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Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells (iPS)

Forced expression or reprogramming factors was pioneered by Prof. Shinya Yamanaka of Kyoto University. In 2006 Prof Yamanaka published his work on murine induced pluripotent stem cells in a groundbreaking article in Cell. Through the forced expression of four reprogramming factors, now termed Yamanaka factors,  pluripotency is achieved. About a year later both Yamanaka and James Thomson of the University of Wisconsin published the first results using human cells. Since then a myriad of variations has been published all based on Yamanaka's´and Thomson's work.

 

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Source: Yamanaka S., et al., Nature, 2010, 465(7299), pp. 704-12

 

In 2008 Axiogenesis set up a dedicated iPS laboatory and is developing virus-free, traceless and high-efficiency methodologies using 3 as well as 4 factors.
In 2010 Axiogenesis obtained a license for the Yamanaka patent portfolio from Kyoto University, through its licensing office iPS Academia Japan Inc.
Since then we have also transferred the murine cell business from mouse ES cells to mouse iPS cells yielding cells with exactly the same characteristics as the original mouse ES-derived Cor.At cells.
The use of human iPS cells as a source solves the problematic ethical debate especially relevant in Germany. It also opens up many possibilities for clinical applications including cell therapy, gene therapy and whole tissue engineering.
Defined donors with a complete medical history including genetic family history enables us to build up a set of relevant iPS cell lines to test for differential reactions to compounds. This enables us to define the most effective target patients and stratify successful Stage II and Stage III clinical trials.
This also represents the first step towards true pharmacogenomics and eventually fully personalized medicine.

With it's own technology Axiogenesis derived human induced pluripotent stem cells which are well-characterized. The image below shows that the cells express intracellular and surface pluripotency markers:

 

For drug development:

Axiogenesis has applied its proprietary differentiation and selection methodology to produce human cardiomyocytes. These can be used in electrophysiology or toxicity screens. We have vectors and protocols available for a range of different cell types including: several subtypes of neuronal cells, smooth muscle cells, hepatocytes, endothelial cells, etc.

Axiogenesis has produced custom cell types exclusively for pharmaceutical companies. Currently Axiogenesis is offering a compound characterization service using its human iPS-derived cardiomyocytes (Cor4U®) cells on a microelectrode array (MEA).

Please This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it us if you would require customized cells, different cell types or if you require cardiomyocytes or other cell types containing a particular transgene.

For clinical applications:

Axiogenesis was originally founded with a view to develop cell therapies and the Axiogenesis patent portfolio is laid out with clinical applications in mind.

Currently we are developing traceless, high-efficiency reprogramming in house to produce iPS cells with a high frequency and with reproducible characteristics. This together with our mass production technology and selection of pure populations of cells will enable Axiogenesis to translate its technology to clinical applications in the future.