PIs: Piervincenzo Rizzo
Co-PIs: Samuel Dickerson, Ian Sigal, Ian Conner, and Robert Handzel
Title: Managing Glaucoma in the Digital Age: A New Tonometer to Connect Patients to their Caregivers
Grant of the Month 2020
By The McGowan Institute For Regenerative Medicine | Grant of the Month, Grant of the Month 2020 | November 25, 2020
By The McGowan Institute For Regenerative Medicine | Grant of the Month, Grant of the Month 2020 | October 26, 2020
PIs: D. Lansing Taylor, Jaideep Behari, and Alejandro Soto-Guttierrez
Title: A Vascularized Patient-Derived iPSC Liver Acinus Microphysiological System as an Innovative Precision Medicine Platform for Optimizing Clinical Trial Design for Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease
By The McGowan Institute For Regenerative Medicine | Grant of the Month, Grant of the Month 2020 | September 30, 2020
PIs: David H. Kohn, William V. Giannobile, David J. Mooney, Charles Sfeir, and William R. Wagner
Title: Michigan-Pittsburgh-Wyss Regenerative Medicine Resource Center: Advancing Dental, Oral, and Craniofacial Regeneration to Clinical Trial Initiation
By The McGowan Institute For Regenerative Medicine | Grant of the Month, Grant of the Month 2020 | August 27, 2020
PI: George Gittes
Title: Alpha Cells Conversion to Beta Cells in Non-Human Primates
Description: An ideal solution to the treatment or cure of type 1 diabetes mellitus would be the formation of new functioning β-cells from the patient’s own tissues that are not attacked by the autoimmunity, thereby avoiding the need for any immunosuppression. Abundant recent data have suggested that α-cells are a viable potential source for endogenous transdifferentiation into β-cells. Here, we describe a pancreatic intraductal viral delivery system in the mouse, wherein a single infusion of an adeno-associated virus (AAV), carrying a pdx1/mafA expression vector, is given to a toxin-induced (alloxan) diabetic mouse. This AAV gene therapy induced robust and durable α-cell transdifferentiation into β-cell-like cells through neogenesis, with recovery of over 60% of the β-cell mass within 4 weeks, and with persistent, durable euglycemia. Serendipitously, when this β-cell-like cell neogenesis was similarly induced in the autoimmune NOD mouse model, the mice became euglycemic for 4 months or more, without any additional therapy or immunosuppression. To our knowledge, no clinically applicable β-cell replacement therapy in NOD mice has been successful without immunosuppression. We suspect that the neogenic β-cell-like cells may not be attacked by the autoimmunity because they are “imperfect” β-cells by RNA-seq analysis. Since pancreatic duct injection is routinely performed in humans as a relatively simple, non-surgical procedure, and since numerous viral gene therapy trials are currently ongoing for several diseases, we feel that our approach may be rapidly translatable to humans with type 1 diabetes mellitus. In this proposal, we will perform important proof-of-principle studies in non-human primates as last steps in preparation for human gene therapy clinical trials. The primate pancreas has a very different texture and consistency than the mouse pancreas (and is very similar to the human pancreas). Thus, the mechanics of the viral delivery will likely require substantial alterations. In addition, a glucagon promoter is preferable to the CMV promoter for expression of pdx1 and mafA, so we will strive to develop and optimize a glucagon promoter vector that is effective in primates. Further studies will investigate this pancreatic ductal infusion approach in the context of AAV neutralizing antibodies. We will also perform detailed analyses of the new β-cell-like cells, including physiology, gene expression phenotype, and anatomy. In summary, we feel that the proposed studies, if successful, should position us well in preparation for clinical trials in humans with type 1 diabetes mellitus.
By The McGowan Institute For Regenerative Medicine | Grant of the Month, Grant of the Month 2020 | July 28, 2020
PI: Fabrisia Ambrosio
PI: Thomas Rando
Title: Alliance for Regenerative Rehabilitation Research & Training (AR3T)
By The McGowan Institute For Regenerative Medicine | Grant of the Month, Grant of the Month 2020 | June 24, 2020
PI: David Vorp
Title: The Role of Fibrinolysis in Tissue Engineered Vascular Grafts for Aged Individuals
By The McGowan Institute For Regenerative Medicine | Grant of the Month, Grant of the Month 2020 | May 28, 2020
PI: Anita McElroy
Co-PIs: Paul Duprex and Alan Wells
Title: SARS-CoV-2 clinical and community serosurveillance
By The McGowan Institute For Regenerative Medicine | Grant of the Month, Grant of the Month 2020 | May 26, 2020
PI: Takashi Kozai
Title: CAREER: Uncovering the Impact of Traditional and Novel Chronic Stimulation Modalities on Neural Excitability and Native Neuronal Network Function
By The McGowan Institute For Regenerative Medicine | Grant of the Month, Grant of the Month 2020 | March 31, 2020
PI: Cecelia Yates
Title: FibroKine™ biomimetic peptides as potential targeted therapeutic treatment of pulmonary fibrosis
By The McGowan Institute For Regenerative Medicine | Grant of the Month, Grant of the Month 2020 | February 26, 2020
PI: Stephen Badylak
Title: REPAIR: Regenerative Electronic Patch through Advanced Intelligent Regulation
By The McGowan Institute For Regenerative Medicine | Grant of the Month, Grant of the Month 2020 | January 28, 2020
PI: Radosveta Koldamova
Co-PI: Fabrisia Ambrosio
Title: Physical exercise and blood-brain communication: Exosomes, Klotho and the Choroid Plexus