The National Institute of Health re-approved research on one of the most prevalent lines of human embryonic stem cells Friday, however, this approval may meet new challenges as federal funding for the National Stem Cell Bank dries up.
The request to re-approve the line for research was submitted by WiCell, a research and distribution institute which partners with the University of Wisconsin.
The H1 line of cells was first derived by UW Professor of Anatomy James Thomson in conjunction with UW in 1998 at WiCell.
Since that time, the WiCell Research Institute and National Stem Cell Bank have been making this line available to researchers throughout the world, spokesperson for Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation Janet Kelly said.
H1 stem cells are cited in more than 60 percent of all published scientific papers, accounting for more than 30 percent of orders for the National Stem Cell Bank, according to Kelly.
The H1 line became the 43rd stem cell line approved after President Barack Obama’s executive order last March.
This order reversed a policy by ex-President George W. Bush that prohibited federal funds from being granted for human embryonic stem cell projects if research had not already begun.
Starting last June, the director of the NIH began to review stem cell lines for approval for research.
“There had been a recommendation to make [the H1 stem cell line] available again, and [Friday] the National Institute of Health added it to the national stem cell registry,” Kelly said.
WiCell Executive Director Erik Forsberg said the reapproval of H1 cells is important because they can be used to potentially treat any number of diseases.
“There’s all kinds of ideas of what [human embryonic stem cells] could be used for,” Forsberg said. “The most prominent are things like type-1 diabetes, Parkinson’s disease and other spinal injuries like ALS (spinal cord injuries). There have been a lot of types of diseases that have been proposed.”
Forsberg gave examples of important H1 research being conducted at UW, including Associate Professor of Medicine Tim Kamp’s, who is using H1 cell lines to treat heart disease.
While NIH’s approval opened new doors for stem cell research, WiCell may struggle in conducting research due to the closing of the National Stem Cell Bank, WiCell’s main stem cell distributor.
According to Forsberg, the bank will close Feb. 28 due to a lack of funding from the NIH. He added today is the last day for WiCell to place orders with the bank.
“It’s becoming an issue as to how people are going to get the new cell lines that are being approved,” Forsberg said.
He added after the close, WiCell will order all cells from WISC Bank, a small cell distributor set up by Thomson in 2008 and owned by WiCell.
Being a small company, WISC Bank may not be able to stay financially viable, Forsberg said.
“It’s kind of unusual to make [these cell lines] approved for federal funding and yet make their distribution to scientists much more difficult,” Forsberg said.
–Carolyn Briggs contributed to this report.
