Selection for CD26 and CD49A Cells From Pluripotent Stem Cells-Derived Islet-Like Clusters Improves Therapeutic Activity in Diabetic Mice.

Background: Cell therapy of diabetes aims at restoring the physiological control of blood glucose by transplantation of functional pancreatic islet cells. A potentially unlimited source of cells for such transplantations would be islet cells derived from an differentiation of human pluripotent stem cells (hESC/hiPSC). The islet-like clusters (ILC) produced by the known differentiation protocols contain various cell populations.

Derivation of Pericytes from Human Pluripotent Stem Cells.

Human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs), either embryonic or induced, offer a plentiful platform for derivation of multiple cell types. Pericytes, generated from hPSCs, are multipotent precursors with vasculogenic features that exhibit high proliferation capability in long-term cultures. Administration of hPSC-pericytes into ischemic murine hind limb is associated with therapeutic angiogenesis and attenuation of muscle wasting.

Cardiac Fibroblast-Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell-Derived Exosomes as a Potential Therapeutic Mean for Heart Failure.

The limited regenerative capacity of the injured myocardium leads to remodeling and often heart failure. Novel therapeutic approaches are essential. Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC) differentiated into cardiomyocytes are a potential future therapeutics.

Safety and efficacy of human embryonic stem cell-derived astrocytes following intrathecal transplantation in SOD1 and NSG animal models.

Background: Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a motor neuron (MN) disease characterized by the loss of MNs in the central nervous system. As MNs die, patients progressively lose their ability to control voluntary movements, become paralyzed and eventually die from respiratory/deglutition failure. Despite the selective MN death in ALS, there is growing evidence that malfunctional astrocytes play a crucial role in disease progression.

20th Anniversary of Isolation of Human Embryonic Stem Cells: A Personal Perspective.

Following Jamie Thomson's lecture on primate embryonic stem cells (ESCs) at a meeting I had organized in March 1997, in Israel, to celebrate receipt of the Wolf Prize in Agriculture to my colleague and friend Neal First, frozen human embryos donated for research in Israel were shipped to Wisconsin. The five hESC lines (H1, H7, H9, H13, and H14) were established by early 1998 and transferred to my laboratory just before publication of their existence in Science, on November 6, 1998. The distribution of the cells from my institute to several laboratories, as early as 1999, enhanced the development of hESC research worldwide.