This technology is a bioengineered bone marrow system that can be applied to study various human diseases, toxicity responses, and immune functions in vitro.
Hematological diseases, which include leukemias, lymphomas, and anemias, are difficult to model accurately in vitro, due to the complex interactions and crosstalk between different cells, tissues, and the three-dimensional structure of the bone marrow. Current animal models for blood disorders such as acute myeloid lymphoma also poorly recapitulate human physiology, thereby hindering drug discovery in these diseases. As such, there is a need for an in vitro bone marrow model capable of accurately reflecting the complexities of this tissue to facilitate therapeutic research.
This technology is a model of the bone marrow consisting of a mixture of osteoblasts, endothelial cells, and mesenchymal stem and stromal cells, all induced from pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). These various cell types are housed in a three-dimensional, niche-like microtissue environment in a spatially-organized fashion that recapitulates human bone marrow. This engineered bone marrow model can respond to drug treatment, cytokine cues, and radiation damage, and can furthermore be created with patient iPSCs and cultured for up to 12 weeks, making it useful as a personalized medicine tool to screen therapeutics.
Gordana Vunjak-Novakovic, Ph.D.
Patent Pending (WO/2024/020424)
IR CU22388
Licensing Contact: Cynthia Lang
