The Broad, Long-term Objective of this proposal is to prepare the National Disease Research Interchange (NDRI) to participate in a national network of human fetal tissue banks (entirely dependent on tissues from spontaneous abortions and/or ectopic pregnancies) which can retrieve and distribute high quality, well-characterized tissues for research and human transplantation therapy.
The Specific Aims are (1) to determine availability and enhance yield of human fetal tissue from spontaneous abortions and/or ectopic pregnancies. (2) Develop safe, effective ways to handle tissue, assess and enhance viability and quality of tissue. (3) Provide researchers with rapid access to viable, well characterized fetal tissue. (4) Store and retrieve data about collected tissues via a computerized database. (5) Make data and protocols available to the research community. Health Relatedness: Collected tissues have shown promise for transplantation therapy in Parkinson's, diabetes, multiple sclerosis and other incurable diseases. Research Design and Methods involve enhancement of current NDRI activities, expansion of source sites for human fetal tissue acquisition, development of protocols for training personnel for safe, effective handling of fetal tissues aimed at enhancing yield, viability and quality, development of efficient means of rapid tissue collection, processing, analysis and distribution to appropriately screened researchers. In addition, NDRI affiliated scientists will use human fetal tissue to do feasibility studies in mice, rats and ultimately (Phase II), humans for transplant therapy. These experiments will assess the ability of human fetal cells to (1) maintain viability and function following transplantation into animals, including humans, and (2) to proliferate and maintain viability and function in culture prior to transplant into animals or humans. Agents such as growth factors will be used to enhance proliferation of human cells in culture in an attempt to amplify quantities of human tissue available for transplants. In other experiments, NDRI researchers will attempt to make genetically engineered cell lines that produce large amounts of dopamine, insulin or other trophic factors that must be delivered into patients with Parkinson's disease, diabetes, multiple sclerosis, etc. for the patients's lifetime via successful transplantation therapy.
