Special Issue in Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology Edited by David Mack, Mark Bothwell, and Alec Smith
ISCRM faculty members David Mack, Mark Bothwell, and Alec Smith, along with Megan McCain from USC, are the editors of a special issue of Frontiers in Cell & Developmental Biology that explores different models for investigating neuromuscular disease and weighing the pros and cons of stem cell-based models versus cell lines and animal models.
Mack, Bothwell, and Smith are also members of the University of Washington Neuromuscular Disease Research Group.
In the issue, which includes primary research and reviews, the editors also discuss the importance of this research within the larger context of understanding disease pathology and developing next generation therapeutics.
Specifically, the issue:
- Highlights recent advances in iPSC directed differentiations to lineages encompassed by neuromuscular diseases—namely, skeletal muscle as well as motor and sensory neurons.
- Discusses how closely human stem cell-based models recapitulate neuromuscular disease etiology and progression.
- Reviews when and why stem cell models align with well accepted animal models and when and how they don’t.
- Covers the strengths of weaknesses of gene-editing technology for modeling and potential therapeutic interventions
- Examines what the fields of bioengineering and materials science contribute to these disease models in terms of recreating the native microenvironment
“Scientists have a tendency to see whichever model they use as the perfect system in which to answer their specific research questions,” says Smith. “This can impede progress. In that light, honest discussion about where a given model does well and where it falls short is essential, both to accurately interpreting the data that arises from that model and to further improving said model for subsequent studies. Here we have attempted to provide such a discussion centered on recent advances in neuromuscular disease modeling.”