iBB

Oligodendrocyte precursor cells (OPCs) offer considerable potential for the treatment of demyelinating diseases and injuries of the CNS. However, generating large quantities of high-quality OPCs remains a challenge that impedes their therapeutic application. In collaboration with researchers at the Stem Cell Engineering Research Group (SCERG), researchers at the Department of Bioengineering, University of California, Berkeley, have recently developed a novel defined and scalable culture system for differentiation of OPCs from Human Pluripotent Stem Cells, under 3D conditions, using a fully-defined thermoresponsive biomaterial. This system enabled the generation of large quantities of high-quality OPCs that were able to engraft, migrate and mature into myelinating oligodendrocytes upon transplantation into the brains of NOD/SCID mice.