Notice Number: NOT-NS-16-003

Key Dates
Release Date: January 14, 2016

Issued by
National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS)

Purpose

The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) is announcing the creation of a dedicated Human Cell and Data Repository. This repository will be housed and curated by RUCDR Infinite Biologics at Rutgers University under the direction of Dr. Jay Tischfield. The purpose of this Notice is to: 1) describe the timeline for access to existing NINDS fibroblast and induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) lines currently housed at the Coriell Institute for Medical Research; and 2) outline plans for the development of new fibroblast and iPSC lines including isogenic iPSC lines for neurological disorders.

Background

In September 2015, NINDS issued a U24 award to RUCDR Infinite Biologics (RUCDR) at Rutgers University to support the development of new resources and services that will advance our knowledge of disease mechanisms and promote therapeutic discovery for neurological diseases through the creation of a dedicated NINDS Human Cell and Data Repository (NHCDR). The new NHCDR will support the goals of NINDS by making human cell lines of the highest quality, including iPSC lines and source cells such as fibroblasts, available to the global research community.

Access to existing iPSC and fibroblast lines previously distributed through the Coriell Institute for Medical Research

The NHCDR will continue to support access and distribution of the 177 fibroblast lines and 67 iPSC lines that have been developed over the last 5 years through the American Recovery and Reinvestment (ARRA) of 2009 and collaborations with government and non-government organizations. These fibroblast and iPSC lines had previously been distributed through the Coriell Institute for Medical Research. The transition of existing lines between the Coriell Institute for Medical Research and the RUCDR is expected to take about five months, with the first transfer of iPSC lines occurring in January 2016 and the final transfer of all cell lines occurring by May 2016. During this transfer period, investigators interested in accessing these cell lines are encourage to visit the new NHCDR website. The NHCDR website provides up to date information on the lines available through the NHCDR catalog, a description of the NHCDR and services available, frequently asked questions, and information on new lines under development. Beginning in January 2016, investigators may place orders for NHCDR cell lines through the NHCDR catalog. These orders will be fulfilled as soon as the cell lines become available.

New services and human cell lines available through the NHCDR

To support the rapid advancement of research tools for basic biology and therapeutic discovery, the NHCDR will continue to support fibroblast, iPSC and peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) expansion, quality assessment and distribution. New services offered by the NHCDR will include: 1) iPSC derivation and comprehensive quality control assessments: 2) generation of stem cell derivatives, such as neural stem cells; and 3) genome editing to repair or introduce, in iPSC lines, specific mutations that are implicated in human neurological diseases. iPSC lines developed under the NeuroLINCS Data and Signature Generation Center, a part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Library of Integrated Network-based Cellular Signatures (LINCS) program will be available through the NHCDR in 2016. Extensive analysis of these iPSC lines and differentiated cell derivatives including transcriptomics (RNAseq), proteomics (SWATH-MS), epigenomics (ATAC-Seq) and imaging data are available on the NeuroLINCS website.

To find out more about new and existing fibroblast and iPSC lines available through the NHCDR, as well as services available for cellular reprogramming and genetic modification please send email inquiries to NINDS@dls.rutgers.edu or contact your NINDS program official or the NINDS and NHCDR contact personnel listed below.

Inquiries

Please direct all inquiries to:

Michael Sheldon, PhD
Director, RUCDR Stem Cell Center
Telephone: 848-445-7096
Email: sheldon@biology.rutgers.edu

Margaret Sutherland, PhD
National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS)
Telephone: 301-496-5680
Email: sutherlandm@ninds.nih.gov