This project aims to develop a new stem cell-based therapy for non-healing diabetic ulcers using a full-thickness skin defect animal model of type 2 diabetes. Bioactive cell sheets based on electrochemically aligned collagen matrix combined with ADSCs will be used to treat chronic, non-healing wounds.

Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) will develop new technologies to treat facial injuries as part of the Armed Forces Institute of Regenerative Medicine (AFIRM) II, known collectively as the Warrior Restoration Consortium.

The $75 million, five-year AFIRM II consortium led by Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine focuses on improved technologies to treat soldiers injured on the battlefield and to advance medical care for the public. It comprises more than 30 academic and industry institutions applying regenerative medicine for injuries to specific areas of the body.

Completed

Develop a process to isolate MSCs from human umbilical cord blood units

Develop a process to isolate and characterize human umbilical cord blood plasma

Test the efficacy of the novel Oxyspur dressing in concert with TransCu Oxygen delivery system for use in caring for patients with lower extremity diabetic foot ulcers. We will assess the benefits of this novel therapy on would healing, vascular parameters, skin perfusion and quality of life. This study is being conducted at the Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX.

Factors in the tumor microenvironment promote immunosuppression that permits tumor escape from immune destruction. Our data show that tumor PD-L1 (CD274, B7-H1) is a major regulator of tumor inflammatory lymphocyte (TIL) infiltrate. PD-L1 is widely expressed in many tumors and is the target of two successful new cancer immunotherapy approaches, but is a poor predictor of treatment efficacy.

Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is a highly malignant brain tumor type with 14 months average patient survival, high incidence of recurrence and no effective line of treatment. Genomic analyses became an essential resource to understand the molecular alterations that cause cancer. In the case of GBM, analysis of hundreds of samples produced an extensive transcriptomic map, identified prevalent mutations and defined important tumor drivers. Unfortunately, clinical trials based on these results have not yet delivered positiv outcomes.

Delaying the onset of cancer may be a viable cancer prevention strategy, but until now research efforts on this aspect are indeed limited. To this end,we are relatively advanced because our published results establish that organ specific delivery of eRapa (a novel formulation of rapamycin) can delay the development of intestinal tumors in a mouse model of familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP) and thus extended life as well as health span.

Our long-term goal is to determine how the aging-related breast cancer can be specifically prevented. This is an unanswered question largely because the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying the aging-related increase in breast cancer incidence are poorly understood. We recently found that the percentage of mammary stem cells (MaSCs) in mouse mammary gland increases steadily with age.