hPSC-derived Oligodendrocyte Reporter Cell System for Screening of Myelination Enhancing Drugs

Unmet Need
A study in 2017 funded by the National MS Society shows that nearly one million people are living with Multiple sclerosis (MS) in the United States. MS is a degenerative disease with no cure. In MS the central nervous system is damaged by the degradation of the protective sheath, called myelin, around the neurons. The cause is unclear, but there are two clear indicators of the disease: the immune system attacking the myelin and the inability of myelin to regrow after being damaged. Current disease modifying treatments for MS focus on immune suppression to slow the progression of the disease. Currently there are no drugs available that promote re-myelination. There are potential drugs that have been studied, but we need a way to screen their efficacy before potential clinical trials.

Technology Overview
Oligodendrocyte precursors cells (OPCs) are the precursor to myelinating cells, and a drug that promotes the maturation of these cells can result in re-myelination of damaged neurons. Our invention separates human embryonic OPCs to >90% purity, and measures the expression of proteins that mark the maturation of OPCs in response to a drug. The markers are genetically introduced into the cell culture allowing the test of both proteins to be performed over time and in the same cell culture. The advantages of our invention over others is that the stem cells are human derived, the purification of the cells is >90%, and the markers allow for time-course imaging within the same cell culture without the need for fixating the cells.

Stage of Development
Two proteins labeled in the cell have been measured to show the time and efficiency of the maturation of the precursor cells of myelinating cells.
 

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