Technologies
Stem cells
Alzheimer's is a degenerative and terminal disease for which there is no known cure. The cause and progression of Alzheimer's disease is not well understood. Research indicates that the disease is associated with plaques and tangles in the brain. These plaques are composed of a tangle of regularly ordered fibrillar aggregates called amyloid fibers, a protein fold shared by other peptides such as prions associated with protein misfolding diseases. Aβ is formed after sequential cleavage of the amyloid precursor protein (APP), a transmembrane glycoprotein of undetermined function.
Alzheimer's is a degenerative and terminal disease for which there is no known cure. The cause and progression of Alzheimer's disease is not well understood.
Mesenchymal Stem Cells (MSC) can be manipulated to
facilitate organ repair and regeneration and manipulate the individual’s immune
system. Their ability to accomplish both of these tasks is dependent on their
state of activation. The UIC inventors have discovered a new method to activate
these stem cells and transform them so that they can provide more effective
regeneration as well as more effective control of damaging immune system
processes.
Hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) have the unique ability to undergo self-renewal and to differentiate into cells belonging to multiple hematopoietic lineages. The ability of stem cells to self renew allows them to maintain hematopoiesis throughout the life span of an organism. The knowledge of the behavior of HSCs is limited due to their rarity, difficulty of efficient isolation, and sensitivity to manipulation.
Hematopoietic Stem Cells (HSCs) are self-renewing, multi-potential cells mainly residing in bone marrow and are the progenitors of red blood cells, white blood cells and of the cells of the immune system. HSCs can also be isolated from umbilical cord blood and from the peripheral blood. HSCs comprise only a small fraction of bone marrow or umbilical cord blood cells, but are the critical element in HSC transplantation due to their ability to colonize bone marrow and to differentiate into the full complement of hematopoietic cells.
Cell therapy technologies and methods have already started to play an important role in the practice of medicine. Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation is replacing the old fashioned bone marrow transplants. Cell therapy technologies overlap with those of gene therapy, cancer vaccines, drug delivery, tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. The inventors have identified a way to use bone marrow derived endothelial progenitor cells for use in cell-based therapy ranging from reparative medicine to drug screening.
Market research indicates that neurodegenerative diseases are destined to become the next great health crusade over the next several decades. One of the approaches to this issue involves stem cells. Stem cells are unspecialized cells that have a unique ability to develop into any type of cell. They may potentially serve as an unlimited source of specialized cells including blood, liver, muscle, and bone cells. Patients with damaged cells due to neurological conditions may benefit from such research.
Millions of individuals suffer a lower quality of life as a result of blindness caused by retinal de
Stem cells show much promise in their potential to cure various neurodegenerative diseases such as A