent of cases develop into an aggressive disease called acute myeloid leukemia. Each year, about 10,000 to 15,000 people in the U.S. are diagnosed with MDS, according to the National Marrow Donor Program.

Most cases of MDS occur in people over age 60, but the disease can affect people of any age and is more common in men than women. Symptoms vary widely, ranging from anemia to infections, fever and bleeding. Treatment usually involves chemotherapy to destroy abnormal blood cells plus supportive care such as blood transfusions.

In the current study, lead author Britta Will, Ph.D., research associate in the department of cell biology, and her colleagues analyzed bone marrow stem cells and progenitor cells (i.e., cells formed by stem cells) from 16 patients with various types of MDS and 17 healthy controls. The stem and progenitor cells were isolated from bone marrow using novel cell-sorting methods developed in the laboratory of co-senior author Ulrich Steidl, M.D., Ph.D., assistant professor of cell biology and of medicine and the Diane and Arthur B. Belfer Faculty Scholar in Cancer Research at Einstein.

Genome-wide analysis revealed widespread genetic and epigenetic alterations in stem and progenitor cells taken from MDS patients, in comparison to cells taken from healthy controls. The abnormalities were more pronounced in patients with types of MDS likely to prove fatal than in patients with lower-risk types.

"Our study offers new hope that MDS can be more effectively treated, with therapies that specifically target genes that are deregulated in early stem and progenitor cells," said Dr. Steidl. "In addition, our findings could help to detect minimal residual disease in patients in remission, allowing for more individualized treatment strategies that permanently eradicate the disease."

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Myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) linked to abnormal stem cells

Editor's Choice Main Category: Muscular Dystrophy / ALS Also Included In: Transplants / Organ Donations Article Date: 29 Jun 2012 - 11:00 PDT

Current ratings for: Stem Cells From Muscular Dystrophy Patients Transplanted Into Mice

A new study published in Science Translational Medicine reveals that researchers have, for the first time, managed to turn fibroblast cells, i.e. common cells within connective tissue, from muscular dystrophy patients into stem cells and subsequently changed these cells into muscle precursor cells. After modifying the muscle precursor cells genetically, the researchers transplanted them into mice.

In future, this new technique could be used in order to treat patients with the rare condition of limb-girdle muscular dystrophy, which primarily affects the shoulders and hips, and maybe other types of muscular dystrophies. The method was initially developed in Milan at the San Raffaele Scientific Institute and was completed at UCL.

Muscular dystrophy is a genetic disorder, which typically affects skeletal muscles. The condition leads to severely impaired mobility and can, in severe cases result in respiratory and cardiac dysfunction. At present, there is no effective treatment for the condition. A number of new potential therapies, including cell therapy, are entering clinical trials.

The scientists of this study concentrated their research on genetically modifying mesoangioblasts, i.e. a self-renewing cell that originates from the dorsal aorta and differentiates into most mesodermal tissues, which demonstrated its potential for treating muscular dystrophy in earlier studies.

Given that the muscles of patients with muscular dystrophy are depleted of mesonangioblasts, the researchers were unable to obtain sufficient numbers of these cells from patients with limb-girdle muscular dystrophy, and therefore "reprogrammed" adult cells from these patients into stem cells, which enabled them to prompt them to differentiate into mesoangioblast-like cells.The team then genetically corrected these 'progenitor' cells by using a viral vector, and injected them into mice with muscular dystrophy so that the cells targeted damaged muscle fibers.

In a mice study, the same process demonstrated that dystrophic mice were able to run on a treadmill for longer a longer time than dystrophic mice that did not receive the cells.

Research leader, Dr Francesco Saverio Tedesco, from UCL Cell & Developmental Biology, who led the study, explained:

Professor Giulio Cossu, also an author at UCL, concluded:

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Stem Cells From Muscular Dystrophy Patients Transplanted Into Mice

Public release date: 28-Jun-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Dr. Stefan Wiese stefan.wiese@rub.de 49-234-322-2041 Ruhr-University Bochum

RUB biologists have deliberately transformed stem cells from the spinal cord of mice into immature nerve cells. This was achieved by changing the cellular environment, known as the extracellular matrix, using the substance sodium chlorate. Via sugar side chains, the extracellular matrix determines which cell type a stem cell can generate. "Influencing precursor cells pharmacologically so that they transform into a particular type of cell can help in cell replacement therapies in future" says Prof. Dr. Stefan Wiese, head of the Molecular Cell Biology work group. "Therapies, for example, for Parkinson's, multiple sclerosis or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis could then become more efficient." The team describes its findings in Neural Development.

