Spore-like cells and uses thereof
View Patent ↗Highly undifferentiated spore-like cells can be isolated from many different tissues and bodily fluids and used to treat a wide variety of disorders.
1. An isolated mammalian spore-like cell population, comprising cells that
are multipotent;
are approximately one to seven microns in diameter;
are viable following oxygen-deprivation in a deceased mammal for a period of twenty four hours; and
have an outer membrane containing one or more dark stripes when viewed by transmission electron microscopy.
2. The spore-like cell population of claim 1 , wherein the cells are isolated from the blood of a post-natal mammal by size-exclusion.
3. The spore-like cell population of claim 1 , wherein the cells are isolated from the heart, intestine, bladder, kidney, liver, lung, adrenal gland, skin, retina, or pancreas of a post-natal mammal by size-exclusion.
4. The spore-like cell population of claim 1 , wherein the cells are isolated from a deceased mammal.
5. The spore-like cell population of claim 1 , wherein the cells are approximately one to three microns in diameter.
6. The spore-like cell population of claim 1 , wherein the cells are approximately one micron in diameter.
7. The spore-like cell population of claim 1 , wherein at least about half the volume of the cells comprises nucleic acids.
8. The spore-like cell population of claim 1 , comprising cells that do not express nestin.