Therapeutic/Technology: Technology
Biophysical Determinants of Early Embryonic Stem Cell Fate Specification
Regenerative therapies require effective differentiation of stem cells to cell types that are functionally identical to those found in vivo. Many current differentiation protocols merely involve optimization of proteins added to the culture media, but do not consider the microenvironmental context in which cells differentiate during development or tissue repair. When we include the biophysical […]
Role of intracytoplasmic pattern recognition receptors in HSC engraftment
The research performed through this project is very important for the fields of solid organ and bone marrow transplantation because it focuses on a potential new target to increase engraftment of stem cells. Currently, patients that receive stem cell transplants from a non-identical donor must take medications to suppress their immune system; otherwise the stem […]
Metabolic regulation of cardiac differentiation and maturation
Cells in the body take up nutrients from their environment and metabolize them in a complex set of biochemical reactions to generate energy and replicate. Control of these processes is particularly important for heart cells, which need large amounts of energy to drive blood flow throughout the body. Not surprisingly, the nutritional requirements of heart […]
A novel druggable mechanism to safeguard stem cell genome
Safeguarding the genome is essential for cells’ proper functions, and more importantly for safe and efficacious applications involving pluripotent stem cells and adult stem cells. However, how pluripotent or somatic stem cells maintain genome integrity during self-renewal, differentiation, and reprogramming is still largely unknown. We recently identified a small molecule drug that exhibits unprecedented abilities […]
Molecular basis of plasma membrane characteristics reflecting stem cell fate potential
Stem cells generate mature, functional cells after proteins on the cell surface interact with cues from the environment encountered during development or after transplantation. Thus, these cell surface proteins are critical for directing transplanted stem cells to form appropriate cells to treat injury or disease. A key modification regulating cell surface proteins is glycosylation, which […]
Differentiation of Human Hematopoietic Stem Cells into iNKT Cells
Blood stem cells living in the bone marrow of adult humans give rise to all of the cells in our blood, including the red blood cells that carry oxygen to supply our body, and the white blood cells such as T and B lymphocytes that fight infections and keep us healthy. Among the T lymphocytes […]
Elucidating pathways from hereditary Alzheimer mutations to pathological tau phenotypes
We propose to elucidate pathways of genes that lead from early causes to later defects in Alzheimer’s Disease (AD), which is common, fatal, and for which no effective disease-modifying drugs are available. Because no effective AD treatment is available or imminent, we propose to discover novel genetic pathways by screening purified human brain cells made […]
Misregulated Mitophagy in Parkinsonian Neurodegeneration
Parkinson’s disease (PD), is one of the leading causes of disabilities and death and afflicting millions of people worldwide. Effective treatments are desperately needed but the underlying molecular and cellular mechanisms of Parkinson’s destructive path are poorly understood. Mitochondria are cell’s power plants that provide almost all the energy a cell needs. When these cellular […]
Development of a humanized mouse model for testing anti-HIV HSPC gene therapy strategies in HIV-1 infected mice.
Medical School Loan Repayment Program
Because the regenerative capacity of adult heart is limited, any substantial cell loss as a result of a heart attack is mostly irreversible and may lead to progressive heart failure. Human pluripotent stem cells can be differentiated to heart cells, but their properties when transplanted into an injured heart remain unresolved. We propose to perform […]