Stem cell-derived nanotherapies in primary sclerosing cholangitis

Project description

Primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) is an immune-mediated rare and incurable and life-limiting disease that affects the liver and bile ducts. To date, there remains no disease-modifying treatment and a large of proportion will develop liver cirrhosis (~40%) or cancer. This project seeks to develop a novel treatment using human amniotic epithelial cells (hAEC), which possess immunomodulatory and regenerative therapeutic potential. We have demonstrated safety and improvement using these cells in animal models of liver disease and have undertaken first-in-human Phase I clinical trials using hAEC for related conditions including liver cirrhosis and inflammatory bowel disease.

The project includes novel bioengineering technologies that develop hAEC-derived treatments into targeted cell therapies for PSC and undertaking pre-clinical and human organoid models.