Human stem Cell Derived Macrophages
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Human Stem cell derived macrophages as a model for investigating pathogenic mechanisms and infection.
IRAS ID
141684
Contact name
Subhankar Mukhopadhyay
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Genome Research Ltd.
Research summary
Research teams within the Pathogen Department at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute (WTSI), headed by Professor Gordon Dougan, are using human induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells as a system to study host/pathogen interactions(the aforementioned iPS cells at the WTSI have been generated as part of a larger project using samples from healthy individuals for which NRES REC approval has been approved - Cambridge BioResource 09/H0304/77 Amendment 6 for open access).Thus, human iPS cells have the potential to create new research opportunities and limit the requirement to use animals as surrogate infection models.\n\nThe Dougan team have developed methods for the differentiation of human(iPS) cell lines into different cell types associated with infection including macrophages. One of the key projects has been the generation of macrophages and other immune cells from a number of different iPS lines. Early indications are that human iPS derived macrophages and other relevant immune cells will be an excellent model for investigating the interaction of these cell types with different pathogens.\n\nIn order to further establish the utility of human iPS macrophages we now need to undertake a careful comparison with normal human macrophages taken from blood. To this end, we will need to acquire macrophages from human blood taken from healthy anonymised blood donors at NHS Blood and Transplant(NHS BT)or commercial suppliers using simple and well established procedures.\n\nThe aim of this study is to compare the phenotypic and functional similarities between blood derived and human iPS cell derived macrophages to ascertain whether iPS-macrophages can be used as a surrogate for human blood derived macrophages and other immune cells.\n\nThus we are seeking ethical permission to use anonymised bloods acquired by the NHS Blood and Transplant service or commercial suppliers for the purpose of this research.We already have REC approval for generation and use of iPS cell-lines from Cambridge BioResource.
REC name
East of England - Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
14/EE/0075
Date of REC Opinion
18 Feb 2014
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion