Mass General Researchers Take Major Step Toward a Treatment for Cystic Fibrosis

MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL

Researchers in the Center for Regenerative Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital have overcome a major hurdle in the pursuit of a treatment for Cystic fibrosis (CF) and other fatal lung diseases. Dr. Jayaraj Rajagopal, a pulmonologist at MassGeneral Hospital for Children, and colleagues managed to create human lung tissue using skin cells from CF patients.  The research details how Rajagopal’s team used skin cells from patients with CF to create induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS) and then used these stem cells to create human disease-specific functioning epithelium – the tissue that lines the airways and is the main target of the CF gene. Learn more at http://bit.ly/I2aA2u.