Kikuo Hayakawa, NOST Tokyo
Originally published on the site of NL Agency.
Summary
The first human clinical studies of a treatment using induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells will begin as early as next year, Riken, a government-funded research institute in Japan, announced on June 12, 2012. The research team leader Masayo Takahashi of the Riken Center for Developmental Biology (CDB) plans to begin using iPS treatments on patients with a degenerative eye condition. It would be the world’s first attempt at retinal regeneration using iPS cells. The other researchers hope to begin clinical studies within several years. Japanese companies, such as Fuji film, are active to produce devices for the development of regenerative medicine.
Details
Kyoto University Professor Shinya Yamanaka and his colleagues reported in 2007 the first successful creation of iPS cells from human somatic cells that could change into a variety of different types of cells. Since then, the research field has advanced rapidly as many scientists in the world compete to develop iPS technologies. At a meeting of the Japanese Society for Regenerative Medicine in Yokohama, Masayo Takahashi of Riken CDB mentioned that she would begin human clinical studies at retinal regeneration using iPS cells as early as 2013. Takahashi and her colleagues in the Laboratory for Retinal Regeneration, Riken CDB, have developed a proprietary method for growing sheets of retinal pigment epithelium that can be transplanted to patients suffering from age-related macular degeneration (ARMD), which can lead to complete loss of vision. If the clinical studies plan is allowed by the ethics board and the Japanese government, the treatment will be carried out on five ARMD patients at the hospital as early as 2013.
Meanwhile, Yoshiyuki Sasai, the group director for the laboratory for Organogenesis and Neurogenesis at Riken accomplished a world first in recreating the 3-D structure of an organ. They focused on embryonic stem (ES) cells and succeeded in growing a structure like the optic cup with the six cell types present in normal retina tissue. Sasai hopes to begin clinical research on transplant therapy to treat retinal pigmentary degeneration after five years. Koji Nishida of Osaka University collaborated with Keio University to develop sheets of corneal epithelial cells and endothelial cells from iPS cells. They hope to begin clinical research on treatment of the damaged cornea within five years. For spinal cord injury, Shinya Yamanaka and his colleagues have been collaborating with Keio University and have successfully treated paralyzed monkeys. He hopes to begin human research after several years.
Japanese companies are active to produce devices for the development of generative medicine. Fuji filim Corp. is developing a way to produce three-dimensional organ tissue using recombinant artificial proteins. They can culture the recombinant proteins together with mesenchymal stem cells to create a tissue mass (1.5 cm square, over 1.2 mm thick). Culture equipment manufacturer Able Corp. is collaborating with Asahi Kasei Corp. and Tokyo Women’s Medical University on a project to create human heart muscle tissue that is compete with blood vessels. Keio University Prof. Keiichi Fukuda has been working with Olympus Corp. to develop a new kind of endoscope that could be used in future applications of transplant therapy that rely on this regenerated heart tissue. Osaka University’s Koji Nishida has worked with Hitachi Ltd. to develop a special device for the air-transport of sheets of cornea tissue. Takahashi of Riken has been in cooperation with Japan Tissue Engineering Co., LTD (J-TEC), which can create autologous cultured epidermis.
Source
- iPS stem cell treatment heads for human trials in Japan, The Mainichi Newspapers, 13 June 2012
- The Nikkei Weekly – Regenerative medicine from iPS cells being tackled on many fronts, 16 July 2012
- The Nikkan Kogyo Shimbun – iPS regenerative medicine, 27 June 2012 (Japanese)
