StemCellPatents.com Newsletter
Your weekly source for the latest stem cell research and stem cell patents.
Dear manoj kumar valluru,
Last week a patent (#7,402,724) was issued for a screening system to find agents that extent life-span, the screening system involving finding compounds or nucleic acids that inhibit the pregnancy associated plasma protein (PAPP-A). Why this is interesting is that animals lacking PAPP-A or having mutations in it live up to 30% longer as compared to wild-type controls. Given that similar life extension related patents (#7,345,178) have commanded high market valuations, this will be interesting to follow.
Another patent (#7,402,567) issued last week of relevance to our field dealt with STIMULATION of apoptosis as a means of treating liver failure. The idea being that if you selectively kill the stellate cells, then they can no longer deposit collagen, and thus fibrosis will be ameliorated.
With exception of Osiris, who appears to be focusing on the immune modulatory uses of mesenchymal stem cells, few people are actually studying mechanisms by which mesenchymal stem cells actually mediate changes in the immune system. A paper published last week described that mesenchymal stem cells have in vitro activity against homeostatic, T cell receptor independent proliferation. This is a very powerful finding if reproducible in vivo.
Another publication of interest described the potential of clearing small, subcellular particles called exosomes from circulation of cancer patients as a means of restoring immunological activity.
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(BETA)