TEBL awarded MSCRF grant

The Maryland Stem Cell Research Commission has funded 29 new proposals for the 2015 fiscal year. Among those, our lab was awarded a grant for the proposal titled “Expansion of HSCs In a 3D Printed Bioreactor Containing MSCs as a Hematopoietic Microenvironment”. This project seeks to use bioreactor technology to enhance the expansion and growth of both mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs, which form bone, cartilage, muscle, and other cell types that nurture HSCs in bone marrow) and hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs, which form blood cells) while maintaining their ability to self-renew. The underlying idea is that we can recapitulate some of the key physical cues of the native stem cell niche, and that recapitulating this microenvironment will enhance the expansion of MSCs and HSCs with self-renewal capacity. Ultimately, this could enable researchers to grow larger number of cells than they would via traditional methods, allowing more investigative work into understanding these stem cells and their utilization for regenerative medicine applications.

For more information, visit the Maryland Stem Cell Research Fund’s .