Human Stem Cell Use: Embryonic Stem Cell
Antibody tools to deplete or isolate teratogenic, cardiac, and blood stem cells from hESCs
Purity is as important for cell-based therapies as it is for treatments based on small-molecule drugs or biologics. Pluripotent stem cells possess two properties: they are capable of self regeneration and they can differentiate to all different tissue types (i.e. muscle, brain, heart, etc.). Despite the promise of pluripotent stem cells as a tool for […]
Engineering Defined and Scaleable Systems for Dopaminergic Neuron Differentiation of hPSCs
Human pluripotent stem cells (hPSC) have the capacity to differentiate into every cell in the adult body, and they are thus a highly promising source of differentiated cells for the investigation and treatment of numerous human diseases. For example, neurodegenerative disorders are an increasing healthcare problem that affect the lives of millions of Americans, and […]
Magnetic Particle Imaging: A Novel Ultra-sensitive Imaging Scanner for Tracking Stem Cells In Vivo
We aim to develop, test and validate a new, sensitive and affordable scanner for tracking the location of injected cells in humans and animals. This new scanning method, called Magnetic Particle Imaging, will ultimately be used to track the location and viability of stem cells within the human body. It could solve one of the […]
Development of Synthetic Microenvironments for Stem Cell Growth and Differentiation
Currently, many chronic diseases and injuries do not have effective cures; millions of people suffer from disabilities while carrying on daily lives without appropriate medical assistance. Advances in human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) research have provided the potential hope for significant improvements of disease treatment and management. The success of stem cell-based therapy will have […]
Inhibitory Nerve Cell Precursors: Dosing, Safety and Efficacy
Many neurological disorders are characterized by an imbalance between excitation and inhibition. Our ultimate goal: to develop a cell-based therapy to modulate aberrant brain activity in the treatment of these disorders. Our initial focus is on epilepsy. In 20-30% of these patients, seizures are unresponsive to drugs, requiring invasive surgical resection of brain regions with […]
Liver Cell Transplantation
Because there is still considerable morbidity and mortality associated with the process of whole liver transplantation, and because more than a thousand people die each year while on the liver transplantation list, and tens of thousands more never get on the list because of the lack of available livers, it is evident that improved and […]
Neural restricted, FAC-sorted, human neural stem cells to treat traumatic brain injury
Traumatic brain injury (TBI) affects 1.4 million Americans a year; 175,000 in California. When the brain is injured, nerve cells near the site of injury die due to the initial trauma and interruption of blood flow. Secondary damage occurs as neighboring tissue is injured by the inflammatory response to the initial injury, leading to a […]
Repair of Conus Medullaris/Cauda Equina Injury using Human ES Cell-Derived Motor Neurons
Injuries to the spinal cord commonly result from motor vehicle accidents, traumatic falls, diving, surfing, skiing, and snowboarding accidents, other forms of sports injuries, as well as from gunshot injuries in victims of violent crimes. Injuries to the anatomically lowest part of the spinal cord, the lumbosacral portion and its associated nerve roots commonly cause […]
Repair of Conus Medullaris/Cauda Equina Injury using Human ES Cell-Derived Motor Neurons
Injuries to the spinal cord commonly result from motor vehicle accidents, traumatic falls, diving, surfing, skiing, and snowboarding accidents, other forms of sports injuries, as well as from gunshot injuries in victims of violent crimes. Injuries to the anatomically lowest part of the spinal cord, the lumbosacral portion and its associated nerve roots commonly cause […]
Banking transplant ready dopaminergic neurons using a scalable process
Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a devastating movement disorder caused by the death of dopaminergic neurons (a type of nerve cells in the central nervous system) present in the midbrain. These neurons secrete dopamine (a signaling molecule) and are a critical component of the motor circuit that ensures movements are smooth and coordinated. All current treatments […]