Techniques: Dickkopf homolog 3 (DKK3) and wingless-type MMTV integration site family member 1 (WNT1) to promote differentiation of induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells into dopaminergic neurons

TECHNOLOGY: Cell therapy

DKK3 and WNT1 could help promote iPS cell differentiation into subsets of dopaminergic neurons for Parkinson's disease (PD) cell therapy. In mouse iPS cells, DKK3 plus WNT1 increased differentiation of the precursors to substantia nigra pars compacta (SNc) dopaminergic neurons, the cells lost during PD, compared with no treatment. Next steps could include determining the effects of DKK3 in human pluripotent cells...