Combined regulation of neural cell production
AssigneeStem Cell Therapeutics Inc.
InventorsBradley G. Thompson, Samuel Weiss, Tetsuro Shingo
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Abstract
This invention relates to a method of selectively producing neural cells, including neurons or glial cells, in vitro or in vivo. Also provided are methods of treating or ameliorating neurodegenerative disease or medical conditions by producing neural cells. Thus, a combination of factors is used to achieve two steps: increasing the number of neural stem cells and instructing the neural stem cells to selectively become neurons or glial cells.
Claims30
A method for producing neuronal precursor cells or glial precursor cells, comprising:
- (a) providing at least one neural stem cell;
- (b) contacting the neural stem cell with prolactin in an amount sufficient to increase the number of neural stem cells;
- and
- (c) contacting the neural stem cells from step (b) with at least one additional factor selected from the group consisting of erythropoietin (EPO), pituitary adenylate cyclase activating polypeptide (PACAP), serotonin, bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) and cAMP in an amount sufficient to enhance the formation of neuronal precursor cells or glial precursor cells from the neural stem cells.
A method for producing neuronal precursor cells or glial precursor cells, comprising:
- (a) providing at least one neural stem cell;
- (b) contacting the neural stem cell with a factor selected from the group consisting of estrogen, ciliary neurotrophic factor (CNTF), fibroblast growth factor (FGF), transforming growth factor alpha (TGFα) and epidermal growth factor (EGF) in an amount sufficient to increase the number of neural stem cells;
- and
- (c) contacting the neural stem cells from step (b) with prolactin.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.