Stem cells may help trial drugs
19 hours ago
Drugs could be screened for potential harmful side-effects before
they are trialled in patients using pioneering stem cell research, it
has been announced.
A team at Edinburgh University has generated human liver cells from
embryonic stem cells.
The research focuses on certain enzymes within the liver cells that
play a key role in processing drugs.
Dr David Hay, a research fellow at the university's MRC Centre for
Regenerative Medicine, said: "While people have investigated the
toxicity of drugs relating to the liver, we have generated a unique
model that allows us to focus on key enzymes which are important in
drug metabolism.
"This paves the way for testing drugs in a laboratory setting before
trials in animals and humans."
Scientists looked at a particular family of enzymes - known as p450
isozymes.
They play an essential role in many bodily functions and in
particular the removal of foreign compounds from the body.
"The use of embryonic stem cells hold great promise as they provide
us with the ability to create unlimited numbers of human cells such
as those found in the liver," Dr Hay added.
"These cells could then be used in biomedical research, drug
discovery and cellular therapy.
"Such an unlimited supply of liver cells is a distinct advantage over
current methods, which use liver cells from organs not able to be
transplanted that are of poor quality and limited in supply."
http://ukpress.
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