Disease Focus: Metabolic Disorders
Ex vivo Engineering of Autologous Hematopoietic Stem Cells for the Treatment of Hypophosphatasia
Therapeutic Candidate or Device Hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells collected from patients with hypophosphatasia and genetically modified with a lentiviral vector to release TNALP Indication Hypophosphatasia (HPP) Therapeutic Mechanism We are proposing a cell-based enzyme replacement therapy for HPP: autologous gene-modified hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells (HSPCs) will be infused into the patient and will engraft into the bone […]
Genome Editing of Autologous Hematopoietic Stem Cells to Treat Severe Mucopolysaccharidosis type 1 (Hurler Syndrome)
Therapeutic Candidate or Device Autologous blood stem cells edited to restore iduronidase expression Indication Severe Mucopolysaccharidosis Type 1 (MPS1/ Hurler's syndrome) Therapeutic Mechanism Autologous blood stem cells undergo genome editing to restore the production of the missing enzyme. These cells are returned to the patient to replace their bone marrow, where they can secrete functional […]
Ex vivo transduced autologous human CD34+ hematopoietic stem cells for treatment of cystinosis
Therapeutic Candidate or Device Transduced Hematopoietic Stem Cells from Peripheral Blood Stem Cells of adults and pediatric patients with cystinosis Indication Autologous hematopoietic stem cell gene therapy for patients with cystinosis Therapeutic Mechanism Direct transfer of proteins from interstitial macrophages to host cells via long tubular protrusions called tunneling nanotubes, transplantion of autologous HSC modified […]
Stem cell-derived islet cell replacement therapy with immunosuppression for high-risk type 1 diabetes
Therapeutic Candidate or Device hESC-derived pancreatic progenitor cells delivered in a device that allows direct vascularization of the cell therapy Indication high-risk type 1 diabetes including "brittle" diabetes and hypoglycemia unawareness Therapeutic Mechanism People with type 1 diabetes have lost their pancreatic cells that make insulin, and therefore have to self-administer insulin. It is very […]
Scaffold for dermal regeneration containing pre-conditioned mesenchymal stem cells to heal chronic diabetic wounds
The goal of our CIRM-funded Early Translational (ETA) grant was to engineer a product to improve healing in diabetic foot ulcers, a devastating consequence of diabetes that occurs in about 25% of all diabetic patients and is responsible for most leg or foot amputations. More than 6 million people in the US and up to […]
Clinical Development of a Cell Therapy for Diabetes
We are developing a stem cell-derived replacement cell therapy for insulin-requiring diabetes. Through a process known as directed differentiation, embryonic stem cells are turned into pancreatic cells in the laboratory. The pancreatic cells are loaded into a delivery device, which is essentially a small envelope made with a semi-permeable membrane, not unlike a flat tea […]
Skin-derived precursor cells for the treatment of enteric neuromuscular dysfunction
The intestine performs the essential function of absorbing food and water into the body. Without a functional intestine, children and adults cannot eat normal meals, and these patients depend on intravenous nutrition to sustain life. Many of these patients do not have a neural system that coordinates the function of the intestine. These patients have […]
Skin-derived precursor cells for the treatment of enteric neuromuscular dysfunction
The intestine performs the essential function of absorbing food and water into the body. Without a functional intestine, children and adults cannot eat normal meals, and these patients depend on intravenous nutrition to sustain life. Many of these patients do not have a neural system that coordinates the function of the intestine. These patients have […]
Development of a clinical-grade extracorporeal liver support system using human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived hepatic cells
Liver failure is the fourth leading cause of adult death in California. Because liver cells can regenerate, some patients with liver failure could be saved without having to undergo organ transplantation if their liver function could be supported temporarily. Here, we propose to develop a device to support these patients called the “extracorporeal liver support […]