Satellos Biomarkers and Drug Candidates Satellos Biomarkers and Drug Candidates
They are beyond the Mdx mice and the severe Mdx DBA/2J mice proof, the drug candidates will have been tested on human muscle tissue and verified that they are producing new muscle tissue. We should also see a update of novel biomarker(s) of muscle regeneration - which speed up the development and approval process before DCs.
Satellos is the partner in this new leading research:
https://mbd.utoronto.ca/news/muscle-repair-in-a-dish/
The stem cells present in skeletal muscle tissue have the capacity to repair injured tissue. After the damage occurs, the body activates these stem cells to heal the muscle. But in cases of disease or aging, the regenerative capacity of the stem cells is less effective, leading to degeneration.
Regenerative medicine researchers like Gilbert and McGuigan are focused on harnessing the capacity of stem cells to encourage the body to repair itself — called “endogenous” repair — in cases of major muscle damage including MD and age-related muscle degeneration.
In the team’s model, which they have named MEndR, functional muscle cells (responsible for movement) and muscle stem cells (responsible for repair) are placed in cellulose paper. The team then simulates an injury to the functional muscle cells using a snake venom derivative. Next, they observe as the stem cells get to work regenerating the muscle.
The model will allow researchers to apply different proteins and drugs and see which are the most effective at stimulating stem cell-mediated repair.
This discovery is different from other tests that study tissues in a dish, says Gilbert, whose lab is located at U of T’s Donnelly Centre for Cellular & Biomolecular Research, because it does more than simply study if tissue lives or dies, as most of these types of tests currently do.
“Our screen looks at whether the stem cells in the tissue actually work — if the stem cells get woken up and are able to start producing new muscle tissue without depleting their population. This is the first time we’re aware of that this type of research has been published,” says Gilbert, who is a faculty member at BME, and is also cross-appointed with the Department of Cell & Systems Biology.
https://www.mitacs.ca/en/projects/development-personalized-vitro-model-dystrophic-muscle-endogenous-repair-drug-discovery