Regenerative Medicine and Tissue Engineering
Regenerative Medicine (RM) is an emerging interdisciplinary field of research and clinical applications, focused on the repair, replacement, or regeneration of cells, tissues or organs to restore impaired function. It uses a combination of several technological approaches that shift it beyond traditional transplantation and replacement therapies. These approaches may include, but are not limited to, the use of stem cells, soluble molecules as activators or inhibitors of physiological pathways, tissue engineering and advanced cell therapy. Adipose tissue (AT) is a rich source of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) that can be successfully differentiated towards mesoderm-related lineages such as osteoblasts, adipocytes, chondroblasts, and fibroblasts representing a good overall option for autologous regenerative applications. However, Pluripotent stem cells (PSCs), including induced PSCs (iPSCs) and embryonic stem cells (ESCs), can differentiate into all three germ layers. They have an unlimited ability to self-renew (unlike terminally differentiated cells), making them easy (unlike adult multipotent stem cells) to expand for therapeutic use. The recent discovery that terminally differentiated cells can be induced to dedifferentiate to become PSCs (iPSCs) greatly facilitates stem cell therapies (Takahashi &Yamanaka. Cell 2006, 126: 663-676). It overcomes the ethical problems and provides the possibility of using autologous cells. Our group has generated and fully characterized iPSCs by reprogramming human foreskin fibroblasts (Generation of Foot-Print free Human Induced Pluripotent Stem cells (hiPSCs) in defined feeder-free conditions). Moreover, we have genetically manipulated hESCs and generated stable cell lines (Genetic manipulation of hESCs using CRISPR, Tetracycline inducible lentiviruses and generative of Stable Cell lines).
Our Cells:
- Generation of Foot-Print free Human Induced Pluripotent Stem cells (hiPSCs) in defined feeder-free conditions
- Establishment of feeder-free, Activin A responsive Human Embryonic Stem Cell Cultures (hESCs)
- Genetic manipulation of hESCs using CRISPR, Tetracycline inducible lentiviruses and generation of Stable Cell lines
- Multi-potential Stromal cells derived from either subcutaneous human adipose tissue (hAT-MSCs) or from hiPSCs
- Vascular progenitor cells (VPCs) derived from hESCs, hiPSCs in feeder free and serum free conditions
- Defined populations of mural cells derived from hESCs, hiPSCs in feeder free and low serum conditions
Our Projects: