Therapeutic/Technology: Exploring stem cell mechanisms
Mechanisms of chromatin dynamics at enhancers during ES cell differentiation
The human ES cells are euploid cells that can proliferate without limit and maintain the potential to differentiate into all cell types. Differentiation of human ES cells involves selective activation or silencing of genes, a process that involves not only combinatorial interactions between the cis-regulatory sequences and DNA binding transcription factors, but also post-translational histone […]
Stem Cells in Lung Cancer
Lung cancer is the most deadly cancer worldwide and accounts for more deaths than prostate cancer, breast cancer and colon cancer combined. Non small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) accounts for about 85% of all lung cancers. The current 5-year survival rate for all stages of NSCLC is only 15%. Although early stage lung cancer has […]
Molecular mechanisms governing hESC and iPS cell self-renewal and pluripotency
A major problem in regenerative medicine today is that stem cells have the ability to cause tumors and in most cases we currently lack methods to make them safe. For example, two of the most promising stem cells for regenerative medicine, human embryonic stem cells (hESC) and induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS), both readily cause […]
High throughput modeling of human neurodegenerative diseases in embryonic stem cells
An important class of neurological diseases predominantly affects spinal motor neurons, the neurons that control muscle movement. The most well known of these motor neuronopathies is Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), commonly referred to as Lou Gehrig’s disease for the famous Yankee first baseman who died of the disease. The first symptoms of ALS are usually […]
Induction of cardiogenesis in pluripotent cells via chromatin remodeling factors
Heart disease is one of the biggest killers in the civilized world, and as populations age, this trend will increase dramatically. Currently the only way to treat failing hearts is with expensive and relatively ineffective drugs, or by heart transplantation. Ideally, we would like to be able to regenerate sick or dead heart tissue. The […]
An in vitro and in vivo comparison among three different human hepatic stem cell populations.
Because there is still considerable morbidity and mortality associated with the process of transplantation, and because more than a thousand people die each year while on the liver transplantation list, it is evident that improved and safer liver transplantation would be valuable, as would approaches that provide for an increased number of transplantations in a […]
Prospective isolation of hESC-derived hematopoietic and cardiomyocyte stem cells
The capacity of human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) to perpetuate themselves indefinitely in culture and to differentiate to all cell types of the body has lead to numerous studies that aim to isolate therapeutically relevant cells for the benefit of patients, and also to study how genetic diseases develop. However, hESCs can cause tumors called […]
Understanding hESC-based Hematopoiesis for Therapeutic Benefit
Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation is the treatment of choice for many hematologic malignancies, and it is used to treat an expanding number of congenital blood disorders. However, only ~30% of patients who can benefit from this treatment have a matched sibling that can serve as the ideal donor. While the national marrow donor program and […]
hESC-Derived Motor Neurons For the Treatment of Cervical Spinal Cord Injury
Cervical spinal cord injuries result in a loss of upper limb function because the cells within the spinal cord that control upper limb muscles are destroyed. The goal of this research program is to create a renewable human source of these cells, to restore upper limb function in both acute and chronic spinal cord injuries. […]
Human Embryonic Stem Cell Therapeutic Strategies to Target HIV Disease
AIDS is a disease that currently has no cure. It arises when the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infects certain types of blood cells. These cells would normally be used to fight infection, but instead are destroyed by the virus, leading to immunodeficiency. We have recently been able to induce the development of human embryonic stem […]