Sulphate determines the fate of stem cells

Sodium chlorate acts on metabolism enzymes in the cell which attach sulphate groups to proteins. If these sulphates are not installed, the cell continues to form proteins for the extracellular matrix, but with modified sugar side chains. These chains in turn send out signals that define the fate of the stem cells. Stem cells can not only develop into nerve cells, but also form astrocytes or oligodendrocytes, which are, for instance, responsible for the mineral balance of the nerve cells or which form their insulation layer. What happens to the stem cells if the sulphate pattern is changed by sodium chlorate was examined by Dr. Michael Karus and his colleagues.

Positive side effects: nerve cells remain immature

The RUB-laboratories of Prof. Dr. Stefan Wiese, Prof. Dr. Andreas Faissner and Prof. Dr. Irmgard Dietzel-Meyer collaborated for the study. Using antibodies, the researchers showed that cells which they had treated with sodium chlorate developed into nerve cells. They also analysed the flow of sodium ions into the cells. The result: treated cells showed a lower sodium current than mature nerve cells. Sodium chlorate thus favours the development of stem cells into nerve cells, but, at the same time, also inhibits the maturation - a positive side effect, as Wiese explains: "If sodium chlorate stops the nerve cells in an early developmental phase, this could enable them to integrate into the nervous system following a transplant better than mature nerve cells would do."

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Bibliographic record

M. Karus, S. Samtleben, C. Busse, T. Tsai, I.D. Dietzel, A. Faissner, S. Wiese (2012): Normal sulphation levels regulate spinal cord neural precursor cell proliferation and differentiation, Neural Development, doi: 10.1186/1749-8104-7-20

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Taking the fate of stem cells in hand: RUB researchers generate immature nerve cells

Disease fight: turning skin cells to neurons June 28th, 2012, 4:04 pm posted by Pat Brennan, science, environment editor

UC Irvine professor Leslie Thompson, with human brain image behind her. Photo by Daniel A. Anderson, UC Irvine.

Using stem cells derived from skin cells, scientists including a UC Irvine team say they have created human neurons that exhibit the effects of Huntingtons disease promising the possibility of testing treatments for the deadly disorder in a petri dish.

Their discovery not only sidesteps ethical issues surrounding the use of human embryonic stem cells, but offers the chance to produce far more diseased neurons, at various stages of disease progression, than ever have been available to researchers before.

This is a relatively new technique where you can reprogram an adult cell, in this case a skin cell, back to this early stem-cell stage, and then guide those into making neurons, said Leslie Thompson, a UC Irvine professor and a senior author of a study announcing the discovery that was published online Thursday.

Huntingtons disease is an inherited, neurodegenerative disorder that is always fatal. It typically strikes in middle age, gradually robbing its victims of the ability to walk and interfering with other basic brain functions.

Huntington's disease cells on their way to becoming neurons. Image courtesy Leslie Thompson, UC Irvine.

Its like Parkinsons in that its a movement disorder in this case, involuntary movements, and rigidity, Thompson said. You know what is going on, but parts of memory are being impaired; you have an impaired ability to walk, think, talk.

Victims typically die of the diseases effects falling, or choking during pneumonia and some especially severe mutations can strike young children. The disease affects about 30,000 people in the United States, and no treatments exist even to slow the onset of symptoms.

The scientists, including UCIs Leslie Lock and Peter Donovan, director of the Sue and Bill Gross Stem Cell Research Center, as well as others from universities around the country and in Italy and Great Britain, used a variety of cell lines to reveal the genetic underpinnings of Huntingtons.

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Disease fight: turning skin cells to neurons

June 28, 2012

Connie K. Ho for redOrbit.com Your Universe Online

Diabetes is a detrimental disease. In order to combat the illness, University of British Columbia (UBC) researchers conducted a study with an industry partner and discovered that stem cells can reverse Type 1 diabetes in mice.

The discovery leads the way for the development of innovative treatments of diabetes, which is caused by deficient production of insulin by the pancreas. Insulin allows glucose to be held by the bodys muscle, fat, and liver; in turn, its used as fuel for the body. Blindness, heart attack, kidney failure, nerve damage, and stroke are possible consequences of low insulin production. The research by the UBC investigators addressed these various issues. The study was led by Timothy Kieffer, a professor in the Department of Cellular and Physiological Sciences, as well as scientists from BetaLogics, the New Jersey-based division of Janssen Research & Development, LLC.

