Oral Mucosa-derived Stem Cells: A Unique Population for the Prevention and Treatment of Ischemic Heart Failure
Innovative Products and Technologies
Technology Offer
Oral Mucosa-derived Stem Cells: A Unique Population for the Prevention and Treatment of Ischemic Heart Failure
- RAMOT at Tel Aviv University Ltd.
- From Israel
- Responsive
- Innovative Products and Technologies
Summary of the technology
Stem cells (SC) are considered crucial building blocks for any regenerative strategy. Adult oral mucosa (OM) is a unique source for generating adult pluripotent stem cell (OPSC) populations. This uniqueness consists in the fact that 95% of the OM whole populations in culture (1st – 8th passages) express markers of embryonic and mesenchymal SC. Thus, in contradistinction to known sources which comprise very low numbers of SC, OPSC generation for clinical use is simple and cost effective and does not require cumbersome cost-consuming purification steps.
The general objective is to lay the foundation for the development of a variety of products based on the pluripotency and simple and cost effective generation of billions of OPSC. The major aim of the proposed project is to develop a product for the treatment of ischemic heart failure (IHF). This product which will serve as a proof of concept was selected based on medicals needs, market cap and time to market. The specific aims of the proposal are:
1. To develop a cardiac product aimed at treating ischemic heart failure (IHF). The aim is to test the safety and therapeutic effect of OPSC on experimental IHF in a minipig model.
2. To strengthen the intellectual property by fully characterizing the profile of OPSC.
The prevalence of IHF continuously increases (1 million new cases every year in the western world) and currently the market cap is estimated in the range of billions.
Project ID : 10-2011-260
Details of the Technology Offer
The Technology
A novel pluripotent stem cell population, termed hOMSCs, has been isolated from adult human oral mucosa. The hOMSC population expresses markers of pluripotent embryonic stem cells and of multipotent mesenchymal stem cell markers. hOMSCs form the majority of primary oral mucosa-derived populations grown in culture. Thus, their clinical use does not require cumbersome and expensive isolation/purification steps. A biopsy of a 4-5 mm2 from the oral mucosa is sufficient for generating 109 hOMSCs in a few weeks. Biopsy harvest is extremely simple, time-and cost-efficient, causes minimal morbidity to the patient and can be repeated unlimitedly. Furthermore, the frequency and "stemness" of hOMSCs is unaffected by the age of the patient.
Both in vitro and in vivo studies using these cells have demonstrated their efficacy and safety in different indications.
Mesodermal lineages (vascular tissue; bone; cartilage; muscle); Ectodermal lineages (Neurons; glia cells); Endoderm (Definitive endoderm – future development to pancreatic and hepatic lineages).
Potential Applications
· Heart Diseases
· Cartilage and bone diseases or trauma
· Diabetes
· Neurodegenerative diseases
· Neural injuries
· Regenerative medicine
Advantages
· Pluripotent autogenous adult stem cell source
· Stemness is not affected by the patient age
· Simple, cost-effective and unlimited source of adult pluripotent stem cells
· Stemness is not affected by cryopreservation and number of passages
Patents
pending