Guided development and support of hydrogel-cell compositions
First Claim
1. A method for generating new tissue, the method comprising:
- obtaining a liquid hydrogel-cell composition comprising a hydrogel and tissue precursor cells;
delivering the liquid hydrogel-cell composition into a permeable, biocompatible support structure; and
allowing the liquid hydrogel-cell composition to solidify within the support structure and the tissue precursor cells to grow and generate new tissue that can engraft to tissue outside the support structure, and wherein the tissue precursor cells are selected from the group consisting of central nervous system neural stem cells, autonomic nervous system neural stem cells, peripheral nervous system neural stem cells, neuroendocrine stem cells, and cartilage forming cells.
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Abstract
The invention features a method for generating new tissue by obtaining a liquid hydrogel-cell composition including a hydrogel and tissue precursor cells; delivering the liquid hydrogel-cell composition into a permeable, biocompatible support structure; and allowing the liquid hydrogel-cell composition to solidify within the support structure and the tissue precursor cells to grow and generate new tissue. The invention also features a tissue forming structure including a permeable, biocompatible support structure having a predetermined shape that corresponds to the shape of desired tissue; and a hydrogel-cell composition at least partially filling the support structure, wherein the hydrogel-cell composition includes a hydrogel and tissue precursor cells. The new tissue forming structure can be used in new methods to generate various tissues (e.g., to treat defective tissue) including new bone, cartilage, and nervous tissue such as spinal cord tissue. The invention also new isolated nervous system stem cells.
478 Citations
58 Claims
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1. A method for generating new tissue, the method comprising:
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obtaining a liquid hydrogel-cell composition comprising a hydrogel and tissue precursor cells;
delivering the liquid hydrogel-cell composition into a permeable, biocompatible support structure; and
allowing the liquid hydrogel-cell composition to solidify within the support structure and the tissue precursor cells to grow and generate new tissue that can engraft to tissue outside the support structure, and wherein the tissue precursor cells are selected from the group consisting of central nervous system neural stem cells, autonomic nervous system neural stem cells, peripheral nervous system neural stem cells, neuroendocrine stem cells, and cartilage forming cells. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 48, 50, 51, 52)
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21. A tissue forming structure comprising:
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a permeable, biocompatible support structure having a predetermined shape that corresponds to the shape of desired tissue; and
a hydrogel-cell composition at least partially filling the support structure, wherein the hydrogel-cell composition comprises a hydrogel and tissue precursor cells, and wherein the support structure is sufficiently permeable to permit the tissue precursor cells to grow and generate new tissue that can engraft to tissue outside the support structure, and wherein the tissue precursor cells are selected from the group consisting of central nervous system neural stem cells, autonomic nervous system neural stem cells, peripheral nervous system neural stem cells, neuroendocrine stem cells, and cartilage forming cells. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 49, 53, 54, 55)
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39. A method of treating defective nervous tissue, the method comprising
locating the physical boundaries of the defective tissue; -
removing the defective tissue to create a cavity and exposing healthy nervous tissue at the surfaces of the cavity;
loading a hydrogel-neural stem cell composition into a support structure in the general size and shape of the cavity, wherein the neural stem cells are selected to differentiate into the healthy nervous tissue; and
implanting the support structure into the cavity, thereby treating the defective nervous tissue. - View Dependent Claims (40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 56, 57, 58)
locating the physical boundaries of the defective spinal cord tissue; removing the defective tissue to create a cavity and exposing healthy spinal cord tissue at the surfaces of the cavity;
loading a hydrogel-spinal cord stem cell composition into a support structure in the general size and shape of the spinal cord cavity; and
implanting the support structure into the spinal cord cavity, thereby treating the defective spinal cord tissue.
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56. The method of claim 39, wherein the defective nervous tissue is peripheral nervous system tissue.
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57. The method of claim 39, wherein the hydrogel-neural stem cell. composition is loaded into the support structure after the structure has been implanted.
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58. The method of claim 47, wherein the hydrogel-spinal cord stem cell composition is loaded into the support structure after the structure has been implanted.
Specification