Stage of Program: Basic or Applied Basic Research (DISC1 and many 1.0 Projects)
Reprogramming of human somatic cells back to pluripotent embryonic stem cells
The ability to dedifferentiate or reverse lineage-committed cells to pluripotent/multipotent cells might overcome many of the obstacles (e.g. cell sources, immunocompatibility and bioethical concerns) associated with using other ES and adult stem cells in clinical applications. With an efficient dedifferentiation process, it is conceivable that healthy, abundant and easily accessible somatic cells could be reprogrammed […]
Reprogramming of human somatic cells back to pluripotent embryonic stem cells
The ability to dedifferentiate or reverse lineage-committed cells to pluripotent/multipotent cells might overcome many of the obstacles (e.g. cell sources, immunocompatibility and bioethical concerns) associated with using other ES and adult stem cells in clinical applications. With an efficient dedifferentiation process, it is conceivable that healthy, abundant and easily accessible somatic cells could be reprogrammed […]
Noncoding RNAs in Cell Fate Determination
The human body is composed of thousands of cell types, which all came originally from embryonic stem cells. Although all these cell types have the same genetic blueprint, different genes are active in different cells in order to give each its distinctiveness. The process by which the genes remember whether they are in liver, brain, […]
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 […]
Role of HLA in neural stem cell rejection using humanized mice
One of the key issues in stem cell transplant biology is solving the problem of transplant rejection. Despite over three decades of research in human embryonic stem cells, little is known about the factors governing immune system tolerance to grafts derived from these cells. In order for the promise of embryonic stem cell transplantation for […]
Role of HLA in neural stem cell rejection using humanized mice
One of the key issues in stem cell transplant biology is solving the problem of transplant rejection. Despite over three decades of research in human embryonic stem cells, little is known about the factors governing immune system tolerance to grafts derived from these cells. In order for the promise of embryonic stem cell transplantation for […]