Preclinical study of novel human allogeneic adipose tissue-derived mesenchymal stem cell sheets toward a first-in-human clinical trial for myopic chorioretinal atrophy.

Background: Mesenchymal stem cells may have neuroprotective and tissue regenerative capabilities and the potential to rescue retinal degeneration in chorioretinal diseases including myopic chorioretinal atrophy. Transplantation of human (allogeneic) adipose tissue-derived mesenchymal stem cell (adMSC) suspensions has been clinically conducted to treat retinal degenerative diseases. However, serious side effects including proliferative vitreoretinopathy and epiretinal membrane formation have been reported.

Development of fluorogenic substrates for colorectal tumor-related neuropeptidases for activity-based diagnosis.

The M3 metalloproteases, neurolysin and THOP1, are neuropeptidases that are expressed in various tissues and metabolize neuropeptides, such as neurotensin. The biological roles of these enzymes are not well characterized, partially because the chemical tools to analyse their activities are not well developed. Here, we developed a fluorogenic substrate probe for neurolysin and thimet oligopeptidase 1 (THOP1), which enabled the analysis of enzymatic activity changes in tissue and plasma samples.

Development of a Novel Intraocular-Pressure-Lowering Therapy Targeting ATX.

Elevated intraocular pressure (IOP) is the major cause of glaucoma, which is the second leading cause of blindness. However, current glaucoma treatments cannot completely regulate IOP and progression of glaucoma. Our group recently found that autotaxin (ATX) activity in human aqueous humor (AH) was positively correlated with increased IOP in various subtypes of glaucoma.