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USC Stem Cell

@uscstemcell

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Follow Us! USC Stem Cell unites 100+ faculty for research across USC & CHLA. Developing new therapies for disease using the power of stem cells.

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Picture two tiny lab-grown kidney systems, both built from human stem cells. One becomes the tubes that drain urine. The other adds the cells that filter blood right beside them.

Zhongwei Li, PhD, a faculty member at @keckschoolusc, is growing both organoids and assembloids to study autosomal recessive polycystic kidney disease (ARPKD), a condition affecting about 1 in 20,000 children with no approved treatment. The work is backed by a $240,000 grant from the PKD Foundation.

Learn more about this research at the link in bio and story. A lab-grown kidney organoid made of human collecting duct cells shows elongated tubules—the segment of the kidney primarily affected by the incurable genetic condition called autosomal recessive polycystic kidney disease (ARPKD). (Image by Carrie Zhang/Li Lab/USC Stem Cell) by @uscstemcell

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9 days ago

Throwback to the student welcome social, when a whole new class of future physicians, scientists and health care leaders walked through our doors for the first time. Tag yourself (and the friends you made that day) below. 👇 Two people smiling at the camera in an outdoor setting. One is wearing a light top and jeans, holding a water bottle. The other is in a USC Stem Cell shirt and a black skirt, making a peace sign. There are more people and greenery in the background. by @uscstemcell

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24 days ago

USC Stem Cell was well represented at the CIRM Trainee Networking Conference in Sacramento! Both our EDUC4 (PhD) trainees and COMPASS (undergraduate) scholars presented posters showcasing their research, and huge congrats to Negar Hosseini and Gabriella Rita Panglinan, who were selected to give talks!

Proud to see our COMPASS scholars shine: Jasmin Cantu-Perez, Querondra Dilworth, Musa Bittaye, Lilah Phillips, Salma Setia, Joshua Wong, Charli Liu, Evan Dittus, and Tracy Wang.

Launched in 2023, the USC COMPASS Program (Creating Opportunities through Mentorship and Partnership Across Stem Cell Science) is a multidisciplinary collaboration between the Keck School of Medicine, Viterbi School of Engineering, and Dornsife College of Letters, Arts, and Sciences. Funded by the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM), COMPASS prepares undergraduates for careers in stem cell biology and regenerative medicine through an intensive two-year program spanning their junior and senior years. A group of nine people smiling in front of a banner for the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM). by @uscstemcell

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a month ago

Boot camp, but make it PhD.

PiBBS candidates are deep in orientation week, starting strong with purpose, wellness, and mentorship at the forefront.

The goal of PIBBS is to recruit top caliber PhD students in the biomedical and biological sciences to USC and to guide them in the identification of a mentor, lab, and research project that will provide rigorous scientific training, an outstanding PhD thesis, and a strong foundation for a variety of science-related careers. The following interdisciplinary PhD programs are part of PIBBS:

· Cancer Biology and Genomics PhD
· Development, Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine PhD
· Infectious Diseases, Immunology and Pathogenesis PhD
· Medical Biophysics PhD
· Molecular Medicine PhD
· Neuromedicine PhD A group of people sitting at tables in a classroom setting, engaging in discussions. Various writing materials and a pack of Crayola crayons are visible on the tables. The room is well-lit, and a whiteboard is in the background. by @uscstemcell

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2 months ago

A $28.7 million gift from The Marcus Foundation is funding a stem cell therapy clinical trial that could change how doctors treat heart attack damage.

Chuck Murry, MD, PhD, head of the USC Stem Cell Center at Keck School of Medicine of USC, and his team have spent three decades working to regenerate heart muscle, tissue the heart cannot repair on its own once it’s damaged. The trial will begin at Keck Hospital in 2027 in partnership with the USC Cardiac and Vascular Institute, with a second site at the University of Washington. About 18 patients who have experienced a severe heart attack will take part.

This is the largest gift The Marcus Foundation has ever given USC, supporting research aimed at helping patients return to their daily lives after a heart attack. Full story in bio. taken in Keck School of Medicine of USC by @uscstemcell

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2 months ago

POV: You’re inside a kidney.

What starts as an organ you can see with the naked eye ends in a microscopic world of specialized structures working together to keep you alive.

💜 Glomerulus: filters blood and creates the initial filtrate

💚 Proximal Tubule: reabsorbs water, nutrients, and other essentials

❤️ Distal Tubule & Collecting Duct: fine-tune the final composition of urine

Every day, your kidneys continuously filter, recover, and refine what your body needs to maintain balance.

Watch until the end to see the kidney’s filtration system at the microscopic level.

📸 Image courtesy of Zhongwei Li, at USC Stem Cell, whose work focuses on bridging basic studies of kidney organogenesis and translational applications of stem/progenitor cell-based kidney regeneration and disease modeling, with the long-term goal of rebuilding the kidney.

