The Broad Foundation Donates $20 Million to UCLA Stem Cell Institute

The Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation is donating $20 million to fund adult and embryonic stem cell research at UCLA, enhancing a program that brings together biologists, chemists, engineers, geneticists and other scientists  to develop new and more effective treatments for cancer, HIV/AIDS, Parkinson’s, metabolic disorders and other medical conditions.

In recognition of the gift, the Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Medicine at UCLA will be renamed the Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research at UCLA. The gift will be used to purchase specialized, high-tech laboratory equipment and will support faculty recruitment through research grants and endowed professorships, enabling UCLA to continue its leadership in cutting-edge, multidisciplinary scientific and medical research. READ MORE....

For pictures and video of the ceremony...

UCLA BSCRC Investigators Create Heart and Blood Cells fro Reprogrammed Skin Cells
Robb MacLellan and colleagues grew functioning cardiac cells using mouse skin cells that had been reprogrammed into cells with the same unlimited properties as embryonic stem cells.            The finding, published in Stem Cells is the first to show that induced pluripotent stem cells or iPS cells, which don’t involve the use of embryos or eggs, can be differentiated into the three types of cardiovascular cells needed to repair the heart and blood vessels. Researchers also were able to differentiate the iPS cells into several types of blood cells, which may one day aid in treating blood diseases and in bone marrow transplantation. Stem Cell: online...

Broad Stem Cell Research Center Investigators Identify Genetic Differences in hESC that could Control Individual Traits and Disease Susceptability
Michael Teitell, Hao Wu, and colleagues used a high resolution technique to examine the genome of a pair of human embryonic stem cell lines and found that while both lines could form neurons, the lines had differences in the numbers of certain genes that could control such things as individual traits and disease susceptibility. The technique used to study the genome, which contains all the genes on 46 chromosomes, is called array CGH. The use of higher resolution techniques, such as array CGH and, soon, whole genome sequencing, will enhance the ability of researchers to examine stem cell lines to determine which are best – least likely to result in diseases and other problems – to use in creating therapies for use in humans. The article is published at Stem Cell: online Mar 27, 2008.

UCLA scientist Hanna Mikkola, MD, PhD, reports blood stem cells originate and are nurtured in the placenta (March 5, 2008)
UCLA Broad Stem Cell Research Center scientists, led by Dr. Hanna Mikkola, discovered that blood stem cells, the cells that later differentiate into all the cells in the blood supply, originate and are nurtured in the placenta.The discovery solves a long-standing biological mystery and may allow researchers to mimic the specific embryonic microenvironment necessary for development of blood stem cells in cell culture and grow them for use in treating diseases like leukemia and aplastic anemia.

Broad Stem Cell Center Researchers Reprogram Human Skin Cells Into Cells with the same Properties as Human Embryonic Stem Cells (February 11, 2008)
UCLA Broad Stem Cell Center scientists Kathrin Plath and William Lowry, used genetic alteration to turn back the clock on human skin cells and create cells that are nearly identical to human embryonic stem cells, which have the ability to become every cell type found in the human body. Four regulator genes were used to create the cells, called induced pluripotent stem cells or iPS cells. The article is published in PNAS, v105, n8: February 26, 2008.

Broad Stem Cell Center Researcher Uncovers Unique Reglatory Mechanism of Gene Expression in Mouse Embryonic Stem Cells (February 7, 2007)
Guoping Fan, UCLA Broad Stem Center investigator, and colleagues, showed DNA methylation is important for gene expression in embryonic stem cells. Mouse embryonic stem cells are a unique cell type that can either self-renew indefinitely or give rise to all types of tissue cells under proper culture conditions. The article is published in Cell Stem Cell, v2, n2: February 7, 2008.

Three UCLA Scientists Receive Stem Cell Grants Totaling $7.5 million (December 12, 2007)
UCLA Broad Stem Cell Center scientists Siavash Kurdistani, MD, Hanna Mikkola, MD, PhD, and Kathrin Plath, PhD, received grants totaling $7.5 million from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) to conduct leading-edge research that may help shed light on the developmental and molecular biology of stem cells.

