Joseph R Wagner

US Patent:

7465582, Dec 16, 2008

Filed:

Apr 27, 2000

Appl. No.:

09/980913

Inventors:

Ernest Arenas - Stockholm, SE
Thomas Perlmann - Sollentuna, SE
Evan Y. Snyder - Boston MA, US
Joseph Wagner - West Chester PA, US
Peter Akerud - Stockholm, SE

Assignee:

Neuro Therapeutics AB - Stockholm

International Classification:

C12N 15/00

US Classification:

435377, 435375, 435325

Abstract:

The invention relates to the induction of the neuronal fate in neural stem cells or neural progenitor cells. The inventors have found that a neuronal fate in a neural stem cell or neural progenitor cell can be induced by expressing Nurr1 above basal levels within the cell. Nurr1 is a transcription factor of the thyroid hormone/retinoic acid nuclear receptor superfamily. It is shown herein that the expression of Nurr1 above basal levels in neural stem cells or neural progenitor cells increases the proportion of the cells which differentiate toward a neural fate. It has been found that in particular, dopaminergic neural stem cells or progenitor cells by a process including expression of Nurr1 above basal levels in the cells and contact of the cells with one or more factors supplied by or derived from Type I astrocytes of the ventral mesencephalon.