Development of epigenetic regulators and vectors for use in stem cells and cell therapies

• Research unit: INNOSUISSE
• Project number: 8793.1;4 LSPP-LS

Short description (English)

Development of epigenetic regulators and vectors for use in stem cells and cell therapies

Short description (French)

Development of epigenetic regulators and vectors for use in stem cells and cell therapies

Abstract (English)

Expression of recombinant proteins in mammalian cell is limited by gene silencing effects that hinder the development of many gene- or cell-based therapies, especially for human genetic diseases. Notably, the differentiation of stem cells in vivo is often accompanied by the loss of transgene expression. Therefore, the identification of epigenetic regulators that would counteract gene silencing in vivo are urgently needed. We previously identified epigenetic regulators called MARs elements from the human genome using bioinformatics and demonstrated their usefulness to produce recombinant proteins in bioreactors. In this project, we plan to improve gene transfer techniques and to identify small epigenetic regulators that would prevent gene silencing in both undifferentiated cells cultured in vitro and after differentiation in vivo, for cell or tissue therapies.

Abstract (French)

Expression of recombinant proteins in mammalian cell is limited by gene silencing effects that hinder the development of many gene- or cell-based therapies, especially for human genetic diseases. Notably, the differentiation of stem cells in vivo is often accompanied by the loss of transgene expression. Therefore, the identification of epigenetic regulators that would counteract gene silencing in vivo are urgently needed. We previously identified epigenetic regulators called MARs elements from the human genome using bioinformatics and demonstrated their usefulness to produce recombinant proteins in bioreactors. In this project, we plan to improve gene transfer techniques and to identify small epigenetic regulators that would prevent gene silencing in both undifferentiated cells cultured in vitro and after differentiation in vivo, for cell or tissue therapies.