Professor Im Sung-gap of the Korea Advanced Institute of Science & Technology (KAIST), left, and Son Mi-young of the Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology, right, pose with researchers of the team that succeeded in mass cultivating human intestinal stem cells in a xenogeneic-free environment. Courtesy of KAIST
By Nam Hyun-woo
A team of Korean researchers succeeded in mass cultivating human intestinal stem cells in an environment without any animal-derived components for the first time in the world, paving the way for applying patient-specific stem cell treatments for regenerative therapies.
The team, led by professor Im Sung-gap of the Korea Advanced Institute of Science & Technology (KAIST) and Son Mi-young of the Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology, said Thursday it succeeded in developing a regenerative therapy platform using xenogeneic-free human intestinal stem cells.
The team developed the platform by utilizing vapor-deposited organic polymers without relying on conventional methods such as using the fibroblasts of mice.
The team said it transplanted the cultivated stem cells into the colons of mice with intestinal damage and inflammatory conditions and confirmed that the human intestinal stem cells effectively fused with the mouse colon tissue, demonstrating outstanding performance in regenerating the damaged areas and alleviating inflammatory responses.
The team said this shows that human cells maintained their functionality and demonstrated tissue regeneration effects even after being xenografted into animals and can be seen as an important case that proves the applicability of this platform as a clinical-grade stem cell therapy.
“This research marks an important turning point of developing an innovative xenogeneic-free stem cell culture platform that completely excludes animal-derived components,” Im said. “Particularly, by demonstrating the possibility of mass cultivating human intestinal stem cells and their transplantation, the research has drastically improved the reliability and productivity of stem cell therapeutics.”
The team said it will focus on reviewing the commercial feasibility and the scalability of this platform for patient-derived intestinal stem cells. If patient-derived intestinal stem cells are successfully cultured in a xenogeneic-free environment, subsequent studies will be conducted to verify the clinical effects in actual patients.
English (United States)