Advantages
- Umbilical cord-derived mesenchymal stem cells (UC-MSCs) can be harvested noninvasively and are usually treated as medical waste, making it easy to establish a cell bank and ensure a stable supply.
- UC-MSCs can be mass-produced due to their high proliferative potential, which is more advantageous than cellular therapeutics using other tissue-derived MSCs for consideration for commercialization.
- Establishment of a culture method with high cell adhesion and vascular induction ability without genetic manipulation, which enables mass production of high-quality cells. Therefore, it is expected to be an inexpensive and safe development of a new therapeutic drug for lung diseases.
Technology Overview & Background
In recent years, research on cell therapy using MSCs for COPD has begun. Studies using bone marrow-derived MSCs have been conducted first, however, it has been pointed out that bone marrow-derived MSCs are not suitable as therapeutic cells due to their low proliferative potential, invasive collection, and high expression of aging-related genes with low differentiation potential. Although the administration of MSCs itself has the advantage of high safety due to its wide range of applications and many successful results in administration, in the case of pulmonary disease treatment, the problem is that MSCs do not remain in the lungs for a long time after intravenous infusion.
For these reasons, the researchers decided to use UC-MSCs. In addition, as a solution for UC-MSCs to stay in the lungs longer, they examined the improvement of viability by enhancing cell adhesion, and found that UC-MSCs cultured on collagen gel showed longer viability than normal cultured cells.
Data
- COPD model mice were generated by elastase induction, and UC-MSCs cultured on Type-I collagen gel were transplanted intravenously. As a result, it was observed that UC-MSCs prolonged the cell growth longer than normal cultured cells and remained in the lung tissue 24 hours after administration, indicating that UC-MSCs regulate the inflammatory response.
- Compared to the case where the cells were cultured without collagen gel, highly efficient vascular induction occurred in the model mouse body when cultured by this method. In addition, the inhibition of inflammatory cytokine production resulted in inhibition of apoptosis.
- In alveolar tissues in which UC-MSCs were grown by this method, elastin expression was enhanced, smooth muscle fiber formation was promoted, and morphological changes such as increased alveolar wall thickness were observed. In other words, the findings indicate that UC-MSCs cultured by this method may contribute to tissue repair.
Researchers & Academic Institution
Mayumi Iwatake, PhD (Specially Appointed Lecturer, Nagoya University, Japan), et al.
Patents
PCT/JP2023/026381 (pending, unpublished.)
Note: It is possible to obtain a license for this patent from Nagasaki University.
Further Details
It is possible to disclose detailed technology under CDA with Nagasaki and Nagoya universities.
Expectations
Tech Manage Corp. is now looking for companies to collaborate with the researchers and develop this technology further under the licensing of patent(s) described above.
[Project code: JT-04404]