Disease Focus: Heart Disease
Micro Platform for Controlled Cardiac Myocyte Differentiation
Congestive heart failure, the inability of the heart to continue to pump effectively due to damage of its muscle cells, affects approximately 4.8 million Americans and is a leading cause of mortality. Causes of the irreversible damage to the cardiomyocytes that results in congestive heart failure include hypertension, heart attacks, and coronary disease. Because the […]
Micro Platform for Controlled Cardiac Myocyte Differentiation
Congestive heart failure, the inability of the heart to continue to pump effectively due to damage of its muscle cells, affects approximately 4.8 million Americans and is a leading cause of mortality. Causes of the irreversible damage to the cardiomyocytes that results in congestive heart failure include hypertension, heart attacks, and coronary disease. Because the […]
Specification of Ventricular Myocyte and Pacemaker Lineages Utilizing Human Embryonic Stem Cells
Heart failure is a leading cause of mortality in California and the United States. Currently, there are no “cures” for heart failure.Other life threatening forms of heart disease include dysfunction of cardiac pacemaker cells, necessitating implantation of mechanical pacemakers. Although mechanical pacemakers can be efficacious, there are potential associated problems, including infection, limited battery half-life, […]
Discovering Potent Molecules with Human ESCs to Treat Heart Disease
This work is directly relevant to human embryonic stem cell (hESC) research because it brings new ideas about novel compounds to affect cardiomyogenesis. The work addresses an urgent need to develop new agents to treat cardiovascular disease. We will develop potent and selective drug-like molecules as cardiomyocyte differentiation agents. Heart disease is the leading cause […]
Autologous cardiac-derived cells for advanced ischemic cardiomyopathy
The adult human heart contains small numbers of cardiac stem cells that are able to partially repair the heart following a heart attack or throughout the course of progressive heart failure. We have developed a method to isolate these cells and grow them to large numbers in the lab. Isolation begins with a minimally-invasive biopsy […]
Human Cardiovascular Progenitors, their Niches and Control of Self-renewal and Cell Fate
For the millions of Americans who are born with or develop heart disease, stem cell research offers the first hope of reversing or repairing heart muscle damage. Thus, early reports suggesting heart regeneration after transplantation of adult bone marrow-derived stem cells were met with great excitement in both the scientific and lay community. However, although […]
A Center for Stem Cell Disease Modeling and Therapeutics
The goal of this project is to support the discovery and evaluation of novel therapeutics using stem cell-based models and drug and CRISPR screening. The facility will provide California researchers access to tools, technologies, and resources for regenerative medicine research. This project benefits California by helping accelerate research to find cures for major diseases of […]
Stem Cell-based Disease Modeling Shared Resource Laboratory
Our Shared Resource Laboratory will expand access to stem cell-derived models to support research and educational programs with two main goals: democratize access to state-of-the-art models and technology among a diverse scientific community and catalyze innovation in regenerative medicine. This Shared Resource Laboratory will expand access to stem cell-derived models to regions of Southern California […]
Mapping and modeling endothelial cell fate decisions for pulmonary arterial hypertension
Research Objective We will build a foundational model and experimental platform to catalog all genes that promote and protect against PAH, with the potential to extend to many other developmental and disease processes. Impact The studies aim to identify genetic targets for PAH therapy and develop a predictive model to accelerate stem cell research and […]
Drug Discovery for Dilated Cardiomyopathy using Patient-Derived Human iPSCs
Research Objective Greenstone Biosciences will use patient-derived stem cells to discover safe and effective drugs for cardiovascular disease. Impact The use of patient-derived stem cells to discover novel drug targets for cardiovascular disease, identify drug candidates, and establish clinical trial in a dish to evaluate drug safety and efficacy. Major Proposed Activities Use patient-derived induced […]