stem cell replacement therapy for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy tagged posts

Skeletal muscle cells isolated using the ERBB3 and NGFR surface markers (right) restore human dystrophin (green) after transplantation significantly greater than previous methods (left). Credit: UCLA Broad Stem Cell Research Center/Nature Cell Bio

Discovery is major step towards a stem cell replacement therapy for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. UCLA scientists have developed a new strategy to efficiently isolate, mature and transplant skeletal muscle cells created from human pluripotent stem cells, which can produce all cell types of the body. The findings are a major step towards developing a stem cell replacement therapy for muscle diseases including Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, which affects approximately 1 in 5,000 boys in the U.S. and is the most common fatal childhood genetic disease.