Description:
Background:
Regenerative medicine is the process of using stem cells or related
products to repair or repopulate organs or tissues damaged by a disease. Stem
cell-based regenerative therapies may be used to heal or treat a wide range of
conditions including cardiovascular disease, cancer, osteoporosis, Alzheimer’s
disease, Parkinson’s disease, diabetes, renal failure, and spinal cord injuries.
Biomedical approaches to clinical therapies in regenerative
medicine may often times
involve the collection and
cultivation of stem cells in order to generate sufficient numbers of normal stem
cells for the purpose of cellular therapy. Currently, however, there are no
reliable methods to determine the stem cell potency of repairing or regenerating
damaged tissues. This invention discloses a novel approach for identification,
isolation, and cultivation of stem cells useful for regenerative medicine.
Market:
The broad indications place a tremendous demand and market for
regenerative medicine. The global market for stem cells and stem cell products
was $3.8 billion in 2011 and expected to reach $6.6 billion by 2016.
Technology
Highlights:
Scientists at The University of Texas Health Science Center at
Houston (UTHealth) have identified a protein that modulates stem cell growth and
differentiation via the ubiquitination pathway. This
technology:
·
Identifies
and details a protein which may regulate expression of cellular proteins
important for growth, adhesion, apoptosis and differentiation of embryonic and
adult stem cells from various tissues;
·
Describes
a potential method of modulating
stem cell adhesion to matrix or stem cell-stem cell interaction;
and
·
Describes
a potential method of modulating the protein to deter the differentiation of
stem cells, in order to facilitate propagation in culture, or to promote the
differentiation of stem cells.
IP
Status:
U.S. patent application filed
License Available:
World-wide; exclusive or non-exclusive
Researchers:
Drs. Yong-Jian Geng and Michael
Wassler