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150 stem cells lines needed for British therapeutic bank

Posted on: Thursday, 8 December 2005, 19:37 CST

By Patricia Reaney

LONDON (Reuters) - Scientists have calculated that about 150 stem cell lines derived from embryos would be needed to one day establish a therapeutic stem cell bank in Britain.

"The study, although a simulation of the projected requirements, provides the UK Stem Cell Bank with initial targets for the population of a bank that could meet long term therapeutic objectives," Justin St John said.

The lecturer at the University of Birmingham in England said in a commentary in The Lancet medical journal where the findings were published on Friday that the scale of what needs to be done is now clearer.

Stem cells have the potential to provide new therapies for diseases ranging from cancer and diabetes to Alzheimer's disease and spinal cord injuries.

Britain set up the world's first stem cell bank in May 2004 to store and supply the cells for research and ultimately treatments for human illnesses.

Although stem cell therapies are still many years away, scientists have tried to estimate the number of stem cell lines -- reservoirs of cells derived from single human embryo -- that would be needed to match recipients in the most cases.

"We found that about 150 donors would give a very good match for about one in five recipients," Professor J. Andrew Bradley, of Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge, England, told a news conference.

That number would also provide a modest match for about 90 percent and an intermediate tissue match for about 50 percent to 70 percent of patients.

The researchers also identified a sub-set of stem cells from 10 human embryos that could theoretically provide a very good match for about 38 percent of recipients.

MULTIPLE RECIPIENTS

Like donor organs, stem cells from a therapeutic bank need to be matched to the recipient as closely as possible to minimize the risk of rejection and the need for immunosuppressant drugs.

But unlike a heart, lung or liver transplant, which is provided by one donor for one patient, a single stem cell line could be used for multiple recipients.

The use of embryonic stem cells is controversial because the master cells that can form into any cell type in the body are derived from spare in-vitro fertilization (IVF) embryos.

Bradley and his colleagues, who reported the findings in The Lancet medical journal, estimated the number of stem cell lines needed by analyzing the blood group and tissue types of 10,000 organs donors for their compatibility to 6,577 patients registered on the British kidney-transplant waiting list.

"A bank of 150 donors provided the maximum utility," Bradley explained, adding that full matches were found for only 2 percent of black and Asian recipients.

Last week British finance minister Gordon Brown announced the country would double spending on stem cell research to 100 million pounds over the next 2 years. Part of the funding will be used to support the stem cell bank.

Britain, along with South Korea, Singapore and the United States, is one of the leaders in stem cell research. Spain, the United States, Singapore also have plans for stem cell banks.

(Additional reporting by Ben Herschel in London)

Source: REUTERS

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