Helping transplanted stem cells stick around and do their jobs

(Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard) Delivering mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) along with therapeutic stem cells has the potential to reduce host-vs-graft disease and transplant rejection, but MSCs have been plagued by high clearance from the body and immune attack. A new hydrogel-based encapsulation method developed at the Wyss Institute not only protects MSCs from immune attack and clearance, but dramatically improved the success of bone marrow transplants in mic...