Sonja Schrepfer, MD, PhD and Tobias Deuse, MD Awarded 4-Year $3M NIH R01 Grant to Study Role of Cardiomyocytes in Heart Repair
Sonja Schrepfer, M.D., Ph.D. and Tobias Deuse, M.D. have been awarded a 4-Year $3M NIH R01 Grant to study the role of cardiomyocytes in heart repair. Dr. Schrepfer is an associate professor and director of the UCSF Transplant and Stem Cell Immunobiology (TSI) Lab. Dr. Deuse, a renowned heart surgeon, is associate professor and director of minimally-invasive cardiac surgery at UCSF and a principal investigator in the TSI lab.
The study will generate hypo-immunogenic cardiomyocytes that could be used therapeutically for regenerating tissues but are engineered to avoid rejection by patients that receive them. In particular, we will provide proof- of-concept that hypo-immunogenic cardiomyocytes do not provoke a host immune response and rejection and could survive and engraft into the host myocardium, resulting in improved cardiac function of the failing heart. The results of this research could offer a universally acceptable "off-the-shelf" product using pluripotent cells and their derivatives for generating or regenerating specific tissues and organs. (NIH Reporter)
Hypo-Immunogenic Cardiomyocytes for Myocardial Repair (study details)
About the TSI Lab
The Transplant and Stem Cell Immunobiology (TSI) Laboratory uses multiple research directions to answer complex questions about stem cell therapy, heart and lung transplantation, and cardiovascular disease. The laboratory focuses on the immunogenicity of allogeneic stem cells, tissues, and organs, and is interested in designing methods to prevent immunological recognition and rejection of such materials. The TSI Lab investigates mechanisms implicated in the development cardiovascular disease with the dual aims of prevention and cure, encompassing basic science (e.g. identifying novel molecules involved in pluripotent stem cell immunogenicity) to translational medicine (e.g. developing drugs that may be useful in reducing myointimal hyperplasia).