We are very excited by these findings, but additional research is needed before this approach can be tested clinically in humans, remarked Kieffer, a member of UBCs Life Sciences Institute, in a prepared statement.

The team of investigators is the first to demonstrate that human stem cell transplants can bring back insulin production and reverse diabetes in mice. They were able to re-create the feedback loop that allows insulin levels to automatically increase or decrease based on blood glucose levels. The results from their projects was recently published online on the website of the journal Diabetes.

Following the stem cell transplant, the diabetes mice were slowly taken off insulin, a procedure which was to mirror human clinical condition. Even if they were given copious amounts of sugar, the mice were able to continue healthy blood sugar levels three to four months later. The transplanted cells that were removed from the mice many months after the experiments also showed signs of normal insulin-producing pancreatic cells.

Essentially, the mice were cured of their diabetes by placing the body back in charge of regulated insulin production as it is in healthy, non-diabetics, Kieffer told the Vancouver Sun. It took about four to five months for the [stem] cells to become functional in our experiments and the mice were able to maintain good blood glucose levels even when fed a high-glucose diet, said Kieffer, a UBC professor in the department of cellular and physiological sciences.

Research still needs to be done to finalize details of the approach for diabetes treatment.

The studies were performed in diabetic mice that lacked a properly functioning immune system that would otherwise have rejected the cells. We now need to identify a suitable way of protecting the cells from immune attack so that the transplant can ultimately be performed in the absence of any immunosuppression, explained Kieffer in the statement.

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Diabetes Reversal In Mice Via Stem Cells

ScienceDaily (June 28, 2012) Johns Hopkins researchers, working with an international consortium, say they have generated stem cells from skin cells from a person with a severe, early-onset form of Huntington's disease (HD), and turned them into neurons that degenerate just like those affected by the fatal inherited disorder.

By creating "HD in a dish," the researchers say they have taken a major step forward in efforts to better understand what disables and kills the cells in people with HD, and to test the effects of potential drug therapies on cells that are otherwise locked deep in the brain.

Although the autosomal dominant gene mutation responsible for HD was identified in 1993, there is no cure. No treatments are available even to slow its progression.

The research, published in the journal Cell Stem Cell, is the work of a Huntington's Disease iPSC Consortium, including scientists from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles and the University of California, Irvine, as well as six other groups. The consortium studied several other HD cell lines and control cell lines in order to make sure results were consistent and reproducible in different labs.

The general midlife onset and progressive brain damage of HD are especially cruel, slowly causing jerky, twitch-like movements, lack of muscle control, psychiatric disorders and dementia, and -- eventually -- death. In some cases (as in the patient who donated the material for the cells made at Johns Hopkins), the disease can strike earlier, even in childhood.

"Having these cells will allow us to screen for therapeutics in a way we haven't been able to before in Huntington's disease," saysChristopher A. Ross, M.D., Ph.D., a professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, neurology, pharmacology and neuroscience at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and one of the study's lead researchers. "For the first time, we will be able to study how drugs work on human HD neurons and hopefully take those findings directly to the clinic."

Ross and his team, as well as other collaborators at Johns Hopkins and Emory University, are already testing small molecules for the ability to block HD iPSC degeneration.These small molecules have the potential to be developed into novel drugs for HD.

The ability to generate from stem cells the same neurons found in Huntington's disease may also have implications for similar research in other neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.

To conduct their experiment, Ross took a skin biopsy from a patient with very early onset HD.When seen by Ross at the HD Center at Hopkins, the patient was just seven years old. She had a very severe form of the disease, which rarely appears in childhood, and of the mutation that causes it. Using cells from a patient with a more rapidly progressing form of the disease gave Ross' team the best tools with which to replicate HD in a way that is applicable to patients with all forms of HD.

Her skin cells were grown in culture and then reprogrammed by the lab of Hongjun Song, Ph.D., a professor at Johns Hopkins' Institute for Cell Engineering, into induced pluripotent stem cells. A second cell line was generated in an identical fashion in Dr. Ross's lab from someone without HD. Simultaneously, other HD and control iPS cell lines were generated as part of the NINDS funded HD iPS cell consortium.

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Turning skin cells into brain cells: Huntington's disease in a dish