Ming Wai Lau Centre for Reparative Medicine

Fredrik Lanner and collaborators have tested a new way to combat transplantation rejection through the use of CRISPR/Cas9 genome engineering. Embryonic stem cells were engineered to lack surface expression of HLA-antigen class I and II. The cells were subsequently differentiated into retinal cells for treatment of Age-related Macular Degeneration (AMD). The mature retinal cells lacking the HLA antigenes avoid rejection by NK and T-cells in vitro and show reduced rejection in a preclinical animal model. This is one important step that the laboratory is taking towards clinical treatment of AMD.

Fredrik Lanner and his collaborators have analysed all cell types in the human ovary and found that the hotly debated so-called egg stem cells do not exist, a question which affects issues related to fertility treatment. The new study opens the way for research on improved methods of treating involuntary childlessness.

Simon Elsässer has been awarded a grant from the Swedish Foundation for Strategic Research and receives SEK 12 million funding from 2020-2025. He is one out of 20 recipients selected among a total of 227 applicants.

The aim of the grant is to give young researchers the opportunity to develop and become future leaders of academic and/or industrial research in Sweden.

(In Swedish only)

Sijie Chen and her group have developed a simple and cost-effective method for rapid fabrication of a thermosensitive fluorescent nanoprobe based on the aggregation-induced emission (AIE) mechanism. This paper is highlighted as the outside back cover of nanoscale horizons, issue 3, 2020.