Engineering Stem Cells and Extracellular Components for Tissue Regeneration and Translational Medicine

This presentation is providing an overview of the ongoing research at the UC Davis School of Medicine, Center for Surgical Bioengineering (CSB). CSB focuses on engineering stem cells and biomaterials to develop novel regenerative therapies for a variety of diseases, with the focus being on the birth defect program in collaboration with the UC Davis Fetal Treatment Center and Shriners Children’s. Birth defects represent a substantial portion of pediatric morbidity and mortality. In the United States, 1 in every 33 infants is born with a congenital anomaly, and congenital anomalies comprise the largest cause of infant death. In utero surgery and stem cell therapy have the potential to revolutionize the treatment of birth defects: instead of merely treating symptoms following birth, anomalies may be treated or cured before birth. The Wang lab has been developing fetal tissue engineering approaches using different types of stem cells, stem cell-derived extracellular vesicles, and extracellular matrix-mimicking biomaterial scaffolds to engineer the fetal environment and treat a variety of birth defects before birth. One of the major projects his lab has focused on over the past decade is on developing a stem cell technology for the fetal treatment of spina bifida. His team have successfully manufactured clinical-grade placenta-derived mesenchymal stem cells (PMSCs) in the UC Davis GMP facility, acquired IND approval from the FDA, and are currently conducting a first-in-human Phase 1/2a clinical trial for the in utero treatment of spina bifida using PMSCs. The Wang lab is also working on using lipid nanoparticles to deliver mRNAs to genetically modify developing stem cells to treat genetic diseases before birth. To harness the stem cell behavior, novel integrin-based ligands identified via One-Bead One-Compound (OBOC) combinatorial technology have been applied to target stem cells and improve stem cell attachment, migration and function.

Speaker: Aijun Wang, UC Davis