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Stem Cell |
Our products include human MSC derived from cord blood and various cellular derivatives including fluorescent labeled cells allowing researchers to easily visualize these cells. This is especially advantageous to experiments involving migration of stem cells to specific targets and to implantation studies designed to determine differentiation capacity and otherwise trace movements and changes in stem cells exposed to specific environments. Other products provided by Vitro include cell culture media optimized for growth or differentiation and other reagents needed for the successful use of these products in our customer’s laboratories. Expanded usage of MSC such as those provided by Vitro provides additional benefits, including use adult stem cells eliminating ethical and religious issues associated with embryonic stem cells. Furthermore, expanded use of Vitro’s adult stem cells will enable use of personalized cells that should eliminate immune rejection of transplanted cells. Also, use of personalized stem cells may lead to a new era of regenerative medicine involving the banking of cells such as umbilical cord blood for later use to generate “designer” stem cells derived from the individual patient for treatment of degenerative disorders including diabetes, heart disease, Alzheimer’s disease as well as cancer and many other disorders.
The recently developed technique of reprogramming adult cells into stem cells may also provide the benefits of embryonic stem cells without requiring the sacrifice of embryos. Enhanced expression of certain genes in adult skin cells results in cells called iPS that resemble embryonic stem cells with regard to the capacity to differentiate into any cell type. However, current methods of iPS generation involve genetic engineering using foreign DNA sequences added to the cells being converted to iPS. This step adds considerable safety risks. Generation of iPS without genetic engineering with foreign material is a desirable scientific break-through. Vitro’s new tools facilitate this break-through research by providing well-defined human cells and related products that may be converted to iPS without using foreign DNA material, thus eliminating a major safety risk of currently utilized iPS methodology.
Vitro’s new products also offer important tools for stem cell therapy of cancer. MSCs migrate to cancer stem cells and this characteristic may be used to carry toxic agents to selectively eradicate cancer stem cells. This process should provide a novel cellular therapy to fight cancer with minimal side-effects. The commercial acceptance of these new research tools is significantly expanded by current actions of the US government decreasing restrictions on embryonic stem cell research. While both MSC and iPS research hold promise for replacing embryonic stem cells, the validation of these alternative approaches must involve comparison to embryonic stem cells. Thus, removal of the barriers to embryonic stem cell research should lead to validation of additional cell therapy approaches utilizing adult cellular sources for stem cells. The stimulus funding now available to US research organizations should create significantly expanded US stem cell research and lead to further demonstration of the validity of stem cell therapy of many difficult-to-treat disorders including many types of cancer and diabetes. The economic stimulus funding for medical research will provide a windfall to current stem cell researchers and allow others to join the field. Vitro’s new development tools provide vital components to further all stem cell research.
Drug development requires extensive studies of safety and efficacy to satisfy regulatory authorities and provide consumer products that are safe and effective. Even after regulatory approval, several well-known and successfully marketed drugs have been shown to exhibit adverse safety profiles, in some cases even purportedly causing death. These drugs include Vioxx, Avandia, and Bextra. Vioxx was withdrawn from the market by its manufacturer resulting in enormous cost and continuing legal issues related to harmful effects due to its use. There is thus a current climate within the pharmaceutical industry and regulatory agencies to eliminate unsafe products early in the development process rather than later while saving significant development costs. These concerns have escalated to calls for reforms to the FDA drug approval process. There is a current need for improved, well-validated in vitro systems that utilize relevant human models to provide reliable, predictive data necessary for thorough evaluation of safety and efficacy of drugs and biological products before there is any human testing. Additional products that Vitro is now developing are being targeted to these markets in drug discovery, development and safety determinations.