Webinar: Mesenchymal Stem Cells in Regenerative Medicine

Welcome to our seminar on future possible applications of stem cells.

[00:00:00] Hello, I'm Dr. David Kashmer. I'm fellowship trained in anti-aging and regenerative medicine, and today we're gonna talk all about mesenchymal stem cells and whether these may be the future of regenerative medicine. This conversation and this seminar is just for discussion in broad strokes. It's for our non-medical colleagues.

If you want more information about this or any of the topics we'll talk about today. use, the literature, or research section at the end, or of course, just give us a call. We're always happy to discuss up and coming and future regenerative medicine techniques. as an intro, you may remember that mesenchymal stem cells may be derived from Wharton's jelly.

Wharton's jelly is this gelatinous interior of the umbilical cord. These cells represent a promising frontier in regenerative medicine. they offer unique advantages over other sources [00:01:00] of mesenchymal stem cells like bone marrow or adipose tissue.

They're characterized by their high ability to divide, proliferate, the fact that they can change into other important tissues and notably lower immunogenic response. In other words, they do not evoke a negative response. in recipients. This presentation explores the properties, applications, benefits, and potential risks in clinical settings.

Now, mesenchymal stem cell infusion is not approved by the FDA for use in people. No promises of outcomes can or should be made, and any cases discussed in this presentation may not be typical in terms of their outcomes. All risks and complications of mesenchymal stem cell infusion are not fully known.

if you're considering mesenchymal stem cell infusion, please discuss this thoroughly with your healthcare provider. these are the properties of [00:02:00] mesenchymal stem cells that can come from Wharton's jelly. Again, they differentiate superiorly, they can become various cell , lineages, including bone & fat.

Chondrocytes joint cartilage cells. This makes them versatile for use in different therapeutic applications. They have low immunogenicity. Like we said, they express low levels of MHC, major histocompatibility class two molecules. Therefore, they're suitable for allogenic transplantation with minimal risk of rejection.

This MHC Class two is part of how your body's immune system recognizes foreign actors. And if these cells have low levels of major histocompatibility complex, two, this protein flag on them. your own T cells will not recognize these as commonly as foreign. these mesenchymal stem cells can be potent immunomodulators.

[00:03:00] They exhibit strong immunomodulatory capacity contributing to their therapeutic efficacy in different conditions that require your immune system to play a role. the current scientific consensus is that there may be advantages over these stem cells that come from Wharton's jelly versus other ones.

Studies indicate that the ones from Wharton jelly from umbilical cords. Contribute positively to tissue repair and regeneration in both clinical and preclinical settings. Again, there's evidence for this Wharton's jelly Mesenchymal stem cells have efficacy in models of acute cerebral ischemia, enhancing neurogenesis, reducing inflammation, and improving overall outcomes after brain injuries.

The ability to get these cells without having to do invasive procedures like bone marrow procurements, Coupled with their high cell yield and robust immunomodulatory properties makes them an ideal candidate for various therapeutic [00:04:00] applications in the future.

currently not FDA approved regenerative medicine applications in the future, although not, FDA approved. Include neurodegenerative diseases like promis in treating conditions like Parkinson's and Alzheimer's through neuronal regeneration and anti-inflammatory effects, pulmonary conditions, like chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Here's a citation for that. And orthopedic injuries. They can successfully help with cartilage repair, fracture healing, and tendon repair and improvement. These are just some of the different ones, and yet there are many more. There's evidence regarding things like celiac disease, certain hearing conditions, all sorts of different applications, for these, significant, significantly investigated and one day hopefully approved interventions, for patients.

Here's some of the mechanisms of action. They're complex for these cells. These mesenchymal stem cells [00:05:00] secrete growth factors, cytokines, and extracellular vesicles or bags that reduce inflammation and promote tissue repair.

a lot of what they do is not even where they are in your body but it's what they secrete, which can have far away effects. We've learned over time that the signaling is important. Even if not, more significant than where cells land in particular. So that's important to know.

