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With the knowledge gained from the organ and disease models, scientists will be able to test and develop new medicines in the future, among other things
Researchers from the University Medical Centers in Leiden, Utrecht and Rotterdam, jointly affiliated with the ‘Institute for human organ and Disease Model Technologies (hDMT)’, will develop new organ and disease models using human stem cells. This will make it much easier to estimate how the human body responds to treatments in the future.
Led by lead researcher Christine Mummery of the Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC) and Janny van den Eijnden-van Raaij (managing director hDMT), the hDMT collaboration has received a grant of almost 13.5 million euros from the National Roadmap Large-Scale Scientific Infrastructure of the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO). The money will be used to set up a state-of-the-art national infrastructure under the name hDMT INFRA StemCells. Within this infrastructure, researchers from all over the Netherlands (and beyond) can receive help in setting up and conducting their stem cell-based research.
Combining human stem cells into one disease model
Two types of human stem cells currently exist: adult stem cells (ASCs) and human-induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs). Both types have both strengths and shortcomings. According to the researchers, the weaknesses can be remedied by combining both stem cell types. “This makes it possible to develop new and better organ and disease models that can accurately mimic the pathology and physiology of the human body,” said lead researcher Mummery.
Accessible stem cell infrastructure
Thanks to the NWO contribution and the collaboration between the UMCs and hDMT, it is possible for the first time to combine hiPSCs and ASCs on a large scale in a single disease model, without immune barriers. According to Van den Eijnden-van Raaij, hDMT INFRA StemCells should act as a national infrastructure to help researchers make the combination of these two stem cell types possible. “The special thing about the infrastructure, which is coordinated by hDMT, is that it makes the necessary expertise and (stem cell) facilities of the participating organizations widely available to users from both universities and industry”.
Joost Gribnau (Erasmus MC): “One of the main goals of hDMT INFRA StemCells is to further increase the reliability of stem cell models through standardization using robotics and automation. In addition, (hands-on) training will also be provided for various target groups”.
Personalized disease treatments
With the knowledge gained from the organ and disease models, scientists will be able to test and develop new medicines in the future, among other things. The models can also contribute to developments in the field of (personalised) disease treatments. More knowledge about the functioning of mechanisms in the human body is important in this respect. Instead of treating symptoms, this information can be used to target underlying causes of diseases in a more targeted manner.
Professor Jeffrey Beekman (UMC Utrecht): “This new infrastructure makes it possible to search much more efficiently for medicines that attack the underlying causes of diseases, but also makes it possible to test for whom such medicines work or not before someone being treated.”
Source: LUMC
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INGImages - Datum:
2023-02-20