#stemcells #stemcelltherapy #stemcellresearch #regenerativemedicine #stemcelltreatment taken in Keck School of Medicine of USC by @uscstemcell

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2 months ago

Aging doesn't just slow us down, it can also blunt the immune system's fight against cancer.

Researchers at the Keck School of Medicine of USC discovered that thymulin, a hormone made by the thymus, keeps inflammation in check, and that restoring it in older mice improved cancer survival and boosted the effectiveness of immunotherapy. Led by Fumito Ito, MD, PhD, and published in Nature Communications, the study opens new questions about how we study aging and design cancer trials for older patients.

Link in bio. Two individuals in lab coats work in a laboratory filled with scientific equipment. One person observes intently, while the other uses a pipette. Shelves with labeled boxes are visible in the background. by @uscstemcell

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2 months ago

Congratulations to Eda Atmaca, PhD, on the successful defense of her dissertation! Dr. Atmaca completed her PhD as a member of the laboratory of Oliver Bell, PhD, Associate Professor of Cancer Biology, Stem Cell, and Regenerative Medicine, and USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center member.

Her dissertation, "ZNF462 Regulates the Tempo of Human Neuroectoderm Development by Silencing Hominoid-Specific Retrotransposons," advances our understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying Weiss-Kruszka syndrome, a rare congenital disorder associated with neurodevelopmental and craniofacial defects.

Using human embryonic stem cell models, Dr. Atmaca's research demonstrates how ZNF462 regulates early neural development by recruiting repressive chromatin machinery to silence developmental enhancers derived from hominoid-specific retrotransposons. Her findings provide new insight into the gene regulatory programs that guide human brain and craniofacial development and lay the groundwork for future research into neurodevelopmental disorders.

Congratulations, Dr. Atmaca, on this outstanding achievement, and best wishes as you begin the next chapter of your scientific career! a group of 6 people standing in front of an auditorium. by @uscstemcell

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3 months ago

Scientists just found a hidden map inside the kidney.

At the Keck School of Medicine of USC, researchers mapped a previously unrecognized axis that organizes how a kidney forms, then engineered synthetic organizer cells to recreate that signal inside lab grown organoids.

Led by Nils Lindström, PhD and Leonardo Morsut, PhD, the study, published in the journal Science, produced kidney organoids that are more reproducible and closer to how kidneys actually develop, supporting future research into disease and transplantable tissue.

Read the full study at our link in bio. #Science #StemCellResearch #RegenerativeMedicine #StemCells #KeckSchoolOfMedicine taken in Keck School of Medicine of USC by @uscstemcell

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3 months ago

A breakthrough years in the making.

USC startup AO Technologies, co-founded by Keck School of Medicine of USC's Dr. John Oghalai and USC Viterbi's Dr. Brian Applegate, has received up to $3.7 million from ARPA-H to refine the cochleoscope for clinical imaging of the inner ear.

The cochleoscope will aid otolaryngologists in diagnosing inner ear conditions that can be treated with medications, improving outcomes and quality of life for patients.

Read more at the link in our bio and story. Two people stand in a laboratory setting. One is wearing glasses and a tie, while the other holds a small device and wears a Patagonia jacket. Shelves filled with equipment and a computer are visible in the background. by @uscstemcell

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3 months ago

Nils Lindström, PhD, shares an update on this video about how stem cells can lead to the creation of a functional artificial kidney. #Kidneys #MedicalResearch #StemCells #StemCellResearch taken in Keck School of Medicine of USC by @uscstemcell

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3 months ago

USC Stem Cell scientists and Stanford collaborators have developed a renewable source of immune cells that could help advance cancer immunotherapies and treatments for other diseases.

In this study published in Cell, Qi-Long Ying, PhD, professor of stem cell biology and regenerative medicine at @keckschoolusc, and Stanford collaborators developed a way to grow and genetically engineer the progenitor cells that give rise to macrophages, immune cells with promising potential for treating solid tumors, blood cancers and other diseases.

The researchers also engineered these cells to recognize cancer and stimulate broader anti-tumor immune responses, bringing scientists one step closer to more effective immunotherapies.

Collaborators in the lab of Ravi Majeti, MD, PhD, director of the Stanford's Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine (@stanford.stemcell), were also able to independently reproduce and maintain these genetically-engineered progenitor cells – further validation of the potential for this crucial work.

Learn more about this incredible study by clicking the link in our bio and story. Engineered immune cells (red) attacking breast cancer cells (blue). The red cells are genetically
engineered macrophages designed to selectively recognize, engulf and destroy breast cancer cells
(blue), demonstrating a promising new cell-based immunotherapy approach. (Image by Shi Yue/Ying
Lab) by @uscstemcell

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3 months ago