This technology consists of methods to generate esophageal progenitor cells from human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs).
Animals are frequently used as analogs to human tissues for developing therapeutics. However, these models are frequently lacking, and in the case of esophageal models, significant discrepancies exist between the mouse and human esophagus that makes access to a human tissue model necessary for research purposes.
This methodology consists of a 4-stage process by which hPSCs are differentiated into endoderm cells, anterior foregut cells, and finally esophageal progenitor cells using a cocktail of growth factors and different differentiation mediums. This technology enables production of mature esophageal and lung epithelium, which can be used in high-throughput testing to study the development of the tissue and its response to various therapeutics. The technology also consists of a kit comprising of mouse or human pluripotent stem cells, serum-free medium, and the differentiation mediums needed to generate esophageal progenitor cells.
This technology has been validated in vitro, with hPSC-derived esophageal epithelial progenitors recapitulating the normal development of the stratified squamous epithelium in the human esophagus.
Patent Pending (US 20190112579)
IR CU18124, CU15206
Licensing Contact: Joan Martinez