What we do

Innovative approaches within the regenerative medicine by using cells isolated from human placenta 
Within the research on new resources of adult stem cells, human placenta at term turns out to be particulary interesting,  since placental tissues originate in the early stages of embryonic development  and may contain cells with a still unripe phenotype; its immunological characteristics are therefore crucial in maintaining  maternal-fetal tolerance.  This aspect makes placenta cells an ideal candidate for utilization in cell therapy approaches. Being a waste material, the recovery of cells from placenta does not involve any invasive procedure for the donor and their utilization does not result in any ethical issues. 
Our studies are focused on different activities aimed at identifying the potential of human placenta in the regenerative medicine.

I) In Vitro studies on placenta derivatives and cells’ properties
Among which:
i) Optimizing protocols regarding human placenta’s isolation, culture and cryopreservation, among which, for instance, the cell culture medium. 
ii) Studying the basic characterisation of placental cells and derivatives, including, for example, the analysis of the placental tissues’ cellular subpopulations’ phenotype and cells’ capability of cellular differentiation; 
iii) Studying the immunomodulating activity of placental cells and derivatives by evaluating their effect on different cell populations such as T lymphocytes, dendritic cells and macrophages and testing the soluble factors secreted; 
iv)   Estimating the placental cells and derivatives’ effect on the proliferation of cancer cells. 

II) Therapy approaches by using placental cells and derivatives in pre-clinic models 
These studies provide for the transplantation of amniotic cells and/or their derivatives, such as the media collected after culture of these cells, in pathological animal models in order to estimate their capacity to reduce the progress  of  the disease or even “repair” the damage induced by the disease itself.  
Based on the characteristics reported by placental cells, different pathological models are being studied. For example, based on their immunomodulatory properties, placental cells are used as treatment in preclinical models of various  inflammatory-related pathologies, such as pulmonary fibrosis, liver fibrosis and also autoimmune diseases.