2017/02/14
Keio University School of Medicine
Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development (AMED)
A research group from the Keio University School of Medicine, consisting of Professor Minoru Ko of The Sakaguchi Laboratory (Department of Systems Medicine) and Professor Michisuke Yuzaki of the Department of Physiology, has successfully developed a "cell differentiation cocktail" that differentiates neural cells from human pluripotent stem cells (ES and iPS cells) in one week with a high efficiency of over 90%. Through the simple procedure of adding this cocktail to the cells several times, functional neural cells were generated, exhibiting a dense neurite network, responsiveness to electrical stimulation, and expression of motor neuron-specific markers.
The developed cocktail is considered safer because it does not damage the cells' genomic DNA. Additionally, as it allows for mass production, large quantities of neural cells required for cell transplantation and drug discovery screening can be easily produced. As a result, this method is expected to be useful not only for basic research on neural cells but also for the development of drugs for various diseases caused by neural cell abnormalities, the elucidation of disease pathology, and regenerative medicine.
The results of this research were published in the online edition of *Scientific Reports* on February 13, 2017.
Please see below for the full press release.