Grant Award Details
- To generate hPSC-derived enteric ganglioids that can be transplanted and engraft in the gut of patients with motility disorders and restore motility dysfunction.
Grant Application Details
- hPSC-derived enteric ganglioids for cell therapy in gastrointestinal motility disorders
Research Objective
The proposed aims will enable the generation, purification and characterization of enteric neurons from diverse hiPSCs and assessment of their efficacy for cell therapy in GI motility disorders.
Impact
This proposal addresses a significant unmet clinical need for a cell therapy approach for gastrointestinal motility disorders such as Hirschsprung disease, achalasia and gastroparesis.
Major Proposed Activities
- Standardize the generation of enteric neurons from stem cells of diverse backgrounds
- Developing methods to speed up the process of enteric neuron production from stem cells
- Evaluating the ability of stem cell derived enteric neurons to survive in the host tissue and rescue the disease in mouse models
Gastrointestinal (GI) motility disorders are severe and common medical conditions resulting from dysfunction or degeneration of the enteric nervous system (ENS). The ENS is an extensive network of neurons inside the gut tissue that are responsible for local regulation of motility and digestion. This proposal is aimed at developing stem cell based therapies to replace the damaged or absent enteric neurons in motility disorders such as Hirschsprung disease, achalasia and gastroparesis.