An important bottleneck in development of new drugs is the (hepato)toxic potential of new drug candidates. Indeed, currently used in vitro liver models based on primary hepatocytes have limitations such as inadequate predictivity, erratic availability and variable quality.
Stem cells have the potential to provide a non-limiting source of high quality hepatocyte-like cells, or other cell models, for pharmaco-toxicological evaluations and clinical applications in regenerative medicine.
Our research group has more than a decade’s experience in the isolation of stem cells from various human and animal postnatal tissues, including;
- bone marrow,
- bile duct,
- skin,
- adipose tissue and
- umbilical cord tissue.
During that time, we have also gathered an extensive expertise in the characterization and differentiation of (adult) stem cells. The cells are evaluated for morphology, growth rate, and expression of pluripotency, organogenesis and lineage-specific markers. As a result of the latter approach, we are able to estimate an inherent stem cell population plasticity, as well as differentiation potential towards the particular/cell tissue type, and consequently customize their respective cultivation/differentiation methodology/strategy/technology. We have the most experience in hepatocytic differentiation methodology, for which we successfully finalized patent application process (EP1824965 (B1)). Nevertheless, we are also able to differentiate stem cells in the cells of other, non-hepatic tissues, such as;
- adipocytes,
- osteocytes,
- chondrocytes,
- neurons,
- Schwann cells,
- oligodendrocytes
We constantly strive to improve our cell isolation, expansion and differentiation methodologies, by investigating the effect of stem cell media on cell plasticity and differentiation potential and translating the findings into new cell isolation/differentiation media formulas.
We would be happy to share our know-how with you on the fee-for-service or collaborative basis. We work with cells supplied by the customer, or use our in-house derived adult stem cells.
Interested parties can contact: