Old cows benefit from somatic cell nuclear transfer

WORCESTER, MASS. - 7/05/05 - Cloned-derived stem cells show an exponentially competitive advantage for regenerative capacity compared to adult stem cells, according to new research conducted in large animals.

Scientists for Advanced Cell Technology (ACT), which trades publicly as ACTC.OB, and its collaborators revealed that cells generated by somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) offer the potential for treatment of a wide range of degenerative diseases. The research will appear in the June 2005 issue of "Cloning and Stem Cells".

"The ability to regenerate an aged or defective immune system without the need for drugs, tissue matching or the risk of graft-versus-host disease would have important implications for medicine," ACT Medical Director and lead author Robert Lanza says in a prepared statement. "We hope to use this technology in the future to treat patients with diverse diseases, such as marrow-failure disorders, various genetic diseases and malignancies, as well as debilitating autoimmune diseases including MS, arthritis, diabetes and lupus."

Marked nuclei from 10 to 13-year-old cows were used to generate fetal liver hematopoietic stem cells. The cloned stem cells were transplanted back into nuclear donor animals both with and without myelosuppressive/ablative drugs. Cloned cells were demonstrated in the animals for more than a year in blood, lymph nodes and endothelium, peaking at levels of up to 60 percent in circulating progenitors and 9 to 11 percent in blood granulocytes.