Stage of Program: Translational Tool/Bottleneck
Magnetic Particle Imaging: A Novel Ultra-sensitive Imaging Scanner for Tracking Stem Cells In Vivo
We aim to develop, test and validate a new, sensitive and affordable scanner for tracking the location of injected cells in humans and animals. This new scanning method, called Magnetic Particle Imaging, will ultimately be used to track the location and viability of stem cells within the human body. It could solve one of the […]
Development of Baculoviral Vectors for Gene Editing of Human Stem Cells
Stem cells are powerful undifferentiated cells that are able to both regenerate themselves and differentiate into different mature cell types, such as lung cells or liver cells. The ability to edit stem cell genomes is useful for both understanding stem cells at a fundamental level as well as for practical and therapeutic purposes, such as […]
A Novel SPECT Microscopy System for 3D Imaging of Single Stem Cells In Vivo
There are two main avenues of discovery open to medical scientists to find cures or alleviate suffering in people: 1) pharmaceuticals and 2) stem cells. Both of these branches of research use the emerging technological tools of imaging, genetic engineering and nanotechnology to explore new ways to manipulate molecular and cellular processes. In this project, […]
In Vivo Imaging for the Detection and Quantitation of Transplanted Stem/Progenitor Cells in Nonhuman Primates
Stem cells hold great potential for treating a variety of human diseases, but more information is needed on how they will function once administered to patients for regenerative medicine purposes. If imaging techniques can be developed that allow the monitoring of these transplanted stem and progenitor cells over time once injected into the body, this […]
RNA Analysis by Biosynthetic Tagging (RABT): a tool for the identification of cell type-specific RNAs
Advancing our understanding of stem cell biology often relies on answers to the following types of questions: What are the differences in gene expression between a stem cell and the “mature” cell (for example, a neuron or heart cell) made by the stem cell? Answers to such questions can lead to methods for directing stem […]
Development of Suspension Adaptation, Scale-up cGMP Banking and Cell Characterization Technologies for hESC Lines
hESCs represent an important source of cell therapies in regenerative medicine and the study of early human development. A number of hESC-based therapies are nearing clinical trials. To bring these to clinical trials requires the scale-up production, or “banking”, of large numbers of the desired hESC cell. The current lack of large scale hESC culture […]
Novel Tools and Technologies for Translational PET Imaging of Cell-based Therapies
One of the great promises of stem cell research is that doctors will find a way to isolate and modify patient’s stem cells so that they be reinjected into patients to treat their disease. Current examples include islet cell transplantation to treat diabetes, stem cells for treating heart failure, or engineered immune cells for treating […]
A MULTI-MODALITY MOLECULAR IMAGING SYSTEM (MRSPECT) FOR IN VIVO STEM CELL TRACKING
The stem cell research has started making many promising discoveries already. Future clinical trials will require that the location and number of such cells be tracked in live subjects, over long periods of time. Tracking of stem cells after administration is essential for a better understanding of their migrational dynamics that could be used to […]
Development of a novel technology for precise, efficient, and safe genetic modification of stem cells
Stem cells are unique among cell types found in the human body: These cells are pluripotent; that is, they can develop into any of the more than 200 cell types in the human body. A major goal of stem cell research is to develop treatments for patients who suffer from devastating and currently incurable conditions […]
AO Wide-Field Microscope
A deeper understanding of the biological mechanisms that govern stem cells requires detailed, real-time image analysis of living cells. Currently, conventional live microscopy techniques are ineffective at imaging features like the nucleus in the center of a cell, principally due to aberrations caused by imaging through cytoplasm, organelles and other molecules inside the cell. Similar […]