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TANGO - cysticfibrosis

TANGO IV, NCBiR; Innovative medicine for treatment of organ fibrosis

The bar at the top of the page shows the logos along with the names of the institutions: "National Center for Research and Development", "Jagiellonian University".

 NCRD website: www.gov.pl/ncbr

Project: „Innovative medicine for treatment of organ fibrosis” 

TANGO-IV-A/0035/2019-00

https://www.gov.pl/web/ncbr/tango-iv

Funding agency:

National Centre for Research and Development

Amount of funding:

250 000 PLN

Principal Investigator:

Sylwia Bobis-Wozowicz, PhD

The figure shows a schematic of the therapy of fibrotic diseases using extracellular vesicles containing micro RNA (miR-302b-3p) to treat fibrosis of the heart, lung, liver and pancreas. At the top of the figure is the title "Therapy of Fibrotic Diseases". Below this title, on the left, is the caption: "Extracellular vesicles" and below are schematic drawings of circular vesicles. The vesicles are secreted by iPSC cells, shown schematically as a single colony. A vesicle is magnified and shown as a closed circular structure surrounded by a lipid bilayer containing cell receptors and membrane channels. Inside the vesicle are proteins and RNA molecules, including microRNA and mRNA. From the inside of the vesicle, an arrow points to the right to a single microRNA molecule labeled: "miR-302b-3p." This microRNA inhibits fibrosis, shown schematically below the drawing as the process of activation and transformation from fibroblast to myofibroblast. The fibroblast is shown as an elongated, spindle-shaped cell, while the myofibroblast is shown as an elongated, irregularly shaped cell with distinct stress fibers and focal adhesion contacts. From the fibrotic process, an arrowhead points to the right, where the organs are drawn in a column (sequentially from the top): Heart, Lung, Liver, Pancreas. In the lower left corner of the image is the statement: "Created in https://BioRender.com".

Fibrotic Diseases

Fibrosis is a progressive disease that is associated with excessive production of extracellular matrix proteins which are deposited in a tissue, leading to its stiffening. As a consequence, permanent structural changes occur, including scarring, which result in dysfunction of the entire organ. Fibrotic diseases can affect various organs, including the heart, lungs, pancreas and liver. It is estimated that these diseases are responsible for approximately 45% of all deaths worldwide. However, no effective cure for fibrosis has been developed to date.

Therefore, the aim of the TANGO-IV-A/0035/2019-00 project (National Centre for Research and Development) was to develop an innovative medicine for organ fibrosis.

The innovative strategy to treat/inhibit the development of fibrosis was based on the use of extracellular vesicles (EVs) released by human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs; hiPS-EVs), cultured under conditions of reduced oxygen concentration (hypoxia).

Results:

The project demonstrated that hypoxic hiPS-EVs effectively inhibit fibrotic markers in cellular models of cardiac, pulmonary, hepatic and pancreatic fibrosis. The results indicate that the new drug candidate has a high potential for the treatment of fibrosis in various organs.

The project was co-financed by the National Centre for Research and Development under the TANGO IV program.

#NCBR, #TangoIV