In the summer of 2022, CIRM SPARK interns at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles performed research in three main areas:

1. The effectiveness of amniotic fluid stem cell-derived extracellular vesicles in rescuing glomerular endothelial cells in Alport Syndrome (AS) (two students). These students were studying how to reverse AS-associated damage to “glomeruli,” complex structures made up of blood vessels that perform filtration in the kidneys. AS is a form of chronic kidney disease, and damage to the glomeruli is a key part of the pathology of this disease. The interns tested whether products released by stem cells isolated from amniotic fluid can protect against or repair the damage to these critical structures in AS.

2. Mechanisms controlling regeneration of the intestinal lining after an injury (two students). These students tested whether proteins that seal the spaces between cells of the intestinal lining (components of the cell-cell connections called “tight junctions”) are required for wound repair and regeneration of that tissue after an injury. This regenerative process is potentially compromised in inflammatory bowel disease, a chronic incurable condition that affects roughly 1 in 200 Americans.

3. The effects of COVID-19 on insulin-producing pancreatic beta cells (four students). These students tested whether Sars-CoV-2 infects the pancreas and damages the beta cells that produce insulin, and whether vaccination prevents against beta cell dysfunction after COVID-19.

All of the CIRM SPARK interns successfully completed their projects and wrote abstracts based on their work. They presented their work as posters at the SPARK symposium in Oakland and oral presentations at a symposium at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles.