Chondrocyte therapeutic delivery system
Methods and compositions for producing therapeutic agents using chondrocytes are provided. The genetically engineered chondrocytes can be used to express the therapeutic agent in a subject, including in an environment typically associated with chondrocytes and in an environment not typically associated with chondrocytes.
1. A method for modifying an environment of a cell associated with a disorder using a genetically altered chondrocyte, comprising:
providing a genetically altered chondrocyte, wherein the genetically altered chondrocyte has been altered to express a therapeutic agent;
delivering the genetically altered chondrocyte to an atypical chondrocyte environment of a cell associated with a disorder such that the genetically altered chondrocyte does not become a structural component of the atypical chondrocyte environment surrounding the cell; and
expressing the therapeutic agent to a level sufficient to modify the atypical chondrocyte environment surrounding the cell.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the genetically altered chondrocyte, is genetically altered to produce a therapeutic agent selected from the group consisting of a protein, an agonist or an antagonist of an antibody, an antigen, a hormone, an anti-inflammatory agent, an antiviral agent, and anti-bacterial agent, a cytokine, an oncogene, a tumor suppressor, a transmembrane receptor, an adhesion molecule, a neurotransmitter, a morphogenetic protein, a differentiation factor, an enzyme, and an extracellular matrix protein.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the therapeutic agent is an Erythropoietin protein.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the therapeutic agent is an Erythropoietin mimetibody.
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the atypical chondrocyte environment is in an organ selected from the group consisting of the brain, heart, liver, kidney, gastro-intestinal tract, spleen, smooth and skeletal muscles, eye, ganglions, lungs, gonads, and pancreas.
6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the atypical chondrocyte environment is an aqueous environment selected from the group consisting of blood and plasma.
7. The method of claim 1 further comprising mixing the genetically altered chondrocyte with a biocompatible substrate.
8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the biocompatible substrate is a gel matrix substrate.