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Print Edition StoriesTuesday, February 2, 2010
ALS TDI extends partnership with Calif. stem cell firm
By Mass High Tech staff
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ALS Therapy Development Institute (ALS TDI) has extended and grown its collaboration with California Stem Cell Inc. (CSC) in an effort to develop a potential stem cell treatment for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease.
The partnership calls for a two-phase round of experiments. First, CSC will provide the MotorGraft stem cell line that ALS TDI will use to deliver specific gene expressions to the central nervous system. After the gene expression is confirmed in the first phase, the second phase will entail full experiments to measure any improvement in disease. CSC will travel from its headquarters in Irvine, Calif., to ALS TDI’s Cambridge base to administer the stem cell experiments.
The collaboration extension piggybacks on a previous partnership the two organizations had in testing human stem cell progenitor motor neurons in the spinal cords of mice, which have been genetically engineered to mimic having ALS. In these experiments, the stem cells survived and showed signs of motor neuron display markers, according to a news release from the two groups.
CSC has also sent its MotorGraft line of stem cells, following work with ALS TDI, to the FDA for a Pre-Investigational new Drug meeting.
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