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Published online 13 March 2008 | Nature 452, 263- (2008) | doi:10.1038/452263a
News: Q&A
Banking on the future of stem cells
Representatives of 21 stem-cell funding agencies from 19 countries — members of the International Stem Cell Forum — met in San Francisco at the end of February to discuss collaborations and how to coordinate cell banks and registries. Among them was Leszek Borysiewicz, head of the UK Medical Research Council (MRC), who spoke to Nature about the effort.
Researchers already share cell lines, so why are stem-cell banks important?
They make material available to investigators in a characterized way, so that you get reproducibility. You can imagine how important that’s going to become as we start to get closer to putting this material back into patients.
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"Epigenetics and neural stem cells" as new strategies for psychiatric research using post-mortem brains: After the 1st Symposium for Brain Bank, 22 October 2006, Fukushima, Japan------- Keiko Ikemoto, MD, PhD Department of Neuropsychiatry, Fukushima Medical University School of Medicine 1, Hikarigaoka, Fukushima, 960-1295, Japan Phone: +81-24-547-1331 Fax: +81-24-548-6735 e-mail: ikemoto@fmu.ac.jp ---------- One year and a half has passed since the 1st Symposium for Brain Bank, 22 October 2006, Fukushima, Japan, supported by a Gran-in-Aid for Scientific Research from Japan Society for Promotion Sciences (Representative: Dr. Keiko Ikemoto). This was the first grant for Japanese brain banks from a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research. In Japan, being different from the USA or Europe, establishment of psychiatric brain banks is far more delayed, in spite of the fact that post-mortem brains has been essential to clarify the subtle deficits in neuronal network formation responsible for the impaired higher mental functions, for example, of schizophrenia. For Japanese researchers, brain materials of Stanley Brain Bank or Harvard Brain Bank have been convenient research resources, though enormous Japanese financial support was needed for the data contributed to foreign brain banks. Such situation has been no ideal for Japanese institutes including RIKEN. The theme of the symposium was "New strategies for psychiatric research using post-mortem brains." The organizers emphasized "epigenetics" and "neural stem cells" for further research topics using post-mortem brains. Two invited foreign symposists were Professor Kiminobu Sugaya from Laboratory of Stem Cells, Burnett College of Biomedical Sciences, University of Central Florida, Orlando, USA, and Doctor Rivka Ravid from Royal Dutch Academy of Sciences, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.2 Nine domestic symposists contained Mr. Tokuo Uemori, from Association of Family Members with People with Mental Illness in Atsugi City, Kanazawa Prefecture.2 Approximately fifty attendances were consisted of psychiatrist, neuroscientists, brain-researchers, lawyers, and psychiatric patients and their families. Recent updated publications have surely demonstrated that "epigenetics and neural stem cells" are essential topics in the psychiatric research field.1,3 It is crucial to establish the network system of Japanese brain banks that enables Japanese researchers to readily use brain materials for psychiatric research. ------------References 1 Duan X et al: (2007) Disrupted-in-schizophrenia 1 regulates integration of newly generated neurons in the adult brain. Cell 130: 1146-1158. 2 Ikemoto K and Niwa S (2007) “New strategies for psychiatric research using post-mortem brains�, Proceedings of the 1st Symposium for Brain Bank, 22 October 2006, Fukushima, Japan. Psychiatr Clin Neurosci 61: S19-23. 3 Tsakova N et al: (2007) Epigenetic modulation in psychiatric disorders. Nat Rev Neurosci 8: 355-367.