Kangstem Biotech said Thursday that it has acquired a patent regarding the method for making induced neural stem cells reprogrammed from non-neuronal cells using High-mobility group AT-hook 2 (HMGA2) in Japan.

The patent refers a method that uses only two inducers -- sex determining region Y-box 2 (SOX2) gene and HMGA2 -- to create induced neural stem cells, the company said. It has excellent therapeutic purposes because it can produce more efficient induction stem cells compared to conventional methods, which required four or five inducers, it added.

Also, unlike past induction pluripotent stem cells that had problems such as cancer formations and steps of generating cells similar to embryonic stem cells, the company's patent safely and rapidly enables the generation of a patient's neural stem cells by directly crossing differentiation without going through an embryo stage.

“The method can produce patient-customized neural stem cells relatively quickly through direct cross-division, as well as being able to differentiate into neuron-related cells such as neurons and astrocytes,” a company official said. “Such benefits can help treat degenerative neurological diseases such as psoriasis, Alzheimer's disease, peak disease, and spinal cord injury.”

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