Disease Focus: Vascular Disease
Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension Treated with Cardiosphere-Derived Allogeneic Stem Cells
Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a progressive condition with no cure. Scientists at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center are using donor cells derived from the heart to reduce two hallmark symptoms of pulmonary hypertension: inflammation and high blood pressure in the blood vessels within the lungs. These conditions make the heart struggle to pump blood to the heart […]
Harnessing vascular stem cells to grow and protect the human brain
Research Objective The origins of brain vascular mural cells are unknown. This proposal will identify mural stem cells in the developing human and mouse brain and determine their impact on blood brain barrier formation. Impact Brain vascular diseases can have profound impacts on long-term neurological function. This proposal will map the stages of mural stem […]
Use of Human iPSC-derived Endothelial Cells for Calcific Aortic Valve Disease Therapeutics
Research Objective To develop drugs to treat Calcific Aortic Valve Disease (CAVD), the third leading cause of adult heart disease, by screening a stem cell-based platform based on CAVD patient-derived stem cells. Impact CAVD represents a major unmet medical need, with no treatments other than valve replacement. We will identify drugs, already proven to be […]
iPSC-Derived Smooth Muscle Progenitors for Treatment of Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm
Research Objective To assess the therapeutic effect of human induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-derived smooth muscle progenitors (pSMCs) for treatment of abominal aortic aneurysm (AAA). Impact Currently, there are no pharmacologic therapies for AAA. If successful, delivery of autologous pSMCs to the site of AAA will halt or reverse the progression towards a rupture-prone aneurysm. […]
Development of treatments to improve healing of ischemic wounds
Research Objective We aim to develop an angiogenic proteoglycan mimic that will protect tissue from rapid degradation, and in conjunction with EPCs promote angiogenesis in order to accelerate ischemic wound healing. Impact As a treatment, LXW7-DS-SILY combined with a collagen scaffold and EPCs will accelerate healing of ischemic diabetic foot ulcers and reduce limb amputation […]
Injectable pro-regenerative scaffold for treating symptomatic peripheral artery disease
Translational Candidate Injectable biomaterial derived from the natural scaffolding of porcine muscle Area of Impact Improving the quality of life of patients with symptomatic peripheral artery disease. Mechanism of Action The proposed mechanism of action is through recruitment of blood vessels and recruitment and differentiation of muscle stem cells. The injected material forms a new […]
Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension Treated with Cardiosphere-Derived Allogeneic Stem Cells
Therapeutic Candidate or Device CAP-1002 Indication Patients with Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension (PAH) Therapeutic Mechanism CAP-1002's mechanism of action may result in reduced wall thickening of small blood vessels in the lung that are markedly narrowed/obstructed in PAH. The latter results in high resistance against which the right ventricle (RV) must pump in order to drive […]
Multimodal platform combining optical and ultrasonic technologies for in vivo nondestructive evaluation of engineered vascular tissue constructs
Current vascular replacement materials are far from ideal, with all available biomaterials exhibiting significant clinical complications. The development of novel biocompatible decellularized vascular grafts holds great promise for functional restoration of vascular tissues suffering from trauma or disease. However, the need for destructive analysis at multiple in-vitro and in-vivo time points creates a costly critical […]
Directed Differentiation of Specialized Endothelial Cells
Vascular endothelial cells (EC) or endothelial progenitor cells (EPC) derived from stem cells could potentially lead to a variety of clinically relevant therapeutic applications, including various strategies for treating heart and vascular diseases. However, because EC exhibit a variety of functionally distinct subphenotypes, it is important to be able to generate the appropriate endothelial type. […]
Phase I study of IM Injection of VEGF-Producing MSC for the Treatment of Critical Limb Ischemia
Critical limb ischemia (CLI) represents a significant unmet medical need without any approved medical therapies for patients who fail surgical or angioplasty procedures to restore blood flow to the lower leg. CLI affects 2 million people in the U.S. and is associated with an increased risk of leg amputation and death. Amputation rates in patients […]