HKU Bulletin August 2010 (Vol. 11 No. 3)

8 The University of Hong Kong Bulletin 9 August 2010 Some of the survivors showed significant improvement, but others experienced greater arrhythmia and died. “This is not about saying, what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. We want to avoid that. Before we think of clinical efficacy, let’s make sure that what we’re developing is safe,” he says. Having said that, there is good reason for optimism. Stem cell research has actually been around for about 50 years, and bone marrow transplants, which resulted from early research, have been helping patients for three decades. HKU haematologists conducted Hong Kong’s first bone marrow transplants in 1990. The stem cell field really shot to prominence, though, in 1998 with the discovery of the first hESCs, followed by iPSCs in 2007. Professor Li cites a comparison of stem cell research to the state of electronics in the 1960s to suggest how quickly and how far things could advance. But given the sensitive nature of the source of stem cells, the way may not be all smooth sailing. Ethical considerations Stem cells entail ethical considerations that came under the spotlight under former US President George W. Bush. hESCs were discovered in the US and subsequently sourced from the unused embryos of in vitro fertility treatments, which would otherwise be destroyed. Nonetheless, the pro-life movement objected that using hESCs in research violated the sanctity of life, and Bush banned federal funding for all forms of hESC research other than lines derived before 9:00pm EDT on August 9, 2001. This ban was lifted by US President Barack Obama. Professor Li says HKU is mindful of the concerns and sources hESCs from recognized laboratories in the US and Singapore. Hong Kong allows unused embryos from fertility treatments to be used in stem cell research, although the related law, the Human Reproductive Technology Ordinance, is concerned mostly with reproduction. Dr Athena Liu of the Faculty of Law helped to draft the ordinance, which was enacted in 2000 when hESC use was in its infancy. The law and its code of practice address some of the key ethical points, such as securing donor consent and prohibiting donors from profiting so they will not create embryos specifically for research. Still, there are lingering issues that apply to donors of both embryonic stem cells and adult stem cells, she says. “How is informed consent possible if the donor has no idea how it will be used?” she asks. “There is also the issue of whether the donor of adult stem cells should have the right to participate in some of the windfall, although since the law says you can’t profit from embryonic research, I don’t see why it should be different for other stem cells. “The thing is, science is always racing ahead and the law is trying to keep up desperately.” That situation is behind efforts by the Faculty of Medicine to draft standard operating and guidelines for clinical trials with stem cells. Professor Li says he would also like to see the Hong Kong government get more actively involved in the field. He points out that while HKU is making advances in stem cell research, government interest and commitment lags behind other places. Government investment is needed “The challenge is to keep our research programme sustainable. I haven’t seen a single successful stem cell research centre that hasn’t been backed by their government. These include Harvard, Johns Hopkins, University of Wisconsin (where human ESCs were first isolated) and others in Europe, Japan and Singapore,” he says. Government support accords attention and priority – and most importantly, funding. While stem cell research at HKU has had a good start, with funding from the University and donors and international experts lined up to assess projects and collaborate with researchers, this is not sufficient on its own to carry things forward, Professor Li says. A specially-earmarked funding commitment is needed to support stem cell research across Hong Kong. “You might argue there are already existing funds for medical research, why have another? The reason is that stem cell research is a new field and it is very difficult to compete with existing fields that have a lot more mature findings to report. It’s a young field and still in its infancy, and it needs room and resources to grow. This is usually the case with major scientific advances. That’s why different countries and governments are coming up with initiatives to support it,” he says. Like the stem cells themselves, the HKU researchers hope that Hong Kong, too, will receive enough government stimulation and support so they can differentiate themselves and become an international hub for academic stem cell research. Real-time imaging of the chromosome of an actively dividing human pluripotent stem cell. Examination of over 35,000 human genes expressed in human pluripotent stem cells. Human embryoid bodies (rounded structures) that contain ALL cell types of the body, including even the most specialized ones such as brain, heart, pancreatic, liver, blood cells, etc. These specialized cells can serve as the ‘building blocks’ for curing untreatable diseases. Our scientists have genetically engineered them to express the so- called green fluorescent protein for tracking their origin as donors after transplantation. Human pluripotent stem cell-derived ‘cardiac pacemaker’ (green), transplanted to recipient heart muscle cells, can potentially replace conventional electronic pacemakers for treating certain heart rhythm disturbances (i.e. arrhythmias). Human Pluripotent Stem Cell-derived heart muscle cells, stained green for the cardiac-restricted protein tropomyosin, before (A) and after (B) engineering with a ‘microgroove’ technology. The latter display a more organized structure and better resemble what are seen in the adult heart. Scale bars = 10 µm Cover Story