USC stem cell science helps pace L.A. biomedical growth

Dr. Tracy Grikscheit, a professor of surgery at the Keck School of Medicine of USC, operates on babies with intestinal problems at the Children’s Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA). In her research on stem cells, she’s demonstrated mature intestinal tissue can be grown in the lab. It’s an important step toward growing new organs that could one day be used to help babies that need new intestines.
Contacts: tgrikscheit@chla.usc.edu or (323) 361 5901; or Melinda Smith (323) 361-7236 msmith@chla.usc.edu

Dr. Min Yu’s laboratory, in collaboration with Pin Wang from the USC Viterbi School of Engineering, studies isolated cancer cells in the blood stream to learn their stem cell properties so they can treat cancer. They identified and synthesized a nanoparticle drug with potential to stop a deadly form of breast cancer (TNBC) from spreading to the lung.
Contact: minyu@usc.edu or (323) 442-7943

Researchers in Andrew McMahon’s laboratory study kidney development and work toward building organ components called nephrons. The goal is to build new kidneys and improve treatment of disease. McMahon is director of the Eli and Edythe Broad Center for Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research.
Contacts: amcmahon@med.usc.edu or (323) 442-7847; or Cristy Lytal (323) 442-2172 or lytal@med.usc.edu

Dr. Charles Liu, director of the USC Neurorestoration Center at the Keck School of Medicine of USC, and Asterias Biotherapeutics, Inc., are concluding a phase 1/2a trial for spinal cord injury. Patients in the trial have shown improvement after receiving injections of stem cells (AST-OPC1) into their cervical spines to support the central nervous system.
Contacts: cliu@usc.edu; or Cynthia Smith (323) 442-3811 or cynthia.smith@med.usc.edu

Drs. Amir H. Kashani and Mark S. Humayun of the USC Roski Eye Institute and Dr. David R. Hinton of the Keck School of Medicine, as well as Regenerative Patch Technologies, Inc., are conducting a phase 1/2a clinical trial involving a stem cell-derived retinal implant (RPE monolayer) in patients’ eyes, with promising early results to treat a form of macular degeneration. The trial will continue until 2022.
Contacts: ahkashan@usc.edu; or humayun@usc.edu or (323) 865-3092; or Cynthia Smith (323) 442-3811 or cynthia.smith@med.usc.edu

Scott Fraser’s laboratory at the Michelson Center for Convergent Bioscience at USC developed 3D time-lapse imaging techniques to understand how the protein Dlg1 controls the alignment and organization of cells as the skeleton forms. His lab applies precision cell and molecular imaging techniques to varied biological systems, ranging from the brain of embryonic zebrafish to the lung, face and heart in birds and mice.
Contact: sfraser@usc.edu or (213) 740-2414

Yang Chai, director of USC Center for Craniofacial Molecular Biology in the USC Herman Ostrow School of Dentistry, uses stem cells to explore new and better ways to treat birth defects such as cleft palate and craniosynostosis, which affects an infant’s skull. The goal is to repair skull injuries and improve craniofacial tissue regeneration.

Contact: ychai@usc.edu or (323) 442-3480

USC Stem Cell Center researcher Dr. Heinz-Josef Lenz, of the Keck School of Medicine of USC and Novartis are preparing to recruit patients for a phase 1b/2 clinical trial testing a Wnt inhibitory drug to treat colon cancer stem cells, concluding in 2022. Other phase 2 and 3 clinical trials involving the drug’s potential to treat both colorectal and lung cancer are scheduled to conclude in 2022 and 2023.
Contact: lenz@med.usc.edu or (323) 865-3967

Senta Georgia is a principal investigator at the Keck School of Medicine who works at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. Her research focuses on how insulin cells are made and replicate and how to make more of them in the lab. Diabetes occurs when the pancreas fails to produce enough insulin to regulate blood sugar. Making new insulin cells is a potential cellular therapy to treat the disease.
Contacts: sgeorgia@chla.usc.edu or (323) 361 6003; or Melinda Smith (323) 361-7236 or msmith@chla.usc.edu

Valter Longo, director of the USC Longevity Institute at the USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology, showed that a fasting-mimicking diet reduces intestinal inflammation and increases intestinal stem cells by changing the composition of gut microbes, which has a regenerative effect in the digestive tract. The results could help patients with inflammatory bowel disease.
Contacts: vlongo@usc.edu or Orli Belman (213) 821-9852 or obelman@usc.edu.

Photo caption: Stem cells differentiate into neurons, depicted in green and red.

Photo credit: (Photo/In Kyoung Mah)