Dr. Rizzino begins work on new embryonic stem cell line

UNMC researcher Angie Rizzino, Ph.D., has obtained one of the first new human embryonic stem cell lines approved for use by the National Institutes of Health since President Obama ordered an update of the federal stem cell research guidelines in 2009.

Angie Rizzino, Ph.D.

The cell line, which was developed from embryos not viable for implantation, was obtained from the laboratory of George Daley, M.D., Ph.D., an associate professor of biological chemistry and molecular pharmacology at Harvard Medical School and an oncologist for Children’s Hospital and Dana Farber Cancer Institute in Boston.

Dr. Rizzino, professor in the Eppley Institute, plans to start work with the new stem cell line in the near future.

Dr. Rizzino’s lab aims to:

• Understand key molecular mechanisms that control the dual properties of human pluripotent stem cells — their ability to replicate without limit and their ability to develop into virtually any cell type of the human body;
  
• Understand the molecular mechanisms that control the formation of human and mouse induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), which are similar to embryonic stem cells and which can be generated from a wide range of adult human cells; and
  
• Develop an understanding of the molecular mechanisms that control the growth of difficult-to-treat human cancers.

“The science, technology and regulation of the use of human embryonic stem cells have advanced dramatically in recent years,” said Tom Rosenquist, Ph.D., vice chancellor for research. “The expanded NIH-funded stem cell research initiative will result in an explosion of data that will hasten the therapeutic and life-saving application of stem cells.

More research A second UNMC scientist, Surinder Batra, Ph.D., professor and chairman of the biochemistry and molecular biology department, also has received permission from the IRB and the ESCRO Committee to use human embryonic stem cells for research into Type I diabetes. For more information on all of UNMC’s regenerative medicine research, please go to http://www.unmc.edu/regenerativemed/.

“Lives will be improved, extended and saved. It is exciting and important that one of our most well-respected senior scientists, Dr. Rizzino, is going to be part of this process.”

Before Dr. Rizzino could obtain the new cell line, he had to receive approval from UNMC’s Institutional Review Board and its Embryonic Stem Cell Research Oversight (ESCRO) Committee.

The 10-member ESCRO Committee, which was formed by UNMC to specifically deal with embryonic stem cell research, includes eight UNMC scientists as well as two community members, one of whom is a non-scientist.