Research Pipeline
Human Primary Tenocytes:
Tendon, ligament, and joint capsular injuries, comprise almost half of the 32 million musculoskeletal injuries that occur every year in the US. Over 200,000 surgical tendon and ligament repairs are performed annually and the frequency of tendon related injuries is expected to rise as the population ages and remains active. Primary tendon healing requires several weeks due to the necessary collagen deposition and remodeling. The slow healing rate is also reflected in the overall cost related to repetitive stress musculoskeletal injuries. In 1997 an estimated $20 to $30 billion was spent on workers compensation claims related to these injuries representing over 600,000 lost work days. Many researchers are investigating methods of speeding tendon healing while maintaining tendon strength and integrity. Therefore, significant research efforts are devoted to growth factors and small molecules that increase tendon cell (Tenocyte) proliferation and collagen synthesis and may provide useful therapeutic tools. ZenBio is currently developing a well characterized Primary Human Tenocyte Culture System to be used in investigating new therapies for tendon healing and repair.
Human Skeletal Muscle Progenitor Differentiation into Myoblasts
Muscle wasting is a major problem in the elderly and in a variety of specific diseases (e.g. chronic obstruction pulmonary disease, cancer related cachexia, end stage renal disease). ZenBio is developing a cell-based assay system using the human satellite cell, an adult stem cell that controls skeletal muscle regeneration. This assay will provide a method for determining the controls that regulate human satellite cell proliferation and differentiation, examine the cause of the poor muscle regeneration seen in various states such as elderly subjects and the disease states mentioned above, and facilitate the identification of new drugs that can reverse the age and disease related decline in muscle mass and function.
Fatty Liver Disease Model
Why fatty liver technologies? Unhealthy and steatotic livers are becoming more common in the US population due to the rise in obesity and its comorbidities. This problem is likely to continue as evidenced in the increasing numbers of unhealthy and obese children. Our therapeutic discovery and development models are based on this impending health care crisis. Currently, no fatty liver models for drug discovery and development are available. ZenBio is working to create these models, use them to identify therapeutics, and develop them for the wider drug discovery and development community. When successful, these technologies will lead to novel therapeutics for fatty liver diseases, improved methods for drug analysis, and other therapeutic applications, particularly for cells from solid organs.