UCLA Scientist Kathrin Plath wins prestigious NIH New Innovator Award from among 2,100 applicants nationwide (September 18, 2007)
Scientist Kathrin Plath has been chosen to receive a prestigious New Innovator Award from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Plath will receive a five-year, $1.5 million grant from the NIH, which is investing more than $105 million to fund the work of 41 “exceptionally innovative investigators” nationwide. She was one of five California scientists to receive a New Innovator Award, and one of only 29 nationwide to be honored. In all, more than 2,100 applicants applied for NIH Pioneer and New Innovator awards. The grant will fund her study of structural changes in chromosomes that underlie the development and differentiation of cells.
 More information...                 

ISCBM scientists produce a large quantity of highly pure functioning neurons from human embryonic stem cells (August 13, 2007).
Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Medicine scientists in collaboration with a University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center scientist were able to produce 70 to 80% of neurons in cell culture. The investigators were able to isolate the neurons and determine that they had a functional synaptic network, which the neurons use to communicate. Because they were functional, the neurons can be used to create a variety of human neurological disease models. The study results are published today in an early online edition of the peer-reviewed journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. READ MORE: PNAS ARTICLE...

ISCBM Stem Cell Researchers Reprogram Normal Tissue Cells into Cells with the Same Properties as Embryonic Stem Cells (June 6, 2007)
Researchers at the UCLA Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Medicine were able to take normal tissue cells and reprogram them into cells with the same unlimited properties as embryonic stem cells, the cells that are able to give rise to every cell type found in the body. Kathrin Plath, PhD and colleagues turned mouse fibroblasts into pluripotent cells that, in every aspect tested, were identical to embryonic stem cells. READ MORE: CELL STEM CELL ARTICLE

Hear Dr. Plath discuss her research on KPPC 89.3 FM "Air Talk".
Go to Wednesday, June 6, 2007.

UCLA Stem Cell Institute Receives $2.86 Million Grant from the State to Create New Stem Cell Laboratory Space (June 5, 2007)
The Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Medicine at UCLA was awarded a $2,862,497 million grant today from the state to construct lab space dedicated to the creation of new human embryonic stem cell lines and continued research on existing stem cell lines. Among grants that didn’t include a training course, UCLA received the largest grant awarded for construction and operation of shared research laboratory space. READ MORE...

ISCBM Scientists Awarded More Than $5 Million in CIRM Comprehensive Grants
(March 16, 2007)
Two ISCBM scientists received Comprehensive Grants totalling more than $5 million over four years,  from the state on March 16 as part of the second round of funding for embryonic stem cell research since voters approved Proposition 71 in November 2004. The two UCLA grants will be used to fund research on neural cell repair and therapeutic strategies to target HIV. The grant submitted by Dr. Guoping Fan, UCLA assistant professor of human genetics, scored 95 points out of 100 - the highest score awarded to any grant by the selection committee during this round of funding. READ MORE...

ISCBM Scientists Awarded More Than $4 Million in CIRM Seed Grants (February 19, 2007):
Seven ISCBM scientists received Seed Grants totalling more than $4 million over two years, awarded by the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM), the state organization overseeing Proposition 71 funding, to fund stem cell research, the first money distributed for work on human embryonic stem cells since California voters approved Proposition 71 in November 2004. READ MORE...

ISCBM ADDS FIVE INTERNATIONALLY RENOWNED SCIENTISTS TO ITS RESEARCH TEAM
(October 17, 2006)
Five internationally renowned young scientists have been recruited to the research team of the Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Medicine at UCLA (ISCBM). From such respected institutions as Harvard, MIT, Rockefeller University and Johns Hopkins University, the new UCLA faculty members are joining a well established, cross-disciplinary stem cell research team at the ISCBM that includes top senior scientists studying stem cells and their role in cancer, HIV/AIDS, metabolic diseases, immune systems, skeletal and cardiac disease, and neurological disorders.

