Scientists, including some from Canberra, have identified a new type of stem cell which is easier to grow and manipulate as part of a major study detailing the changes cells undergo as they reprogram into stem cells.
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Experts from across the globe, including some from the Australian National University John Curtin School of Medical Research, have carried out the most detailed study of how specialised body cells can be reprogrammed to be like cells from the early embryo.
"The ultimate goal with this work is to develop therapies in regenerative medicine which is a therapeutic approach whereby you would ultimately replace cells or tissues or organs that are failing in a patient with replacement parts that are made in a laboratory from the patient's own cells or from genetically highly similar stem cells," Professor Thomas Preiss from ANU's JCSMR said.
Professor Preiss said it was hoped the research could help speed up the development of treatments for many illnesses and conditions.
"There's a range of diseases where tissues are damaged or cells or lost. It ranges from neurodegenerative disease to spinal cord injuries, stroke, diabetes, blood and kidney diseases and ultimately perhaps even heart disease," he said.
"I'm not saying our publication immediately enables any of these therapies but we're working on the molecular basis of understanding the process of making cells that would be useful for this kind of therapy."
Fifty experts in stem cell biology and genomics technologies have been involved in Project Grandiose which mapped the detailed molecular process involved in the generation of induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells.
Since the 2012 Nobel Prize winning discovery that body cells can in principle be coaxed to become iPS cells, there has been a surge in research to better understand iPS cell reprogramming.
"Since then the race has been on make this process more efficient so it can be more economical as a basis for therapy and also to address the safety concerns around the original method in which iPS cells were made," Professor Preiss.
"Our work is providing an unprecedented level of molecular detail on this reprogramming process, what happens during that process.
"Understanding the process is the first step of being able to control it better, making it more efficient and safer."
Professor Preiss said a novel type of stem cell which can be created in a laboratory had also been discovered.
"That stem cell, while it's related to the iPS cells, it's molecularly distinct and has different properties," he said.
"Some of the properties are potentially advantageous for a regenerative medicine approach."
Professor Preiss said the new type of stem cell which was identified was easier to grow and manipulate which would aid "in drug screening efforts and disease modelling in the laboratory".
Professor Preiss described the research as "basic science with a very clear promise for future medical therapy".
The consortium from Project Grandiose will publish five papers in Nature and Nature Communications.
ANU researchers contributed ideas, data and analysis to four of the papers and coordinated efforts with other Australian contributors.
