Stem cells are the natural sources of embryogenetic tissue generation and continuous regeneration throughout adult life. Over the past few decades, 3 major stem cell types, embryonic (ES), adult (mesenchymal and neural) and induced pluripotent have been identified and extensively characterized. However, owing to numerous concerns related to the use of ES cells, adult stem cell types, namely mesenchymal stem cells (MSC), neural stem cells (NSC) and induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS) have been extensively explored for therapeutic purposes. In prior research, we have shown that stem cells exhibit inherent tropism and home to the sites of stroke and tumors and have anti-proliferative, pro-apoptotic and anti-angiogenic effects when transplanted into mouse models of cancer. We capitalize on our unique expertise in interdisciplinary research spanning stem cell and tumor cell biology, genetic engineering and molecular imaging as well as our proven abilities to synthesize new insights from disparate fields, to lead interdisciplinary teams into new territory.
The long term major goals of this proposal are to develop and characterize the next generation of engineered adult and iPS derived therapeutic stem cells and test them in clinically relevant mouse disease models of primary and metastatic cancer. Specifically, we will 1. image fate of engineered stem cells in different disease models; 2. develop dual promoter CRISPR-based viral vectors to generate different types of therapeutic and diagnostic stem cells; and 3. Generate allogeneic immunomodulatory stem cells for personalized therapeutics.