General Data

Member of UL: Veterinary Faculty 

Name of the leading partner: UL VF

Status:  leading partner

Project code/ Projet No.: /

Project Title: Isolation, characterisation and posible uses of exosomes from mesenchymal stem cells for advanced treatments of dogs

Project period: 01.04.2019-31.03.2022

Yearly sum of FTE: 57.228,00 €/year

Leader: assist.-researcher dr. Saša Koprivec

Scientific field: regenerative/translational veterinary medicine

Partners: Animacel d.o.o.

Project phases

Collection of dog mesenchymal stem cell samples/Optimization of growth conditions for stem cell growth/ Optimization of methods for isolation of exosomes/Identification of specific surface markers/Comparison of possible biocompatible scaffolds/ In vitro testing of immune inflammatory responses

Project description

Mesenchymal stem cell have been used substantially for advanced therapeutic treatments in veterinary medicine. Cell therapies that make use of adult stem cells have a prolonged treatment effect as they can act immunosupressive and immunomodulatory, they also excrete different growth factors and other molecules that enable cell proliferation and angiogenesis. New findings now confirm that their therapeutic potential is based on exosomes, small nanoscale vesicles, that are part of the cells secretome. Exosomes contain different molecules that can fight local cell stress and are therefore believed to be responsible for most of the therapeutic/regenerative effect of stem cell. With this project our main aim is to efficiently isolate exosomes of dog mesenchymal stem cells and characterize them in a way that will enable us to use them for therapeutic purposes. A therapeutic model that doesn’t use actual cells is safer for final user and helps elongate shelf life of the product, which in return also helps lower the production costs.

Structure of the project group

dr. Saša Koprivec, univ.dipl.bioteh.