Technologies

UC San Diego investigators have developed a method for obtaining neural stem cells from embryonic stem cells (ESC) or induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC). The method includes the steps of culturing ESC or iPSC in a medium comprising leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF), an inhibitor of glycogen synthase kinase 3 (GSK3) and an inhibitor of transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-β). Neural stem cells made in accordance with the method may be administered to a patient to treat a neurological disorder, for example Parkinson’s disease, or an eye disease such as macular degeneration or glaucoma. The invention also provides a culture media supplement comprising LIF, GSK3 and TGF-β

Cell-based therapeutics and research and development in the area of neural injury and neurological disorders could benefit from a renewable source of neural stem cells. Human embryonic stem cells provide indefinitely self-renewing cells with differentiation potential, but are inferior to lineage-restricted cells as they are prone to causing teratomas and fail to repopulate host tissues in vivo. Significant challenges in isolation and long-term cultivation of tissue-specific stem cells has restricted broad use of neural stem cells. Accordingly, there is a need for a method for obtaining a renewable source of neural stem cells.