Fat stem cells: model and potential therapy for Motor Neurone Disease

  • Research type

    Research Study

  • Full title

    Isolating human adipocyte-derived stem cells from patients with motor neurone disease, their relatives/carers and healthy volunteers: an in-vitro model and potential therapy.

  • IRAS ID

    145593

  • Contact name

    Pamela Shaw

  • Contact email

    pamela.shaw@sheffield.ac.uk

  • Research summary

    Motor neurone disease (MND) is a severe disease affecting the motor nerves in the brain and spinal cord that control voluntary movements such as walking, talking, swallowing and breathing. It starts in mid adult life and leads to progressive paralysis and death within 2-3years. Around 5000 people in the UK are currently living with MND. There is no cure for MND and current treatments such as medication and help with breathing and feeding only extend life by a few months. To understand MND and develop new treatments in the laboratory we need cells and tissues that copy the motor nerves of patients closely. Adipocyte stem cells are special cells found within the fat tissue of the body. They can be extracted from people and grown in the laboratory where they can be turned into nerve cells. We believe that nerve cells grown from adipocyte stem cells will closely copy the motor nerves of a patient and by comparing nerve cells grown from MND patients to those of healthy people we hope to better understand what causes MND and develop new treatments. We will be asking patients with MND and their family members, partners, carers and associated healthy volunteers, who are of a similar age, to have a minor procedure to remove a small amount abdominal fat. We are only recruiting participants attending hospitals in Sheffield, UK. The study will start in June 2014 and continue to recruit participants for 3years.

  • REC name

    Yorkshire & The Humber - South Yorkshire Research Ethics Committee

  • REC reference

    14/YH/0174

  • Date of REC Opinion

    6 Jun 2014

  • REC opinion

    Favourable Opinion