Three UCLA scientists have been awarded state stem cell grants totalling US$ 3.97 million to fund investigations into the basic mechanisms underlying stem cell biology, cellular differentiation and cellular plasticity - the ability of adult stem cells to become cells other than their cell of origin.
The grants - 16 in all, totalling US$ 28 million — represent an effort by the California Institute of Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) to build a foundation to support future research designed to take stem cell science from the laboratory bench into the clinic. Studies supported by these awards will foster the realization of the full potential of human stem cells and reprogrammed induced pluripotent cells for therapies and as tools for biomedical innovation.
To date, UCLA and its stem cell scientists have received 38 grants from the CIRM totalling more than US$ 125 million.
"It is very rewarding to see the breadth and quality of the basic science at UCLA's stem cell center recognized with the awarding of these grants," said Dr Owen Witte, director of the UCLA Broad Stem Cell Research Center. "The science supported by these grants will propel future translational and clinical advances and hopefully result in new, more effective therapies for a host of diseases."
Broad Center stem cell researchers receiving basic biology grants include Dr. Benhur Lee, an associate professor of microbiology, immunology and molecular genetics, who was awarded US$ 1.37 million and whose grant received the highest score; Douglas Black, a professor of microbiology, immunology and molecular genetics and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator, who was awarded US$ 1.35 million; and Yong Kim, an adjunct assistant professor of dentistry, who was awarded US$ 1.25 million.
Lee's grant will fund research into two molecules that belong to a large family of cell surface signalling molecules known as receptor tyrosine kinases, which mediate and regulate signalling cascades when interacting with each other. Lee will focus on how this interaction affects human embryonic stem cell fate — what cells the embryonic stem cells eventually differentiate into. Understanding the regulation of this signalling axis could improve the culture of human embryonic stem cells and the efficiency of blood stem-cell lineage differentiation.
Black's grant will fund work examining the splicing process in normal human embryonic stem cells and how it is regulated when these cells differentiate into neuronal progenitor cells and neurons. The work could provide essential information on the biology of stem cells needed to move toward the development of therapies for diseases such as spinal muscular atrophy. The project also will provide a system for drug discovery in the new field of splicing targeted therapeutics.
Kim's grant will fund work based on his recent published findings that demonstrate the significance of the cell cycle regulatory molecule in embryonic stem cell self-renewal and differentiation. The work will focus on the molecular and cellular mechanisms of self-renewal and differentiation and seek to unveil a novel mechanism in stem cell regulation. The research will advance the understanding of human embryonic stem cell biology and the potential utilization of molecular regulatory mechanisms for future regenerative therapies.
The Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research: UCLA's stem cell center was launched in 2005 with a UCLA commitment of US$ 20 million over five years. A US$ 20 million gift from the Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation in 2007 resulted in the renaming of the center.