Seventh Annual Research for Cure Dinner Recap

Stem cell research advocate Karen Miner, of Californians for Cures, recently attended the Seventh Annual Research for Cure Dinner. Here’s her notes on the progress being made by the UC Irvine research team:

“I am pleased to report that the Seventh Annual Research for Cure Dinner was a huge success, due to 1. Dr. Keirstead’d presentation plus his easy manner of cruising through the attendees, allowing everyone an opportunity to speak to him about their own concerns. 2. The efforts of a growing number of volunteers.
Below is a brief synopsis of Dr. Keirstead’s presentation. It lacks the details and the excitement that Dr. Keirstead has for this work, which is quite contagious.

Keirstead worked with Dr. Thomas Lane at UCI, whose interest is multiple sclerosis, to develop a means of reducing the inflammatory response immediately after trauma or injury to the nervous system. Together they developed a treatment for multiple sclerosis, which Dr. Keirstead’s group then adapted for use in acute SCI. A phase 1 clinical trial began in 2006 on individuals with ulcerative colitis (same inflammatory mechanism that causes degeneration), and is funded by Medarex Corporation.

Using hESCs, Dr. Keirstead’ team has had great success turning them into oligodendrocytes, with a purity level above 95%. Injection of the cells into sub-acute paralyzed rats (within 2 weeks of injury) resulted in improvement of function. Four other laboratories replicated this approach. Clinical trial dates have been pushed forward several times, as this will be the first hESC therapy clinical trial and safety is the primary consideration. Being the first trial, new procedures and standards have been created and revised and revised again. Clinical trials are now scheduled to begin in 2008, and will be funded by Geron Corporation.

Dr. Keirstead also has a team working on scar tissue removal. Scar tissue is the reason that the oligodendrocyte treatment outlined above will only work on acute injuries – there is no scar tissue in acute injuries. If the scar tissue is removed, the sub-acute injuries become like acute injuries and treatments successful on acute injuries may be successful.

Chronic studies are being pursued with a passion equal to my own for treatments. Motor neurons, in conjunction with cAMP and a “designer” virus, is hoped to restore function in chronic SCI (months to decades after injury). This is another wonderful example of collaboration equaling faster answers to recovery treatments. Dr. Keirstead and collaborators from California Stem Cell Inc. have put their knowledge together and now can produce clinical grade human motor neurons in large volumes at 95% purity. Dr. Keirstead has provided these cells to Dr. Doug Kerr at Johns Hopkins, and both have both begun animal testing. Because of Dr. Keirstead’s experience with the FDA during his work with Geron Corporation, the path now exists to move through the process much quicker. The first human trials are planned for babies with spinal muscular atrophy. These poor babies generally only live about 12 months, and die as a result of motor neuron death within the spinal cord. There are currently no treatments for the disease. The trials would be relatively quick, as the babies’ lifespan is so short. As with other clinical trials, once a treatment has been proven safe for humans, it can be used for other conditions.

We all left with hope, based on science and, hopefully, a desire to help politically for increased funding for hESC research, or a desire to volunteer time in efforts to raised money or, if able, donate money towards this exciting research OR all three!”

Thanks Karen!