The present invention relates to adipose-derived stem cells (ASCs) and compositions, as well as methods for preparing and using such ASCs and compositions for therapy.

This invention provides a system for efficiently producing differentiated cells from pluripotent cells, such as human embryonic stem cells. Rather than permitting the cells to form embryoid bodies according to established techniques, differentiation is effected directly in monolayer culture on a suitable solid surface. The cells are either plated directly onto a differentiation-promoting surface, or grown initially on the solid surface in the absence of feeder cells and then exchanged into a medium that assists in the differentiation process. The solid surface and the culture medium can be chosen to direct differentiation down a particular pathway, generating a cell population that is remarkably uniform. The methodology is well adapted to bulk production of committed precursor and terminally differentiated cells for use in drug screening or regenerative medicine.

Disclosed herein are compositions and methods involving stem cells biopreserved on microcarriers, which can be thawed and expanded, all while maintaining their key attributes, such as their proliferative capacity, identity, functionality, and potency. Disclosed is a method for generating microcarriers-seeded-stem cells, as well as a post biopreservation procedure for thawing and inoculating bioreactors to achieve a rapid and scalable stem cells expansion.

The present disclosure pertains to compositions suitable for use in differentiating cardiac progenitor cells to cells that resemble cardiac Purkinje cells. Additional embodiments pertain to methods of generating such differentiated cardiac cells by exposing cardiac progenitor cells to the compositions. The present disclosure also pertains to methods of treating or preventing a cardiovascular disease in a subject by administering the compositions or differentiated cardiac cells to the subject. Further embodiments pertain to methods of generating a cardiac tissue by exposing cardiac progenitor cells to a composition of the present disclosure and associating the cardiac progenitor cells with a tissue scaffold. The present disclosure also pertains to the use of the differentiated cardiac progenitor cells to assess the efficacy of one or more compounds in the treatment or prevention of a cardiovascular disease. The present disclosure also pertains to the differentiated cardiac cells and cardiac tissues that include them.

Described is an agent for inducing viral vector production which includes a cell growth inhibitor A. The cell growth inhibitor A includes a compound which inhibits progression of the cell cycle in G2 phase or M phase. Additionally, a method of producing a viral vector and a method of inducing viral vector production using the same are described. The methods include introducing a nucleic acid into a cell and adding the cell growth inhibitor A to the cell between 6 hours before and 6 hours after the time of introducing the nucleic acid.

The invention relates to a dual-media approach for culturing isolated corneal endothelial cells. Isolated corneal endothelial cells are first contacted with a proliferative medium to propagate and/or expand the endothelial cells followed by a maintenance medium to preserve the morphology and/or characteristics of the corneal endothelial cells. The invention includes the proliferative medium and the maintenance medium and also a combination of the two medium.

The methods and compositions described herein relate to producing, expanding, enriching, and/or maintaining hematopoietic stem cells ex vivo by treating the cells with an agent(s) that exhibits two or more activities selected from modulation of histone methylation; inhibition of TGF? signaling; inhibition of p38 signaling; activation of canonical Wnt signaling; and modulation of histone acetylation. In some embodiments, the technology described herein relates to transplantation of hematopoietic stem cells.

Methods are provided for producing a population of hepatocyte-like cells (iHeps) from a population of adipocyte-derived stem cells (ASCs). Aspects of the methods include placing a population of ASCs into a three dimensional culture (e.g., hanging drop suspension culture, high density culture, spinner flask culture, microcarrier culture, etc.), and contacting the cells with a first and second culture medium. Also provided are methods of treating an individual, which include producing a population of iHeps from a population of ASCs, and administering an effective number of iHeps into the individual. Kits for practicing the methods are also described herein.

The present technology provides methods for preparing a flowable amniotic composition derived from amniotic membrane of humans. Various embodiments of the method for preparing the amniotic composition may comprise mincing the amniotic membrane in a cryopreservation solution, cryopreservation, homogenization, filtration, centrifugation, and resuspension of a pellet in a cell solution to produce the flowable amniotic composition. The amniotic composition may comprise approximately 2.7 million viable cells per milliliter. The viability of the cells may be substantially stable for at least six months at 18 C. Some preparations of the amniotic composition may have a flowability that may be at least partially characterized by a viscosity suitable for delivery to the target site through at least a 22 gauge needle.

A method of making a cell culture article is provided. The method includes forming a microcarrier from a microcarrier composition comprising a polygalacturonic acid compound or an alginic acid compound, infiltrating the microcarrier with a drying formulation to form an infiltrated microcarrier, and drying the infiltrated microcarrier to form a dried microcarrier, wherein the drying formulation comprises at least one of a saccharide and a monovalent cation.