This patent teaches that intraportal administration of bone marrow subsequent to myeloablation can be used as a therapy for the treatment of autoimmune disease. This approach may be useful since it "reprograms" the immune system, allowing for it to come back into homeostasis. The problem with this is that several severe toxicities are usually associated with transplantation of bone...
When cells are administered into the lung, many times they get stuck there. This invention takes advantage of this and claims the use of various cells, including stem cells, as vectors for genes that are beneficial for lung function. I believe that this inventor actually performed clinical trials by administration of iNOS transfected fibroblasts into patients with pulmonary hypertension.
Xenotransplantation is limited primarily by antibody mediated rejection. Accordingly while this patent covers the use of mesenchymal stem cells for preventing xenograft rejection, the actual applicability of this patent seems unlikely since mesenchymal stem cells do not strongly protect against antibody mediated immune rejection in xenotransplantation.
This patent teaches the use of mesenchymal stem cells for preventing allograft rejection through immune modulation. It is known that bone marrow cells can display a veto-like effect in that they are capable of inducing donor-specific tolerance. The bone marrow cells are one source of mesenchymal stem cells. In this patent purified mesenchymal stem cells are claimed not only for inducing...
This patent teaches therapeutic uses of mesenchymal stem cells that are NOT MHC matched. Two specific uses seem to be covered: connective tissue regeneration, and muscle regeneration. The patent has two independent claims, the first covers a method of promoting muscle growth in a human by administration of non-MHC matched mesenchymal stem cells, whereas the second...
This patent covers the use of mesenchymal stem cells that are either allogeneic or xenogeneic for the purposes of regeneration and/or enhancing hematopoietic graft function. Since mesenchymal stem cells are immunosuppressive (at least locally), the use of immunosuppressants can be avoided. This patent would be interesting to use with islet grafts for the treatment of diabetes. I mean, some...
This patent covers the use of angiotensinogen I and II and fragments thereof for promoting viability of tissues. This could be used form maintaining the viability of stem cells during organ storage.
Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation has saved hundreds of thousands of lives of patients with hematopoietic malignancies or some metabolic disorders. Hematopoietic stem cell transplant involves administration of CD34 cells or unpurified mononuclear cells from either donor bone marrow, cord blood, or mobilized peripheral blood. Since the "graft" in this type of...
This patent covers a procedure for repairing articular cartilage through administration of growth factors and/or stem cells.
Many interesting angles can be used to get patents. This patent covers the use of a mouse model for identifying factors associated with healing of wounds. These kind of patents make one wonder where exactly the limit of patentability is, and what is the purpose of actually filing the patent.
The patent covers essentially what is described in the first independent claim...