A novel osteoarthritis (OA) treatment method developed at the Jagiellonian University has successfully passed the second stage of clinical trials. The therapy consists in using mesenchymal stem cells, which after being implanted in the diseased joints reduce the OA-related pain and stimulate the regeneration of damaged tissues. The completed trials showed very promising results, leading to significant improvement of the patients' quality of life. Designers of the new osteoarthritis treatment method: Prof. Ewa Zuba-Surma, Dr Anna Łabędź-Masłowska, and Prof. Krzysztof Ficek from Galen Ortopedia medical company.

The project "New generation medicinal products based on extracellular vesicles for applications in cardiology (Acronym: Card-EV)" under the supervision of prof. dr hab. Ewa Zuba-Surma from our Department received funding from the Foundation for Polish Science (FNP) as part of the first call for applications in the TEAM NET FENG competition. Importantly, the project was at the top of the ranking list among only 3 awarded projects, selected from a pool of 74 submitted applications!

The aim of the project will be to develop new advanced therapy medicinal products (ATMP) for applications in cardiology, dedicated to the treatment of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs). The project assumes the creation of innovative new generation products in the GMP standard, dedicated to auto- and allogeneic applications, based on extracellular vesicles (EVs) secreted by two types of human stem cells (KM) with reduced immunogenicity. The Project results, responding to the huge demand for innovative CVD therapies, will bring measurable social and economic benefits, providing next-generation drugs in the field of cardiology and thus contributing to the development of regenerative medicine.

We are delighted to announce that in the OPUS28+LAP competition organized by the National Science Centre Prof. Ewa Zuba-Surma have received funding and will carry out a project entitled: “The role of extracellular vesicles from stem cells in the regulation of autophagy and mitochondrial homeostasis in heart tissue cells damaged by hypoxia (MiRegEV)”; Funding awarded: 3,545,320 PLN. Congratulations!!!

Our Team has published an article in the "Journal of Nanobiotechnology" (IF2023=10.2). The work was a result of Polish-French collaboration between teams from WBBiB UJ and INSERM.

The first authors of the publication entitled "Mesenchymal stem cell-derived extracellular vesicles exert pro-angiogenic and pro-lymphangiogenic effects in ischemic tissues by transferring various microRNAs and proteins including ITGa5 and NRP1" are Dr. Anna Łabędź-Masłowska and Dr. Luisa Vergori. The research involved Anna Łabędź-Masłowska, Elżbieta Karnas, Sylwia Bobis-Wozowicz and Ewa Zuba-Surma from the Department of Cell Biology, as well as Syliwa Kędracka-Krok from the Department of Physical Biochemistry and Michał Sarna from the Department of Biophysics at WBBiB. The article can be accessed on the publisher's website. The publication of the article in open access mode was made possible thanks to funding from WBBiB UJ as part of the Strategic Excellence Initiative at Jagiellonian University.

Congratulations!!!