It's not just where the cells go. In fact, that might be less important than these signals that they send all over. Another important mechanism of action is immunomodulation. They rebalance responses by, turning down T cell response in your body and shifting the type of macrophages you have to anti.

Inflammatory states, so they modulate inflammation They also home to where tissue needs them most. They migrate to injured areas in response to different signals, so they sort of target themselves. And last they do these [00:06:00] exosome releases exosomes are small bags of vesicles that carry proteins and microRNAs.

That facilitate regenerative responses by altering recipient gene expression, so they affect the genes of your cells around them for healing. Key benefits of Wharton's jelly, mesenchymal stem cells. Key benefits of Wharton's jelly mesenchymal stem cells? there seems to be reduced risk for tumors unlike adult stem cell sources or pluripotent stem cells, Wharton's jelly derived mesenchymal stem cells haven't been shown to undergo malignant transformation, so that's really a great thing.

They're high yield and quality. They provide a significant number of cells with favorable properties like we talked about before, and they also have those immunomodulatory effects They're low immunogenicity translates into fewer complications regarding things like rejection and other problems that arise with other sources and other [00:07:00] treatments,

Again, this is an experimental modality. We don't know all the risks related to them, but some include, immune response. Although they exhibit low immunogenicity, there's a chance. That immune reactions in certain individuals, could happen and that might necessitate careful monitoring there are different cell characteristics from different umbilical cords, so it's important to isolate these in a standard way and make sure the way they're cultured is done properly. there are several different, groups that will do this. There's also limited long-term data because it's a relatively new research area.

Long-term data regarding safety is still required to understand how long any benefit may last and what any additional risks are. some feel that using Wharton's Jelly Cord avoids ethical issues associated with embryonic stem cells.

In other words, ones that come from an umbilical cord, for example, from a live [00:08:00] healthy birthed baby may avoid some of the ethical issues. But there are other ethical considerations like informed consent. Anyone who may want to try to use these, it would be really important that they understood, what, they were to undergo and that it is a, experimental procedure.

And similarly, a donor would need to be consented properly, and umbilical cord donors should understand that there's a significant situation with collecting and using Wharton's jelly tissue for stem cell isolation and research.

Equitable access is important because, it would be important if the, procedure does have benefit to make sure different groups could have access to it. And last, regulatory compliance. Adhering to evolving regulatory frameworks regarding stem cell research would be really important to comply with all the different, standards.

So again, future directions and conclusion. These Wharton's jelly derived mesenchymal stem cells represent a [00:09:00] promising new frontier for regenerative medicine research. There are numerous advantages and certain risks that require ongoing research. Future research should focus on standardizing certain aspects, although many groups already have great processes future research should focus on conducting longer term safety studies with continued investigation and refinement.

These stem cells have the potential to revolutionize treatment options for numerous degenerative and inflammatory conditions, from arthritis to gluten sensitivity, to celiac to hearing issues. So many different things could be impacted by this and that can offer hope to patients with previously limited therapeutic options.

So again, mesenchymal stem cell infusion not approved by the FDA. No promises or of outcomes can or should be made. it's important to keep in mind that this would be an experimental procedure, although it's one that seems like one day it may have profound benefit for patients. [00:10:00] Any cases we discussed, may not be typical in terms of outcomes.

All risks and complications of the infusions are not well known, and if you are considering mesenchymal stem cell infusion. Please discuss this thoroughly with your healthcare provider who can answer your questions and direct you to more information.

There's a wide body of research regarding, stem cells and in particular mesenchymal stem cells for all sorts of applications. if you do have questions or any particular thoughts or just wanna engage and talk about mesenchymal stem cells, feel free to call us at the institute anytime.

We're happy to discuss what mesenchymal stem cells are and potential applications. if you have any questions, feel free to get in touch.