( oal for this experiment was to do cell ...)Researchers devise new technique for creating human stem cells

oal for this experiment was to do cell fusion in a way that would allow the elimination of the embryonic stem cell nucleus to create an embryonic stem cell from the somatic cell," said Melton. "This paper reports only the first step toward that goal, because we end up with a tetraploid cell. So, while this does not obviate the need for human oocytes, it demonstrates that this general approach of cell fusion is an interesting one that should be further explored."

The researchers also performed fusion experiments using pelvic bone cells as the somatic cells and a different human embryonic cell line, to demonstrate that their technique was not restricted to one adult cell type or embryonic cell line.

In both cases, the researchers observed extensive reprogramming of the somatic cells. "We were surprised at how complete the reprogramming was," said Eggan. "I think we were expecting that there would be more 'memory' of the adult state than the embryonic in the hybrid cells. It was quite clear that when we looked at these hybrid cells, they had completely reverted to an embryonic state."

Melton said that the remaining technical hurdle is figuring out a way to eliminate the embryonic stem cell nucleus in the hybrid cell, causing it to have a normal number of chromosomes. One problem, said Melton, is that the nucleus in stem cells is large, occupying nearly the entire cell. Thus, it is not practical to physically extract the nucleus, as is currently done with oocytes, which have a relatively small nucleus. An alternative approach of destroying the embryonic stem cell nucleus with chemicals or radiation would induce the cell's suicide program, called apoptosis, he said.

Melton emphasized that "at this at this stage in our understanding, the hard fact is that the only way to create an embryonic stem cell from a somatic cell is by nuclear transfer into oocytes. Taking advantage of this current capability -- such as colleagues in South Korea and
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Source:Howard Hughes Medical Institute

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