ALS Stem Cell Core Program

The ALS Center, in partnership with the Stem Cell Core Facility at Columbia University, makes available cell lines from ALS patients and healthy donors that serve as cellular models of disease. Skin fibroblasts grown from biopsy material are produced from each individual donor and from these and other cells (e.g. blood cells (PBMCs)), induced pluripotent stem cell lines or iPSc are derived with the same genetic makeup as the donor. These iPSCs can be programmed to differentiate into motor neurons and other cell types to generate a highly disease-relevant, experimental system to study disease mechanisms and to develop new therapies for ALS. Stem cells from the ALS Center at Columbia University have been made available to ALS investigators through the Target ALS Stem Cell Core program.