Dr Shoukhrat Mitalipov - Embryonic stem ES cells

Description: Dr. Shoukhrat Mitalipov, an ethnic Uyghur from Russia and researcher at the Oregon National Primate Research Center, talks about the breakthrough that's been made in cloning embryonic stem cells from monkeys.

The development could some day play a key role in helping to eventually cure heart disease, diabetes and other serious ailments. Pluripotent embryonic stem (ES) cells are important as a unique research tool that allows investigation of the mechanisms regulating early primate development and differentiation in vitro. Human ES cells also provide the far-reaching foundation for the field of regenerative medicine and offer hope for the treatment of a wide range of clinical conditions that can be attributed to the loss or malfunction of specific cell types. Translational research in the clinically relevant nonhuman primate model is highly desirable to evaluate the safety, feasibility and efficacy of cell-based therapies. The basic research conducted in the lab provides new insights into the derivation, maintenance and directed differentiation of primate ES cells. The overall research goal of Dr. Mitalipov's lab is to use molecular and cellular approaches to answer scientifically and clinically pertinent questions regarding gamete, embryo and stem cell biology. The main focus of ongoing and future studies is to understand the epigenetic mechanisms of oocyte-induced reprogramming after somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT). The objective is to develop efficient protocols for deriving patient-matched pluripotent stem cells via SCNT into oocytes or direct reprogramming using natural epigenetic mechanisms. Another goal is production of knock-out rhesus monkeys using SCNT. Such animals should provide a resource for the study of human diseases and serve as pre-clinical models for new experimental treatments including gene and stem cell based therapies.Several other projects in the lab are focused on the assessment of the safety and efficacy of ESC based therapies by transplantation studies in a clinically relevant nonhuman primate model. The overall goal of these studies is to take advantage of recent developments in Dr. Mitalipov lab that allowed for the first time derivation of immuno-matched SCNT and parthenogenetic monkey ESCs suitable for autologous transplantation into existing monkeys.

Shoukhrat Mitalipov is an Associate Scientist in the Division of Reproductive Sciences, an Assistant Professor at the Oregon Stem Cell Center and Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology, and co-director of the ART/ESC core at the Center. He earned his Ph.D. degree in Developmental & Stem Cell Biology at the Research Center for Medical Genetics, Russian Academy of Medical Sciences. He came to Utah State University in 1995 to conduct his postdoctoral research in stem cell and developmental biology. Dr. Mitalipov moved to the center in 1998.

SOURCE: OREGON HEALTH & SCIENCE UNIVERSITY (http://www.ohsu.edu/xd/research/centers-institutes/onprc/scientific-discovery/scientists/shoukhrat-mitalipov.cfm)