The invention relates to implantable collagen devices made by seeding at least one elongate collagen construct, e.g., comprising at least one elongate synthetic collagen fiber with a plurality of cells and applying a strain and/or stress to the at least one elongate collagen fiber to induce the cells to differentiate into target phenotypes, e.g., tendon or ligament phenotype cells (and/or fibroblasts), typically with an extracellular matrix of collagen to organize into a tissue on the at least one collagen fiber.

The invention relates to implantable collagen devices made by seeding at least one elongate collagen construct, e.g., comprising at least one elongate synthetic collagen fiber with a plurality of cells and applying a strain and/or stress to the at least one elongate collagen fiber to induce the cells to differentiate into target phenotypes, e.g., tendon or ligament phenotype cells (and/or fibroblasts), typically with an extracellular matrix of collagen to organize into a tissue on the at least one collagen fiber.

Described herein are methods directed to modulating, preventing, and/or treating a connective tissue (e.g., ligament) tissue injury characteristic in a subject. These methods comprise administering vitamin D (or any analogue of) and/or an antagonist of relaxin-2 and/or an antagonist of a receptor of relaxin-2 to the subject, whereby one or more connective tissue characteristics are modulated/changed in the subject. Examples of folic acid and NADH are provided to demonstrate, and data for vitamin D is also demonstrated. Related methods can be utilized for diagnosis of subjects. The methods can be applied to in vitro tissue cultivation in view of lab-cultivated ligaments and connective tissues designed to provide implants for surgery. The methods can be applied to screening of therapeutic agents and to screening of subjects in need of preventative care.

The present disclosure relates to a novel musculoskeletal stem cell (MSSC) differentiated from an ESC (embryonic stem cell) or an iPSC (induced pluripotent stem cell). The musculoskeletal stem cell of the present disclosure can be easily induced from a human embryonic stem cell or a human-derived pluripotent stem cell and can be effectively differentiated not only into bone but also into cartilage, tendon and muscle. Accordingly, it can be usefully used for prevention or treatment of various musculoskeletal diseases.

This invention provides disc stem cells, processes for obtaining and culturing disc stem cells, and methods for repairing damaged or diseased disc tissue comprising the use of the disc stem cells of the invention.

The present disclosure relates to cell growth supplements using dairy-based materials for cell culture and other applications. Some embodiments are directed to sequentially culturing cells in a culture medium comprising factors to increase the relative size and/or density of the cells in the culture, e.g., whey protein. Other aspects of the disclosure relate to obtaining a milk product to produce the dairy-based material, e.g., milking a nursing mammal, milk-producing organoids, bacterial expression systems, etc. In some embodiments, the disclosure relates to techniques for isolating a whey protein from the milk product.

The present invention relates to a method for isolating umbilical cord-derived stem cells, and more specifically to a method for isolating a significantly large number of mesenchymal stem cells from the umbilical cord having a specified size. The method of the present invention has a great advantage in that since stem cells can be isolated from an umbilical cord tissue without enzymatic treatment, stress applied to the cells can be significantly suppressed. In addition, stem cells obtained by the method of the present invention have superior proliferative capacity compared to stem cells obtained by conventional isolation methods.

Disclosed herein are media, kits, and methods for differentiating mammalian progenitor cells to a downstream lineage of cells. Embodiments of disclosed media, methods and kits may be used to differentiate mammalian progenitor cells to tenocytes or tenocyte-like cells, or chondrocytes or chondrocyte-like cells.

The present disclosure relates to dairy-based microstructures for cell culture and other applications. In some embodiments, the dairy-based microstructures comprise whey protein microparticles. In other embodiments, the microstructures comprise whey protein sheets. In certain cases, the microstructures comprise a coating, e.g., a protein, peptide, blood product, etc. In some embodiments, a plurality of cells may be cultured on the microstructures, e.g., animal cells. In other embodiments, the microstructures may be used to produce a cultivated product, e.g., a cell-based meat product. Other embodiments are generally directed to methods of making or using such microstructures for cell culture, kits involving these, or the like.

Provided is a method of producing a somite cell from a pluripotent stem cell, comprising the step of culturing a pluripotent stem cell in a medium comprising a GSK3 inhibitor. Provided is a method of producing a dermatome cell from a somite cell, comprising the step of culturing a somite cell in a medium comprising a GSK3 inhibitor and BMP. Provided is a method of producing a syndetome cell from a sclerotome cell, comprising the steps of culturing a sclerotome cell in a medium comprising FGF and then culturing the cell in a medium comprising BMP and TGF. Provided is a method of producing a mesenchymal stromal cell from a somite cell, comprising the step of culturing a somite cell in a medium comprising FGF. Provided are methods of producing a myotome cell, a dermatome cell, a sclerotome cell, and a syndetome cell from a pluripotent stem cell through a somite cell by appropriately combining the above methods and known methods.