Rica Tanaka, Kayo Arita, Satoshi Fujimura, Hiroko Hagiwara, Kado Makiko and Hiroshi Mizuno
Juntendo University School of Medicine, Japan
Scientific Tracks Abstracts: Vasc Med Surg
The quality and quantity of endothelial progenitor cells (EPC) is known to be impaired in various diseases, thereby raising declined tissue repair in autologous EPC therapy. We have recently disclosed a newly developed serum free exvivo expansion system called Quantity and Quality Control Culture System (QQc) using peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PbMNC) to potentiate the vasculogenic property of diabetic EPCs for enhanced vasculogenesis and tissue repair from small amount of blood. QQc system of autologous peripheral blood MNC (MNC-QQc) can expand EPCs to 10 times and the vasculogenic function of MNCs up to 40 times compared to non-cultured MNCs in diabetic patients. Our new technology will provide the methodological clue to overcome the insufficient efficacy of naïve mononuclear cell therapy for diabetic nonhealing wounds. From our data, 150cc of peripheral blood will be necessary to replace the existing EPC therapy. With this new technology, we will be able to establish outpatient based simple, safe and effective vascular and regenerative therapy for diabetic patients. We have validated the safety and efficacy of human MNC-QQc cell therapy for non-healing wounds prior to clinical trial overcoming the new regenerative therapy law recently passed in Japan. With approval from the government, we have now started the clinical trial. Under the new law, stem cell therapy approval for government reimbursement will be conducted rapidly. Our goal is to deliver an outpatient based simple, safe and effective vascular and regenerative therapy for patients with non-healing wounds by year 2020.
Rica Tanaka MD, PhD is Associate Professor and a Director of the lab of Juntendo University of School of Medicine, Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery from year 2011. She is specialized in plastic surgery, wound healing, diabetic foot therapy, vascular medicine and stem cell medicine and also is the Board Member of Japanese Society of Plastic Surgery, Japanese Society of Regenerative Medicine, Japanese Wound Healing Society, Japanese Society of Foot care and more. She has published more than 50 papers in reputed journals and has been serving as an Editorial Board Member of repute.
Email: rtanaka@juntendo.ac.jp