Gastroenterology – VJRegenMed

Driving the translation of intestinal tissue engineering

admin_vjr_user — Tue, 04 Jan 2022 17:52:17 +0000

Paolo De Coppi, MD, PhD, FMedSci, UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health & NIHR Biomedical Research Centre, London, UK, describes ongoing research aiming to address challenges facing the development of tissue engineering strategies for the treatment of intestinal failure and their translation into patients. While it has been demonstrated that organoid technology can used to replace the intestinal mucosa, the development of Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP)-compliant methods for organoid expansion are required before human transplantation. Given the organ complexity of the intestine, instead of engineering the entire intestine, ongoing research is focused on engineering a functional small intestine mucosa which could be transplanted into the large intestine. This interview took place during the International Society for Cell & Gene Therapy (ISCT) Annual Meeting 2021.

Placental-derived stem cells for neonatal necrotizing enterocolitis

admin_vjr_user — Thu, 12 Aug 2021 18:50:05 +0000

Anthony Atala, MD, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, NC, discusses the potential use of human placental-derived stem cells (hPSCs) for the treatment of necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) in premature newborns. NEC is an intestinal disease with a high mortality rate in neonates and there are currently limited therapeutic options. hPSCs have the capacity to differentiate into the three germ layers and can be expanded in large quantities, however, they do not form teratomas, unlike human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) and induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). In a recent study, the injection of hPSCs into an experimental animal models of necrotizing enterocolitis resulted in reversal of the disease. This interview took place at the 2021 World Stem Cell Summit (WSCS).

CYAD-101 & alloSHRINK: allogeneic CAR-T cell therapy in MSS mCRC

admin_vjr_user — Wed, 10 Mar 2021 19:30:20 +0000

David Gilham, PhD, Celyad Oncology, Mont-Saint-Guibert, Belgium, describes the ongoing Phase 1 alloSHRINK trial (NCT03692429) evaluating CYAD-101, a non-gene edited allogeneic CAR-T cell therapy that targets the natural killer group 2D (NKG2D) receptor, in patients with microsatellite-stable (MSS) metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC). Preliminary data in 15 patients with MSS mCRC suggests that CYAD-101 therapy may result in improved clinical responses and progression-free survival, although studies are ongoing and further data is required to confirm the benefits in this patient group. This interview took place during the CAR-TCR Summit Europe 2021.