When Prometheus Needs A Hand – How Human Amnion Epithelial Cells Resolve Fibrosis And Regenerate The Liver
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$530,653.00
Summary
Cirrhosis can progress to end stage disease for which transplantation provides the only hope for survival. Liver donors in Australia are scarce; the need for donor organs is increasing. Using stem cells to repair and regenerate damaged liver may provide an alternative to organ transplantation. We are studying placental stem cells that can decrease inflammation and increase progenitor cells to repair and regenerate liver. Our goal is to use these stem cells as treatment for human liver disease
Role Of Human Amnion Epithelial Cells In Resolving Hepatic Fibrosis
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$618,755.00
Summary
When the liver is injured repeatedly by viruses and alcohol, it responds through a wound healing process that can lead to extensive scar tissue in the liver (cirrhosis). This condition may require liver transplantation and lifelong use of drugs to prevent the body from rejecting the new organ. To develop an alternate therapy, we will study if substances secreted by amnion cells from the human placenta (afterbirth), which would normally be discarded, can reduce liver scar tissue in mice .
The Role Of TNF And Its Receptor Family In Liver Progenitor Cell Proliferation And Differentiation
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$250,500.00
Summary
Maintaining liver function is essential for health, and compromising this ultimately results in death. The liver is unusual, as it can regenerate to replace lost or damaged tissue. Recently it has been established that there are two pathways to liver regeneration. One involves hepatocytes, and this is normally associated with acute liver damage. The other, involves liver progenitor cells; and this is usually observed when there is chronic and severe liver damage, particularly when the proliferat ....Maintaining liver function is essential for health, and compromising this ultimately results in death. The liver is unusual, as it can regenerate to replace lost or damaged tissue. Recently it has been established that there are two pathways to liver regeneration. One involves hepatocytes, and this is normally associated with acute liver damage. The other, involves liver progenitor cells; and this is usually observed when there is chronic and severe liver damage, particularly when the proliferation of hepatocytes is impaired. This study seeks to understand the underlying mechanisms which recruit liver progenitor cells for regeneration. This knowledge can lead to strategies to augment the oval cell contribution to liver regeneration in cases of chronic liver damage, to enhance survival of the patient. It can be applied to strategies to grow and maintain liver stem cells in culture for the purpose of cell and gene therapy to correct liver dysfunction. It is also necessary to identify factors which affect oval cells and understand their mechanism of action because of their link to liver cancer. Oval cells have a Jekyll and Hyde characteristic, and it is important to know what leads them towards liver differentiation and regeneration, and what makes them produce liver cancers.Read moreRead less
Role Of TNF-á In Growth, Lineage Commitment And Differentiation Of Liver Progenitor Cells
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$228,589.00
Summary
The infection rate of HBV is 20% in Chinese and 10% in Australian in particularly aboriginal. The end-point of this disease is development liver failure and need functional replacement of the liver. Cell therapy represents an alternative of liver transplantation owing to shortage of organ. The information derived from this study is essential for developing strategies to promote growth and differentiation of liver progenitor cell both in vivo and in vitro for therapies to treat liver diseases.
Optimising Human Vascularisation And Liver Tissue Engineering Models To Develop Functional Bio-artificial Human Liver Tissue
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$124,761.00
Summary
This project aims to grow human blood vessels and liver cells derived from human stem cells within a supporting scaffold to generate a “liver in a dish”. Transplantation involves connecting blood vessels in this structure to those of the recipient. This should restore function in mice with human-like liver disease, thereby demonstrating potential of this technology to be developed as an alternative to liver transplantation.
Mechanisms Underlying Growth, Lineage Commitment And Differentiation Of Liver Progenitor Cells
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$535,333.00
Summary
Liver disease is a serious health problem. Viral hepatitis, obesity and alcohol can result in end-stage liver disease. Organ transplant is the only treatment available. A widening gap between organ donations and recipients mandates alternative treatments are developed. Cell transplantation and artificial liver devices are alternatives which can use liver progenitor cells. We will investigate how factors grow and convert them into liver cells for treating liver disease patients.
Haematopoietic Stem Cells From Human Pluripotent Stem Cells: The Future Of Bone Marrow Transplantation
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$763,845.00
Summary
Blood stem cell transplantation is a vital therapy for patients with leukaemia following chemotherapy or for patients with bone marrow failure. Because many patients lack a donor, there is a need for an alternate source of stem cells. My laboratory will make blood stem cells from human pluripotent stem cells that will treat patients needing a transplant and will be a useful research tool to help us to understand what goes wrong in the blood system in a range of illnesses.
Adult and embryonic stem cells have enormous therapeutic potential. Haemopoietic stem cells have been the most intensely studied and widely used in a therapeutic setting, yet we have only a patchy knowledge of the genes required for their proliferation and survival. I will use classical genetic screens in the mouse to identify genes that regulate stem cell behaviour. I will analyse two existing mutant mouse strains with reduced numbers of haemopoietic stem cells, and execute a novel genetic scre ....Adult and embryonic stem cells have enormous therapeutic potential. Haemopoietic stem cells have been the most intensely studied and widely used in a therapeutic setting, yet we have only a patchy knowledge of the genes required for their proliferation and survival. I will use classical genetic screens in the mouse to identify genes that regulate stem cell behaviour. I will analyse two existing mutant mouse strains with reduced numbers of haemopoietic stem cells, and execute a novel genetic screen utilising mice with a defect in the self-renewal of adult haemopoietic and neural stem cells, to find mice with a recovered stem cell compartment.Read moreRead less