Cellular transplants as sources for therapeutic agents.
Soluble factors normally produced by cells of the human body are of increasing importance as potential therapeutic agents. Although considerable progress has been made in understanding the etiology and pathogenesis of disease, in developing animal models and newer experimental therapeutics, few discoveries have been translated into clinically effective ways of delivering the multiple therapeutic agents obtained from living mammalian cells. This review examines the use of transplanted cells as alternatives to conventional delivery systems to deliver a variety of protein based therapeutic agents. The chapter begins with a set of questions to establish the complexity and challenges of this form of drug delivery. The following section focuses the discussion on our understanding of genetic engineering, tissue engineering, and some areas of developmental biology as they relate to the development of this nascent field. Much of the discussion has a neuro/endocrine emphasis. The chapter ends by listing the basic ingredients needed to push the use of transplanted cells toward medical practice and some general comments about future developments.
Tresco
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PA
Department of Bioengineering, The Keck Center for Tissue Engineering, The Huntsman Cancer Institute, Tissue Engineering Laboratory, University of Utah, 20 South 2030 East, Room 506, 84112 9458, Salt Lake City, UT, USA. patrick.tresco@m.cc.utah.edu
Biran
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R
Noble
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MD
D000818:Animals; D002465:Cell Movement; D017690:Cell Transplantation; D016503:Drug Delivery Systems; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D005818:Genetic Engineering; D005822:Genetic Vectors; D006801:Humans