KAZAN FEDERAL UNIVERSITY
IMAGE: (A) IMMUNOPHENOTYPE OF NATIVE NEWLY ISOLATED HADSCS (PASSAGE 1). CELLS WERE POSITIVE FOR CD29, CD44, CD73, CD90, CD105, AND NEGATIVE FOR (NEGATIVE CONTROL) CD11B, CD19, CD34, CD45, AND HLA-DR. (B, C) OSTEOGENIC, ADIPOGENIC, AND CHONDROGENIC DIFFERENTIATION OF HADSCS. PHASE CONTRAST MICROSCOPE IMAGES. TO DIFFERENTIATE TOWARD ADIPOGENIC LINEAGE NATIVE HADSCS WERE CULTURED IN REPROGRAMMING MEDIUM FOR 14 DAYS. AT DAY 14, CELLS WERE FIXED AND STAINED WITH OIL RED O. FOR OSTEOGENIC DIFFERENTIATION CELLS WERE CULTURED IN REPROGRAMMING MEDIUM FOR 28 DAYS. AT DAY 28, CELLS WERE FIXED AND ANALYZED BY VON KOSSA STAINING. CHONDROGENIC DIFFERENTIATION WAS DETERMINED BY STAINING WITH ALCIAN BLUE ON DAY 21 AFTER SEEDING (OSTEOGENIC DIFFERENTIATION: SCALE BAR, 100 ΜM; ADIPOGENIC AND CHONDROGENIC DIFFERENTIATION: SCALE BAR, 200 ΜM). THE QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS OF RELATIVE MRNA EXPRESSION OF RUNX2, PPAR-Γ, AND COL2Α1 GENES, ASSOCIATED WITH OSTEOGENIC, ADIPOGENIC, AND CHONDROGENIC DIFFERENTIATION, RESPECTIVELY, WAS ALSO CARRIED OUT. BOTH THE SPECIFIC STAINING AND GENE EXPRESSION ANALYSIS CONFIRMED THE DIFFERENTIATION CAPACITY OF HADSCS.
CREDIT: KAZAN FEDERAL UNIVERSITY
A gene-cell preparation by Kazan Federal University comprises a patient’s stem cells specifically modified to synthesize several therapeutic proteins. One protein stimulates the patient’s immune system against their tumor, and other proteins launch the cell death process. The technology is based on viral peptides and includes simultaneous synthesis of proteins which are then broken down in cells.
“The comprehensive approach helps widen the spectrum of applications of such medications and increase the efficacy of the therapy due to stem cells’ capacity to selectively transport proteins to the tumor,” comments co-author Valeriya Solovyeva, Lead Research Associate of KFU’s Gene and Cell Technology Lab. “The method has been patented in Russian under N 2757502 – Genetic cassette containing codon-optimized nucleotide sequences of genes TRAIL, PTEN and IFNβ-1, and pharmaceutical composition for the treatment of cancer.”
However, the scientists since then went even further and made the method safer thanks to vesicles obtained from genetically modified cells. Vesicles are produced in the body by all the cells and can transport the proteins of their parent cells.
“The use of vesicles is promising because they are not altered by a tumor. The obtained vesicles are able to transport therapeutic proteins without any risk for the patient and have already proven effective in cases of breast cancer, lung cancer, and colon cancer,” says Albert Rizvanov, Head of Gene and Cell Technology Lab, Director of the Center for Precision and Regenerative Medicine. “As it appears, vesicles can also activate immune cells.”
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