DETROIT-Carol A. Brenner, associate professor of physiology at Wayne State University's School of Medicine, will take part in a discussion titled "Cellular Reprogramming Science Presentations," during the World Stem Cell Summit, which will run Oct. 4-6 at the Marriott Renaissance Center in Detroit.

One of four featured concurrent sessions on Monday, Oct. 4, "Cellular Reprogramming Science Presentations" will take place at 3:30-4:30 p.m. in the Cartier Ballroom on the fourth floor of the Renaissance Center. Dr. Brenner will be joined by Dr. Graham Parker of Wayne State's School of Medicine, who will serve as the moderator of the discussion.

Brenner, who serves on the Program Committee of the 2010 World Stem Cell Summit, is also at the head of Wayne State's research efforts to utilize stem cells to treat or cure many of the most devastating and widespread diseases in the United States. Along with the collaborative expertise of Michael Shy, professor of neurology, WSU School of Medicine, Brenner and her multidisciplinary group are using pluripotent stem cells to model neurodegenerative diseases. The focus is on the role of mitochondria in the dysfunction of motor neurons, a phenomenon that occurs in nearly every neurodegenerative disease. The group suspects that many neurodegenerative diseases may share many common pathways that are related to the dysfunction of motor neurons, with previous studies at WSU suggesting that mitochondria are somehow involved with this dysfunction.

The team is focusing on motor neuron dysfunction in patients with Charcot-Marie Tooth disease, a nerve disorder characterized by loss of muscle tissue, and spinal muscular atrophy, a neuromuscular disease characterized by degeneration of motor neurons.

By inducing pluripotency in cells from people with these diseases, they will be able to observe the disease from its very beginning stages through development, allowing them to not only observe the role of mitochondria, but to identify biomarkers and develop a model for the disease.

Brenner also is collaborating with Dr. Roberto Romero, chief of the Perinatology Research Branch (PRB) at the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development of the National Institutes of Health located at Wayne State University, and Randall Armant, Wayne State University professor of obstetrics and gynecology, and molecular medicine and genetics, to study the derivation of stem cells from human amniotic fluid. They are using fluorescent antibody labeling techniques to assess the pluripotency of cells in amniotic fluid that have been manipulated to either enrich for stem cells or convert them to stem cells by induced pluripotency (iPS) techniques. They are also following the latest methods being developed by labs around the world to maintain stem cells in their most pluripotent state and are applying those methods to cells derived from human amniotic fluid. These approaches include treatments with growth factors, metabolic inhibitors or extracellular matrix components.

For more information about the 2010 World Stem Cell Summit, visit www.worldstemcellsummit.com.

Wayne State University is a premier urban research university offering more than 400 academic programs through 13 schools and colleges to nearly 32,000 students.