More About the Stem Cell Unit

On this page:

• Steering Committee
• Publications
• NIH Stem Cell Unit in the News

The NIH Stem Cell Unit (l-r): Ron McKay, Kye-Yoon Park, Barbara Mallon, Rebecca Hamilton, and Kevin Chen.

To allow scientists to select which lines are most suitable for their intended experiments, the research community has consistently requested that available cell lines be more fully characterized.

To address this important need, the NIH Intramural Research Program has created the NIH Stem Cell Unit (SCU). The purpose of the Unit is to have a side-by-side comparison of the 21 hESC lines approved under prior presidential policy, which was revoked March 9, 2009, by President Barack Obama's Executive Order 13505. As per the July 7, 2009, NIH stem cell guidelines, the eligibility of the use of these lines in NIH-supported research will be determined at a later date.

The Unit's main goal is to identify—and share with the research community—the similarities and differences between the hESC lines when subjected to a standardized paradigm.

Steering Committee

The assays performed by this Unit are overseen by a steering committee of leading stem cell biologists in both the extramural and NIH intramural research community. Ronald D. G. McKay, Ph.D., provides day-to-day direction.

Meetings

• November 27, 2006 Summary
• November 22, 2005 Agenda | Summary
• April 11, 2005 Summary
• October 29, 2004 Summary
• August 21, 2003 Agenda | Summary

Publications

• Characterization of human embryonic stem cell lines by the International Stem Cell Initiative, Nature Biotechnology.
• Toward xeno-free culture of human embryonic stemcells (640k PDF; get Adobe Reader), NIH Stem Cell Unit, The International Journal of Biochemistry & Cell Biology.

Acknowledgements

• Cimato T, Beers J, Ding S, Ma M, McCoy JP, Boehm M, Nabel EG. (2009) Neuropilin-1 identifies endothelial precursors in human and murine embryonic stem cells before CD34 expression. Circulation. 119(16):2170–8.

NIH Stem Cell Unit Citations

• Takahashi K, Tanabe K, Ohnuki M, Narita M, Ichisaka T, Tomoda K, Yamanaka S. (2007) Induction of pluripotent stem cells from adult human fibroblasts by defined factors. Cell. 131(5):861–72.

NIH Stem Cell Unit in the News

• Three Years And Growing: Stem Cell Facility Eager to Share Its Experience (NIH Catalyst, Jan–Feb 2007)
• From Art to Science: NIH Human Embryo Stem Cell Unit Sets Out to Characterize Cell Line (NIH Catalyst, Mar–Apr 2004)