02 BOOK OF ABSTRACTS .indd

Stem cell therapy for liver insufficiency
Nata{a Levi~ar 1 , Madhava Pai 1 , Faisal Al-Allaf 1 , Ioannis Dimarakis
1
, Jonathan Welsh 2 , Long Jiao 1 , Joanna Nicholls 1 , Francesco Dazzi 1 ,
Myrtle Gordon 1,2 , Nagy Habib 1,2
1
Departments of Surgery and Haematology, Imperial College London, UK;
2
OmniCyte Ltd London; UK
Advances in stem cell biology and the discovery of pluripotent stem cells have
made the prospect of cell therapy and tissue regeneration a possible clinical reality.
We have isolated, from mobilised and leukapheresed blood, a morphologically and
phenotypically homogeneous subpopulation of CD34+ cells (∼1%) that exhibits
the necessary properties. We have demonstrated that these cells (OmniCytes)
express genes corresponding to stem cells (Rex-1, Oct-4, Nanog), hematopoietic
(CD34, CD133, CXCR4), and hepatic cell differentiation (albumin, alfa-1 antitrypsin,
vimentin, HGF, HNF3-B, transferrin). Animal studies have shown that OmniCytes
do home and engraft into chronically damaged nude mice liver. Furthermore, we
have performed a phase I safety, toxicity and feasibility clinical study in patients
with liver insufficiency. The study involved the collection of bone marrow cells by
leukapheresis and subsequent infusion of stem cells. The treatment proved to be
safe for the patients and no obvious toxicity was observed. We have demonstrated
the feasibility and safety of G-CSF administration and mobilization, leukapheresis
and intrahepatic transfer of stem cells in patients with chronic liver disease. Our
study documents the existence of stem cells that can be directly and reproducibly
isolated from an accessible in vivo source and have considerable promise for the
clinical application of liver cell therapy.
l46
65