IBN Discovers Human Neural Stem Cells, Promising Discovery For Breast Cancer Therapy

By Tengku Noor Shamsiah Tengku Abdullah SINGAPORE, April 20 (Bernama) -- Could engineered human stem cells hold the key to cancer survival? Scientists at the Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (IBN), the world's first bioengineering and nanotechnology research institute, have discovered that neural stem cells possess the innate ability to target tumor cells outside the central nervous system. This finding, which was demonstrated successfully on breast cancer cells, was recently published in leading peer reviewed journal, Stem Cells. Despite decades of cancer research, cancer remains a leading cause of death worldwide, accounting for 7.6 million deaths in 2008, and breast cancer is one of the most common causes of cancer deaths each year. In Singapore, more than 1,400 women are diagnosed with breast cancer and more than 300 die as a result of breast cancer annually. A team of researchers led by IBN group leader Dr Shu Wang, has made a landmark discovery that neural stem cells (NSCs) derived from human induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells could be used to treat breast cancer. The effectiveness of using NSCs, which originate from the central nervous system, to treat brain tumors has been investigated in previous studies. This is the first study that demonstrates that iPS cell-derived NSCs could also target tumors outside the central nervous system, to treat both primary and secondary tumors. Dr Shu said: “We have demonstrated that tumor-targeting neural stem cells may be derived from human iPS cells, and that these cells may be used in combination with a therapeutic gene to cripple tumor growth. "This is a significant finding for stem cell-based cancer therapy, and we will continue to improve and optimise our neural stem cell system by preventing any unwanted activation of the therapeutic gene in non-tumor regions and minimizing possible side effects." Meanwhile, IBN executive director Professor Jackie. Y. Ying said IBN’s expertise in generating human stem cells from iPS cells and its novel use of insect virus carriers for gene delivery had paved the way for the development of innovative stem cell-based therapies. -- BERNAMA