Samples currently distributed by RIKEN BRC Cell Bank
1j Human cell lines
2j Animal cell lines
3j Human cord bloods
4j Human mesenchymal stem cells
5) Human B cells: Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) transformed cells |
Introduction
The Cell Engineering Division of the BioResource Center in the Institute of Physical and Chemical Research (RIKEN BRC) serves as a cell bank and carries out tasks such as collecting, inspecting, standardizing, maintaining, quality controlling, and distributing cell materials derived from human and animal sources, for the purpose of promoting life science research (http://www.brc.riken.jp/lab/cell/) . Since we started in 1986, in addition to functioning as a cell bank, we have been conducting developmental research on new cell materials and gathering related information, and have been working towards promoting the techniques for handling these materials. Moreover, in recent years, we have included human-derived normal cells such as stem cells and primary cells into our administration with the aim of promoting researches in embryology, transplantation therapy, regenerative medicine and other fields. As the latest developmental activity, we are trying to improve the technology to acquire, establish, maintain, preserve and cultivate embryonic stem cell lines, high-order function maintained cell lines and human-derived nutritive cells. The Cell Engineering Division was designated as the resource center for the cell (animal culture cells, cancer cells, etc.) department of the National BioResource Project funded by Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) in 2002 and later, for human cell department too in 2003. We are playing an important role in preparing cell materials in Japan .
@ There are eight departments in RIKEN BRC besides the cell department such as the animal, plant, gene, microbe and information department (http://www.brc.riken.jp/). In order to be the base of all life science researches from fundamental researches to applied researches, our motto while developing and maintaining resources is gReliability, Sustainability and Leadershiph. We are constantly striving to improve the intellectual infrastructure in Japan .
y1z Cultured Cell Lines
After our initiation in 1986, we have been collecting materials related to various cell lines and the number of accumulated cell line materials has exceeded 2000. In 2003, the Cell Resource Center for Biomedical Research which is part of the Institute of Development , Aging and Cancer, Tohoku University , was designated to be a subsidiary organization for the ghuman cellh department of the National BioResource Project. The human-derived cell lines that were collected, stored, and distributed there were transferred to our division. We have started the process of culturing, preserving and distributing these cell lines. Once the preparations are made, we will be temporarily releasing the cell lines available for distribution on our website ( http://www.brc.riken.jp/lab/cell/ ).
We have been distributing 50 - 60 ampoules a week and a total of approximately 3,000 ampoules per year . Although the recipients were mainly from Japan , approximately 10% of the ampoules were distributed overseas. Moreover, although the recipients were mainly nonprofit research organizations such as universities, approximately 20% of the ampoules were distributed to private research organizations such as companies. The numbers of domestic and foreign recipient organizations has reached nearly 1,000 and 600, respectively.
y2z Human Cord Blood
There is a possibility that various somatic stem cells besides blood stem cells are contained in the marrow ( References 1* , Fig. 1 ). However, it is not easy to obtain human bone marrow cells. On the other hand, it is known that the frequency of finding blood stem cells in the cord blood is higher than in the bone marrow ( Fig. 2 ). Moreover, there is a possibility that various somatic stem cells other than the blood stem cells are contained in the cord blood ( Fig. 1 ). Furthermore, it was shown that the blood stem cells may differentiate into other types of cells ( Fig. 3 ). Therefore, cord blood has great potential as a research material in regenerative medicine.
Fig. 1 : Stem cells that may exist in the bone marrow
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Fig. 2 : Applications of cord blood
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Fig.3 : Applications of human CD34 positive cells
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Our research is conducted in collaboration with a leading project of MEXT, "Realization of Regenerative Medicine Project - Stem Cell Bank Preparation for Research Use," and we are assisted by the Stem Cell Bank of Tohoku University, the Stem Cell Bank of Institute of Medical Science of The University of Tokyo (IMSUT) , the Research Resource Bank of Tokaido University, the Stem Cell Bank of Nagoya Medical Center and the Hyogo Stem Cell Bank.
