Methods of treating and preventing malaria infection, comprising administering a therapeutically effective amount of cell permeability modulating therapy are provided herein. Among other things, the present disclosure provides parameters that define subjects who are relatively susceptible or resistant to malaria infection. The present disclosure also provides therapeutic strategies for increasing malarial resistance and/or imparting a resistant state on subjects.

The present invention relates to methods for producing immuno-stimulatory autologous dendritic cells. The present invention further relates to the use of such cells for treating patients suffering from hyper-proliferative disease such as cancer.

The application describes a contractile cellular biomaterial that is particularly well suited to regenerative therapy of tissue affected by myocardial infraction. The biomaterial comprises a contractile tissue which is contained in an optionally porous solid substrate. The contractile tissue is formed by differentiating stem cells, in particular mesenchymal stem cells. In addition to being contractile, the biomaterial can have inducible paracrine activity. The biomaterial has, in particular, the advantage of not needing to be frozen in order to be conserved.

The present disclosure provides a method for obtaining osteoblast cell-mixture which can be used for transplantation of osteoblast cells in a subject. The present disclosure further discloses a method for delivering osteoblast cells into a subject. The method for obtaining osteoblast cell-mixture as disclosed herein is devoid of any additives like calcium chloride and aprotinin. The method for delivering osteoblast cells as disclosed herein provides bone regeneration in the subject.

The present disclosure discloses a method for isolating osteoprogenitors like mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) from clotted bone marrow and culturing with a platelet lysate obtained from a combination of discarded umbilical cord blood and maternal blood platelet-rich plasma (instead of non-human animal origin serum) and differentiating those MSCs into osteoblasts under sterile conditions for further therapeutic applications. Particularly, the present disclosure relates to a method for expansion of osteoblasts to make cell therapy products with a fixed cell dose, which are characterized and later cryopreserved for future use through its cell culture process. Further, the present disclosure relates to identifying specific gene expression from MSCs to osteoblast formation, an in-vitro differentiation process that replicates the in-vivo bone remodelling system.

The present invention provides a human CD16.sup.+ natural killer cell line. This human CD16.sup.+ natural killer cell line does not include synthetic, genetically modified or deliberately delivered polynucleotide encoding the CD16 receptor and is a non-tumorigenic cell line. Therefore, this human CD16.sup.+ natural killer cell line might provide considerable long-term safety for disease treatment.

The present invention relates to production of autologous genetically engineered T cells for use in cell therapy applications.

Disclosed are compositions of matter, cells, protocols and procedures useful for augmentation of one or more therapeutic activities of fibroblast cellular populations. In one embodiment fibroblasts are pretreated with growth factor-comprising composition(s), wherein the growth factor(s) may be cytokines, peptides, and/or proteins. In another embodiment fibroblasts are cultured with platelet rich plasma and/or derivatives from platelet rich plasma. In another embodiment, fibroblasts are cultured under hypoxic conditions prior to administration to an individual. The disclosure further provides means of assessment of fibroblast activity in vitro, including wound repair assay and cytokine production, for example.

The described invention provides a method of functionally reprogramming adult cells to an immature cell type that expresses one or more embryonic biomarkers with a platelet rich fraction comprising platelet-like cells from umbilical cord blood or peripheral blood, and expanding the immature cell type in vitro under culture conditions to generate an insulin-producing cell population that expresses human beta-cell specific transcription factors and is functionally equivalent to human pancreatic beta-cells. It further provides a pharmaceutical composition comprising a cell product containing a therapeutic amount of an insulin-producing cell population, wherein the insulin-producing cell population expresses human beta-cell specific transcription factors and is functionally equivalent to human pancreatic beta-cells, and a method for treating a recipient subject suffering from a disease characterized by hyperglycemia with the pharmaceutical composition.

The present invention is concerned with a composition and in vitro method for generating a desired cell type and/or tissue type from hair follicular stem cells. The composition and in vitro method are particularly suitable for generating an autologous desired cell type and/or tissue type. Furthermore, the composition and method are especially efficient and suitable for use in the context of cosmetic cell and/or tissue transplantation in recipient areas of a subject experiencing cell and/or tissue loss caused by, for example, a wound, scar, burn injury, tissue degeneration, and aging. The composition and in vitro method are also suitable to circumvent complications related to infections and/or immune rejection of a cosmetic cell and/or tissue implant or graft.