The Gene Regulation & Stem Cells Laboratory ("Laboratorio de
Regulación
Génica y
Células
Madre",
REGECEMA)
was established in January 2015 and is part of the Institute for Translational Medicine, Transplantation and
Bioengineering (IMETTYB), Favaloro University–National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET),
in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
REGECEMA aims to bridge the gap between basic
science and clinical translation
in regenerative medicine and experimental cell therapeutics. The laboratory's interests span from mechanisms
of gene expression and epigenetic regulation to the molecular basis of pluripotency, differentiation, and
regenerative potential of mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs). Mesenchymal stromal cells have the remarkable
ability to home to injured tissues and repair them by various mechanisms that include differentiation,
immune modulation, suppression of inflammation, stimulation of tissue-endogenous stem/progenitor cells, and
perhaps the transfer of mitochondria. Currently, we are studying the small extracellular vesicles called
exosomes produced by MSCs. Exosome secretion explains many of the beneficial effects of MSCs. We are
characterizing their properties and examining their therapeutic benefits in models for acute myocardial
infarction, donor lung preservation, and lung transplantation.
Dr. Gustavo Yannarelli was the founder and currently serves as
director of the Gene Regulation & Stem
Cells Laboratory. He received his BSc in biochemistry from the University of Buenos Aires in 2000. He worked
at the Biological-Chemistry Department, School of Pharmacy and Biochemistry, from 2001-2007 while earning a
Ph.D. in biochemistry from the University of Buenos Aires. He was awarded a post-doctoral fellowship from
the Cell Therapy Program at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, University Health Network (UHN), University of
Toronto (UofT), Canada. He was supervised by Dr. Armand Keating from 2008-2011 while studying the role of
MSCs in cardiac regeneration. Dr. Yannarelli returned to Argentina in 2011, after his admission into the
Scientific Investigator Career at CONICET. Since 2013, he started to assemble his research group. He has
authored more than 40 publications on international peer-reviewed journals and was recently
promoted to Independent Researcher at CONICET.