Stem Cell Research

The aim of the „iPS-ECs for the biohybrid lung and pulmonary hypertension“ project is the provision of endothelial cell types and/or relevant precursor cells as a source of cells for endothelialization, biofunctionalization of membranes for extracorporeal oxygenation (ECMO), or as cell therapy for pulmonary hypertension. Vast amounts of cells are necessary for any application of the generated cell types. However, it is not possible to supply these amounts, due to the limited proliferative capacity of patient-specific endothelial cells isolated from peripheral blood or blood vessels. As an alternative source of cells, therefore, endothelial cell types and their precursors from human pluripotent stem cells (hiPS) should be generated.

The sub-project, „Therapy of lung diseases based on pluripotent stem cells“ deals with the production of respiratory epithelial cells from human induced pluripotent stems (iPS cells), which should be supplied for the development of new in vitro assays for toxicological and pharmacological studies. The long-term aim is the use of the generated respiratory epithelial cells for cell replacement therapies and for the production of bioartificial lung tissue.