Population of undifferentiated neural, endocrine or neuroendocrine cells in a hydrogel support

Patent Number: 7,470,425

There are many patents on stem cells, or populations of stem cells, or matrices for their delivery.  This patent is interesting because it is a sort of a "hybrid patent".  It is neither a patent on a matrix, or a patent on a cell.   

This patent covers a population of cells, that the inventors call "undifferentiated", accordingly they may include stem cells, that are extracted from tissue by dissociation and trypsin digestion, mixed with a supporting material, and then are implanted into the body.   

The patent seems to circumvent patents on tissue resident stem cells such as the pancreatic progenitor cells, by collecting a relatively unpurified population of "undifferentiated" cells. 

The first and only independent claim is "A population of isolated mammalian adult undifferentiated cells obtainable following digestion of dissociated neural, endocrine or neuroendocrine tissue with trypsin, in combination with a support material for implantation, wherein the structure of the support material guides the development and shape of new tissue from the cell population and resists external compressive and tensile stresses from the environment and surrounding tissues"

Dependent claims include the "tissue" being adrenal gland, pancreas tissue, hypothalamus, pituitary, parathyroid, or thyroid, intestinal tract or the aorta.

It appears that the patent is limited to "digestion of the tissue with trypsin", so if someone uses another agent for digestion....

View this patent on the USPTO website.