Therapeutic/Technology: Immune tolerance/management
Engineering pluripotent stem cells for universally available, off-the-shelf T cell therapies
Research Objective Our goal is to develop new gene editing methods for producing universal, off-the-shelf, therapeutic T cells from induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC) that can be applied to a range of diseases. Impact We will develop new gene editing approaches to overcome the block to T cell development from iPSC that occurs when key […]
Reprogramming Somatic Cells into iPSCs Engineered with an Anti-PSCA CAR to Develop Allogeneic Off-the-Shelf Cell Therapy to Treat Pancreatic Cancer
Research Objective Our candidate product PSCA-CAR_s15 uiNK is derived from transduction of iPSCs selected from the most ideal source and episomally reprogrammed from mature NK cells or CD34+ cells. Impact Cell Functionality and Quality; Scale up and Manufacture Major Proposed Activities Development and characterization of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) via somatic cell reprogramming of […]
Treatment of Severe Aplastic Anemia by induction of mixed chimerism using CD4+ T cell depleted haploidentical donor stem cell transplant
Therapeutic Candidate or Device COH-MC-17: A minimally manipulated half-match donor blood stem cell transplant with a low-toxic conditioning regimen of the transplant host Indication Older (>40 yrs) Severe Aplastic Anemia (SAA) patients that are ineligible for the potentially curative standard stem cell transplant Therapeutic Mechanism Allogeneic stem cell transplant from full-match donor is the only […]
Sequential same donor αβdepleted-HSCT from an HLA-partially matched donor allowing immunosuppression free kidney transplant
Therapeutic Candidate or Device Mobilized peripheral blood stem cells from allogeneic donors depleted of TCRαβ+ T cells/CD19+ B cells Indication Renal failure due to one of four genetic and/or immunological diseases Therapeutic Mechanism 1. By using haploidentical parents, we will expand the number of potential living donors, and 2. with pre-HSCT immune ablation we can […]
Identification and isolation of transplantable human hematopoietic stem cells from pluripotent cell lines; two steps from primitive hematopoiesis to transplantable definitive cells, and non-toxic conditioning of hosts for hematopoeitic stem cell transp…
A goal of stem-cell therapy is to transplant into a patient “tissue-specific” stem cells, which can regenerate a particular type of healthy tissue (e.g., heart or blood cells). A major obstacle to this goal is obtaining tissue-specific stem cells that (1) are available in sufficient numbers; and (2) will not be rejected by the recipient. […]
Human Immune System Mouse models as preclinical platforms for stem cell derived grafts
A major obstacle to stem cell based therapies is the immune response of the patient to stem cell derived tissue, which can be recognized as foreign and attacked by the patient’s immune system. T cells orchestrate immune responses and are “educated” about self versus foreign in an organ called the thymus. It may be possible […]
Role of Innate Immunity in hematopoeitic stem cell-mediated allograft tolerance
The research proposed in this project has very high potential to identify new medications to boost the natural ability of stem cells to prevent rejection of transplanted organs. This is a very important goal, because patients that receive a life-saving transplanted organ must take toxic medications that increase their risk for cancer and serious infections. […]
Engineered immune tolerance by Stem Cell-derived thymic regeneration
Stem cell therapies have the potential to transform medicine by allowing the regeneration of tissues or organs damaged by disease or trauma. In order for stem cell therapies to proceed, it will be essential that the regulation of immune responses to the stem cell derived tissues be achieved. While the function of the immune system […]
Inactivating NK cell reactivity to facilitate transplantation of stem cell derived tissue
One of the great promises of stem cell research is that it will one day be possible to prepare replacement cells or organs from stem cells such as embryonic stem cells, which can be transplanted to patients to substitute for diseased or defective patient tissues or organs. Unfortunately, the immune system reacts against, and rejects, […]
Regulatory T cell induced tolerance to ESC transplantation
The goals of this proposal are to utilize cell populations known to control immune reactions termed regulatory T cells and study their ability to protect embryonic stem cells (ESC) from immune rejection. Much has been learned about the control of immune reactions where it has been found that a variety of different factors control excessive […]