All under 40, the four women and one man are among the top up-and-coming stem cell researchers in the world and represent the leading-edge of science, said Dr. Owen Witte, director of the stem cell institute. READ MORE... & MORE                                                                                                           

ISCBM Researcher Finds Neural Stem Cells Grown in the Laboratory are Inferior to those taken from Donated Fetal Tissue: July 26, 2006
ISCBM scientists found that neural stem cells grown from one of the federally approved human embryonic stem cell lines proved to be inferior to neural stem cells derived from fetal tissue donated for research. Dr. Guoping Fan and associates coaxed cells from the federally approved line to differentiate into neural stem cells, a process that might one day be used to grow replacement cells to treat such debilitating  diseases as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s. However, the neural stem cells had an abnormality in a gene called CPT 1A that inhibited expression, a metabolic condition that causes hypoglycemia in humans.The study appears this week in an early online edition of the journal Human Molecular Genetics.

Associated Press Showcases ISCBM July 24, 2006
ISCBM scientists and their work were showcased in a July 24, 2006 Associated Press (AP) story on President Bush's veto on expanding federal funding for stem cell research.  Faculty featured included Institute co-director Judith Gasson, Drs. Harley Kornblum, Hanna Mikkola, and Jerome Zack.  The AP report also appeared online in the Lexington Herald Leader: "Stem Cell Research Goes on Despite Federal Restrictions".

UCLA Researchers Transform Stem Cells Found in Human Fat Into Smooth Muscle Cells
July 24, 2006
ISCBM scientist Dr. Larissa V. Rodriguez and colleagues from the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and the UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science today announced they have transformed adult stem cells taken from human adipose—or fat—tissue into smooth muscle cells, which help the normal function of a multitude of organs, including the intestine, bladder and arteries. The study may help lead to the use of fat stem cells for smooth muscle tissue engineering and repair. Reported in the July 24 online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the study is one of the first to show that stem cells derived from adipose tissue can be changed to acquire the physical and biochemical characteristics, as well as the functionality, of smooth muscle cells. 
ARTICLE: PDFfile.

ISCBM & AIDS INSTITUTE Researchers Discover Way to Develop T-cells From Human Embryonic Stem Cells, Raising Hopes for a Gene Therapy to Combat AIDS: July 3, 2006
Researchers from the UCLA AIDS Institute and the Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Medicine demonstrated for the first time that human embryonic stem cells can be genetically manipulated and coaxed to develop into mature T-cells, raising hopes for a gene therapy to combat AIDS.
ARTICLE: PDF File

UCLA NEWS 4/10/06:
CIRM Releases First Year Training Grant Funds, UCLA Receives Largest Award
Read More: PDF File

UCLA Medicine, Winter 2006
"UCLA's Stem Cell Research Pioneers" (PDF File)

UCLA Magazine, January 2006
"Where Stem Cells Stand" (PDF File)

UCLA News 1/24/06
"Free Symposium at UCLA Explores the Promise and Perils of Stem Cell Research and Regenerative Medicine"
Read More: PDF Article | Online Link

UCLA Cancer Discoveries, 2005-2006
"The Promise of Stem Cells" (PDF File)

The Journal of Clinical Investigations, v115, n11 November 2005
"UCLA Director Gets the Goods as California Makes Good on its Stem Cell Initiative"
PDF File | Online Article

UCLA College Report, Summer 2005 Vol. 4
"First Steps in a Bold Scientific Adventure" (PDF File)

Jonsson Cancer Center Foundation News, Spring/Summer 2005
"JCCC Scientists Selected to Lead New UCLA Institute" Online Article

UCLA News 9/12/2005
"UCLA’s Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Medicine Receives $3.75 Million to Train Researchers"
Read More: Online Article | PDF Article

UCLA News 3/16/2005
"UCLA Launches $20 Million Stem Cell Institute to Investigate New Approaches to HIV, Cancer and Neurological Disorders"
Read More: Online Article | PDF Article