Disease Focus: Infectious Disease
Development of a humanized mouse model for testing anti-HIV HSPC gene therapy strategies in HIV-1 infected mice.
Stem Cell Programming With Chimeric Antigen Receptors to Eradicate HIV Infection
The AIDS virus infects and destroys cells of the immune system such that the bodies of infected individuals cannot fight infections or some cancers. If untreated HIV infection leads to death. Current therapies to stop virus replication in the body are expensive and can have side effects. They also do not eliminate the virus from […]
iPSC-derived Hepatocytes as Platforms for Research in Viral Hepatitis and Non-alcoholic Steatohepatitis
Hepatitis C and fatty liver disease are the two most common liver diseases in California. Individuals from different backgrounds are susceptible to these liver diseases, but they have unique genetic profiles that may influence the severity of disease and the response to specific therapies. Technology now makes it possible to generate stem cells from a […]
Stem Cell Gene Therapy for HIV in AIDS Lymphoma Patients
The Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) is still a major health problem. In both developed and underdeveloped nations, millions of people are infected with this virus. HIV infects cells of the immune system, becomes part of the cell’s genetic information, stays there for the rest of the life of these cells, and uses these cells as […]
Viral-host interactions affecting neural differentiation of human progenitors
Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) is the major cause of birth defects, almost all of which are neuronal in origin. Approximately 1% of newborns are infected, and of the 13% that are symptomatic at birth, 50% will have severe permanent hearing deficits, vision loss, motor impairment, and mental retardation. At least 14% of asymptomatic infants also will […]
Development of RNA-based approaches to stem cell gene therapy for HIV
Despite significant advances in treatment and prevention programs, HIV infection with progression to Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) is still prevalent in California. The CDC Estimates >56,000 new cases of HIV infection each year in the US with over 148,000 cumulative cases reported in California alone (as of 2009). Multi-drug therapy has been helpful in reducing […]
Stem cell differentiation to thymic epithelium for inducing tolerance to stem cells
The thymus is an organ that plays a key role in controlling immune responses and immune tolerance. The thymus promotes immune tolerance by deleting and removing self-reactive T cells from the immune system. In addition, the thymus also helps drive the production of important suppressor T cell populations like regulatory T cells that also control […]
Human Embryonic Stem Cell Therapeutic Strategies to Target HIV Disease
AIDS is a disease that currently has no cure. It arises when the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infects certain types of blood cells. These cells would normally be used to fight infection, but instead are destroyed by the virus, leading to immunodeficiency. We have recently been able to induce the development of human embryonic stem […]
Genetic modification of the human genome to resist HIV-1 infection and/or disease progression
The proposed studies describe the genetic approaches utilizing human embryonic stem cells to suppress and/or eliminate the expression of the human protein CCR5. CCR5 is found on the surface of white blood cells. HIV-1 attaches to CCR5 and uses CCR5 to enter into its target cells. Our approach is to utilize established as well as […]