{"id":16542,"date":"2010-06-29T08:19:07","date_gmt":"2010-06-29T12:19:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?p=16542"},"modified":"2023-06-27T11:59:51","modified_gmt":"2023-06-27T15:59:51","slug":"four-uconn-stem-cell-lines-approved-for-use-in-federally-funded-research","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2010\/06\/four-uconn-stem-cell-lines-approved-for-use-in-federally-funded-research\/","title":{"rendered":"Four UConn Stem Cell Lines Approved for Use in Federally Funded Research"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"<p>The<\/a>
Ren-He Xu, director of the Stem Cell Core Laboratory at the UConn Health Center. Photo by Al Ferreira<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Four human embryonic stem cell lines derived by University of Connecticut scientists have been approved for use in federally funded research and added to the National Stem Cell Registry by the National Institutes of Health.<\/p>\n

The four UConn stem cell lines \u2013 identified as CT1, CT2, CT3, and CT4 \u2013 were derived in the UConn Health Center\u2019s Stem Cell Core Laboratory using public funds provided by the State of Connecticut and its stem cell initiative. They are the first stem cell lines from a Connecticut institution to receive federal approval.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo have the only four human embryonic stem cell lines from Connecticut in the NIH registry is a major achievement,\u201d says Marc Lalande, senior associate dean for research planning and coordination at the UConn Health Center, director of UConn\u2019s Stem Cell Institute, and professor and chairman of the medical school\u2019s genetics and developmental biology department. “It justifies that we’ve used the state’s investment and really moved to the national stage in terms of human embryonic stem cell research.\u201d<\/p>\n

The embryos used for the creation of all four CT lines were originally generated for reproductive purposes and subsequently donated for research purposes following consent of the donors, says Ren-He Xu, director of UConn\u2019s human embryonic stem cell core laboratory. Some of the lines have already been distributed to stem cell researchers at UConn and beyond, and used in several publications of research discoveries supported by the state before the NIH registry applications were filed, he adds.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am very happy that the UConn-created stem cell lines have now become eligible for use by any researcher supported by U.S. federal funding agencies such as NIH and NSF,\u201d says Xu, a developmental biologist and expert in growing human embryonic stem cells lines. \u201cIt is wonderful to think that future discoveries by federally-funded scientists might be based on the lines developed here at UConn.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"<p>Immunostained<\/a>
Immunostained image for the CT3 human embryonic stem cell line. Image supplied by Ren-He Xu<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Embryonic stem cells can grow into every type of body tissue and thus are considered a research tool that could lead to cures for many illnesses. But not all stem cell lines serve equally well for this. There is a great deal of variation in quality, based on their genetic makeup and conditions under which they are handled.<\/p>\n

Approval of new stem cell lines by the NIH, the government\u2019s prime medical research agency, gives scientists greater access to a variety of stem cell lines \u2013 each from one donated embryo \u2013 to study embryonic development, explore new treatments for diseases, and test drugs.<\/p>\n

Previously they could do such work only under rules the Bush administration had imposed that limited funding to 21 stem cell lines (so-called Bush lines) created before August 2001, or by using private or state funds to study the non-Bush lines. For example, UConn\u2019s Xu announced the creation of lines CT1 and CT2 last January, joining an elite group of universities with labs creating stem cell lines. But those lines were not eligible for use by federally-funded researchers before the NIH registration.<\/p>\n

Last year President Obama lifted the restrictions on federal funding for human embryonic stem cell research and called on the NIH to develop new guidelines to open federal funding to newly established lines. The agency issued detailed guidelines last summer, including requirements that couples who donate embryos provide written consent for their use for research purposes, and that they not receive payment or expect medical or financial benefits later.<\/p>\n

Xu says it took \u201cconsiderable\u201d time to assemble the necessary paperwork before submitting the applications for the CT stem cell lines to the NIH for approval in September 2009. He recalls that a NIH committee of scientists and ethicists \u201ctook many months to ask more questions and request more documents. \u201cAt least five times,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou have to be very careful and very professional,\u201d he adds. \u201cThey are very picky.\u201d<\/p>\n

NIH approval of the four CT lines brings to 75 the number of lines that have been approved so far under the new guidelines. An additional 83 lines are awaiting review.<\/p>\n

Approval of new lines will provide scientists more options to address their research needs. Additional lines will expand the genetic diversity, and those derived from embryos with genetic diseases will be fitting tools to study the corresponding diseases.<\/p>\n

Srdjan Antic, assistant professor of neuroscience at the Health Center, began using stem cell lines from the UConn stem cell core lab a year ago after being awarded a state \u201cseed grant\u201d by the Connecticut Stem Cell Research Advisory Committee to jump-start his stem cell research.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am happy to report that I have had eight rounds of stem cell differentiation, followed by immunohistochemical and electrophysiological characterization of healthy, good-looking post-mitotic neurons,\u201d Antic wrote in a letter to Xu. Antic used CT2 lines in two rounds of differentiation, while the rest of his work was done with another NIH-approved line.<\/p>\n

Antic was awarded a second state grant last month, to establish a neuronal physiology and chemistry core facility to assess the functionality of neurons generated from stem cells in sample cultures provided by scientists from around the state.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe success of the second grant relied upon showing preliminary data of good quality,\u201d Antic\u2019s letter continued. \u201cAll this would not have been possible without the excellent CT2 lines, in expansion cultures, ready to use, for the start-up of our differentiation experiments.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Four lines developed at the UConn Health Center have been added to the National Stem Cell Registry.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_crdt_document":"","wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_series":0,"wds_primary_attribution":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[179],"tags":[],"magazine-issues":[],"coauthors":[46],"class_list":["post-16542","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uconn-health"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-21 04:22:25","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16542","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16542"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16542\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":172121,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16542\/revisions\/172121"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16542"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16542"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16542"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/magazine-issues?post=16542"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=16542"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}