The use of cord blood cell samples is restricted to researches dedicated to developing regenerative medicine. The approval of the ethical review committee of the recipient organization and also an authoritative permission are required for the use of these samples and therefore, written documents should be prepared before placing an order.
Although distribution of these materials is now limited to only domestic nonprofit institutions, distribution to domestic profit-making institutions is being arranged in conjunction to the "Realization of Regenerative Medicine Project - Stem Cell Bank Preparation for Research Use".
y3z Human Mesenchymal Stem Cells A mesenchymal stem cell is a type of somatic stem cell that can differentiate into a bone cell, cartilage cell, adipose cell or other kind of cells (References2-11*, Fig. 4 ), and it has been reported that it can differentiate into a cardiac muscle cell, vascular endothelial cell or nerve cell, etc. (References2-11*, Fig. 4 ). Therefore, mesenchymal stem cells attract considerable interest as research material in the field of regenerative medicine, like the somatic stem cells in cord blood mentioned above ( Fig. 5 ).
These cells are collected, stored, and distributed in collaboration with the Graduate School of Biomedical Science, Hiroshima University Graduate School (Dr. Yukio Kato) and the National Research Institute for Child Health and Development (Dr. Akihiro Umezawa).
The approval of the ethical review committee of the recipient organization and the permission of an authorized representative of the organization are required for the use of these cells. Therefore, written documents should be prepared before placing an order.
Note: Reference information is available only in the web edition
Fig. 4 : Applications of mesenchymal stem cells
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Fig. 5 Mesenchymal Stem Cell Differentiation
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y4z Human Immortalized Cells (EB Virus Transformed Human B Cells)
These cells are mainly used as a genome incubator, and in this post-genome age, they are essential to various research fields such as human genetics and disease genes.
The cell bank activities with regard to EB virus transformed human B cells are being carried out in collaboration with the Frontier Center, National Institute of Radiological Sciences (Dr. Takashi Imai). In addition, we are maintaining EB virus transformed human B cells derived from various races along with those derived from Japanese people together with the Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Science, Kagoshima University (Dr. Toshiro Sonoda and Dr. Naomichi Arima).
y5z Ethical Problems Regarding Human Cell Material Handling
The human cell materials that we handle are examined by the Research Ethical Committee of RIKEN Tsukuba Institute which is based on the "Ethical Guidelines for Research on Human Genome and Gene Analysis (Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, and Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry)" and "Ethical Guidelines for Epidemiological Research (Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology and Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare)". Only those approved by the committee will be handled by this bank.
When a human cell material is deposited or transferred to this division, we check to see if it has met the approval of the ethical committees of both the organization that collected it and the organization which deposited or transferred it based on the abovementioned guidelines.
With regard to the distribution of human cell materials, we provide materials after receiving proof of approval from the ethical committee of the recipient organization if it is required. At present, the approval of the ethical committee of the recipient organization is required to use the human cord blood and human mesenchymal stem cells. Therefore, proof of approval should be prepared before placing an order.
y6z Cell Materials Quality Control
We have confirmed that all cell materials that we are distributing are free of mycoplasma contamination. We employ the short tandem repeat polymerase chain reaction (STR-PCR) method, a kind of genetic polymorphism analysis method, to improve the human-derived cell lines discrimination, and we examine every human-derived cell lines that we distribute. The results of these analyses can viewed at http://www.brc.riken.jp/lab/cell/.
y7z Technical Development of New Cell Materials
We are working to improve the technology of mass culture and induction of in vitro differentiation of marmoset ES cells and Macaca fascicularis ES cells. Moreover, for clinical application of ES cells, it is essential to use human-derived nutritive cells instead of those derived from mice. Therefore, we are also working towards establishing human-derived nutritive cells in order to meet the future demand for these cells. We are using stem cells that exist in tissues associated with the fetus such as the placenta, the amnion, and the umbilical cord as original materials.
y8z Culture Facility Conforming to Good Manufacturing Practice
The culture facility is maintained in accordance to the Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) requirements for culturing human stem cells. At present we use this facility to culture human mesenchymal stem cells, human blood stem cells, etc., and we aim to carry out bank activities related to human embryonic stem cells (human ES cells) in the future.
