Perpetuating human adult stem cells including germline pluripotent stem cells (hGPSCs) in human serum

Categories: “Diagnostics” “Research Tools“

Reference #: 2017-028

OTC Contact: Ruchika Nijhara Ph.D., MBA, Director (Directory Information | Send a Message)

Description

The invention describes method to indefinitely expand human germline pluripotent stem cells (hgPSCs) from biopsy in proprietary cell culture medium. Cells can be transplanted for treating and/or curing diseases.

hgPSCs hold promise for use in regenerative medicine, however these cells grow very slowly making it impractical to utilize gPSCs to realize their potential in regenerative medicine, moreover, because so much time is required to expand these cells in culture, invariably large portions of the cells will begin to differentiate, rendering them unusable for further manipulation. These issues lead to the need for a method of culturing hgPSCs in a continuous manner that can promote rapid expansion, without differentiation.

Georgetown University researchers have developed a hgPSC culturing technique that not only address the issues above, but also overcomes issues of graft rejection and tissue availability. The present invention enables the use of hgPSCs from biopsy to be expanded and transplanted.

Applications

• Stem cells and/or their differentiated cell types can be used to repopulate target diseased tissue, for example, hgPSC-derived cardiomyocytes can be transplanted into fetal heart tissue to fuse with beating heart tissue and replace diminished disease tissue

Advantages

• This technique induces hgPSC cell proliferation without requiring additional exogenous growth factors and J2 feeder system
• Uses cultured cells from biopsy reducing chances of graft rejection in transplant recipients
• Increases hgPSC volume and alleviates scarcity of donors
• Absence of animal components improves transplantation safety

Stage of Development

Cell immortalization and expansion protocol established and reduced to practice on human pancreatic islet cells in a lab setting. Experiments to determine mode of action and further optimize protocol are underway.

Patent Status

Provisional application has been filed.

Inventors

Gary I. Gallicano
Samiksha Mahapatra
Dianna Martin