Researchers Awarded $2.6 Million to Develop Stem Cell Lines for Global Research

By Eric Sauter

Scientists from the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute have been awarded a $2.6 million grant from the Office of the Director of the National Institutes of Health to supply researchers worldwide with specialized stems cells to advance both basic and translational studies.

Donald Phinney, a TSRI professor, will be the principal investigator for the new four-year project.

Phinney's work involves mesenchymal stem cells, which are derived from adult bone marrow. Since these stem cells do not involve the sometimes-controversial use of embryos and can develop into a variety of cell types, they have great therapeutic potential. According to Phinney, mesenchymal stem cells are currently being evaluated in more than 180 open clinical trials for the treatment of a variety of human diseases.  

“Current processes make it difficult to produce large numbers of these cells,” Phinney said. “Our methods make it much easier to produce mouse mesenchymal stem cells—with just a few mice we can generate tens of millions of these cells.”

Moreover, the mesenchymal stem cells produced by Phinney and his colleagues offer better research results—closer to what you might expect from human clinical trials.

The group expects to take requests for available cell lines and those generated from specific types of mice. Other goals for the project are to better understand specific properties of mesenchymal stem cells and regulatory pathways that may affect therapeutic potency and to use this new knowledge to help predict the behavior of human cells through animal models.

“While mesenchymal stem cells are being used in a number of clinical trials, there is a tremendous lack of knowledge about their function and potency,” he said. “These new studies will provide essential pre-clinical knowledge about this type of stem cell that will help in the development of future clinical therapies.”

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