(Note: Bank activities for human ES cells require an alteration in the government policy and an approval from the government)
y9z Questions regarding the cell deposition procedure, the cell distribution procedure, the cell culture method, etc.
Questions regarding our activities or cell culture are accepted via e-mail at cellqa@brc.riken.jp . You can also contact us at this address if you wish to subscribe to our periodical electronic newsletter.
Conclusion
The cell bank activities are supported by researchers who deposit or transfer cells. Your cooperation in the deposition or transfer of cells is highly appreciated. We consider aiding the development of life science researches with our activities as a way to repay the abovementioned researchers, or in the case of human-derived cells, patients or healthy volunteers who donated their cells. Here, we would like to express our respect and gratitude to all cell donors and hope that the research would benefit all the researchers and patients who require these cells.
yReferencesz
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Plasticity: Time for a Reappraisal Science 296 ; 2126-2129 (2002) Holden, C. and Vogel, G.
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Plasticity and therapeutic potential of mesenchymal stem cells in the nervous system. Curr. Pharm. Des. 11 ; 1255-1265 (2005) Phinney, D.G., and Isakova, I.
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Mesenchymal stem cells in musculoskeletal tissue engineering: a review of recent advances in National University of Singapore. Ann. Acad. Med. Singapore 34 ; 206-212 (2005) Hui, J.H., Ouyang, H.W., Hutmacher, D.W., Goh, J.C., and Lee, E.H.
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Biology and clinical applications of marrow mesenchymal stem cells. Pathol. Biol. ( Paris ). 53 ; 162-164 (2005) Carlo-Stella, C., and Gianni, M.A.
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Mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) as therapeutic cytoreagents for gene therapy. Cancer Sci. 96 ; 149-156 (2005) Hamada, H., Kobune, M., Nakamura, K., Kawano, Y., Kato, K., Honmou, O., Houkin, K., Matsunaga, T., and Niitsu, Y.
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Mesenchymal stem cells in the infarcted heart. Coron. Artery Dis. 16 ; 93-97 (2005) Jain, M., Pfister, O., Hajjar, R.J., and Liao, R.
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Integral therapeutic potential of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells. Curr. Drug Targets. 6 ; 31-41 (2005) Kan , I. , Melamed, E., and Offen, D.
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Mesenchymal stem cells: an alternative source of hepatocytes Hepatology 40 ; 1256-1259 (2005) Gilgenkrantz, H.
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Mesenchymal stem cells: cell biology and potential use in therapy. Basic Clin. Pharmacol. Toxicol. 95 ; 209-214 (2005) Kassem, M., Kristiansen, M., and Abdallah, B.M.
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Successful Immortalization of Endometrial Glandular Cells with Normal Structural and Functional Characteristics. Am. J. Pathol. 163 ; 2259-2269 (2003) Satoru Kyo, Mitsuhiro Nakamura, Tohru Kiyono, Yoshiko Maida, Taro Kanaya, Masaaki Tanaka, Noriyuki Yatabe, and Masaki Inoue
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Combination of hTERT and bmi-1, E6, or E7 induces prolongation of the life span of bone marrow stromal cells from an elderly donor without affecting their neurogenic potential. Mol. Cell. Biol. 25 ; 5183-5195 (2005) Mori T, Kiyono T, Imabayashi H, Takeda Y, Tsuchiya K, Miyoshi S, Makino H, Matsumoto K, Saito H, Ogawa S, Sakamoto M, Hata J, and Umezawa A.
Announcement of the next newsletter !
Special edition on
"Arabidopsis thaliana "
RIKEN RRC Experimental Plant Division
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