MELVILLE, N.Y., Sept. 15, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- BioRestorative Therapies, Inc. ("BRT" or the "Company") (OTCQB:BRTX), a life sciences company focused on stem cell-based therapies, today announced that the Company has entered into a one-year research collaboration agreement with the University of Pennsylvania. The research is intended to develop the Company's ThermoStem® Program by advancing the understanding of brown adipose ("brown fat") biology and its role in metabolic disorders. Brown fat is recognized as playing a role in caloric burning, as well as potentially regulating glucose and lipid levels.
The research collaboration will focus on studying the epigenetic regulation of brown fat transcription and metabolism by nuclear receptors and mechanisms related to obesity-associated insulin resistance and diabetes. It has recently been demonstrated that motif-altering single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) cause differential PPARγ binding associated in elevated HDL levels and other metabolic syndrome parameters. Understanding the role that SNPs play upon an individual's genome has the potential to improve the risk/benefit ratio for patients undergoing antidiabetic therapy, thereby allowing for personalized pharmacogenomics.
The laboratory of Mitchell Lazar, MD, PhD, the Sylvan Eisman Professor of Medicine and Genetics in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, will work with BRT to characterize these brown fat cells. Lazar is also Chief of the Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Metabolism, and the Director of the Institute for Diabetes, Obesity, and Metabolism at Penn.
"We are excited to collaborate with the Lazar lab at the University of Pennsylvania, one of the top research facilities studying the transcriptional and epigenomic regulation of metabolism. This collaboration is expected to provide additional data, including functional studies and manipulation of cells, for our ThermoStem® Program. We look forward to working with Dr. Lazar and his team as we advance our cell-based therapy towards clinical trials," said Mark Weinreb, CEO of the Company.
About BioRestorative Therapies, Inc.
BioRestorative Therapies, Inc. (www.biorestorative.com) develops therapeutic products and medical therapies using cell and tissue protocols, primarily involving adult stem cells. Our two core programs, as described below, relate to the treatment of disc/spine disease and metabolic disorders:
• Disc/Spine Program: Our lead cell therapy candidate, brtxDISC™ (Disc Implanted Stem Cells), is a product formulated from autologous (or a person's own) cultured mesenchymal stem cells collected from the patient's bone marrow. We intend that the product will be used for the non-surgical treatment of protruding and bulging lumbar discs in patients suffering from chronic lumbar disc disease. The treatment involves collecting a patient's own stem cells, culturing and cryopreserving the cells, and then having a physician inject brtxDISC™ into the patient's damaged disc in an outpatient procedure. The treatment is intended for patients whose pain has not been alleviated by non-invasive procedures and who potentially face the prospect of surgery.
• Metabolic Program (ThermoStem®): We are developing an allogeneic cell-based therapy to target obesity and metabolic disorders using brown adipose (fat) derived stem cells to generate brown adipose tissue ("BAT"). BAT is intended to mimic naturally occurring brown adipose depots that regulate metabolic homeostasis in humans. Initial preclinical research indicates that increased amounts of brown fat in the body may be responsible for additional caloric burning as well as reduced glucose and lipid levels. Researchers have found that people with higher levels of brown fat may have a reduced risk for obesity and diabetes. The Company is a party to a research agreement with Pfizer with regard to the study of brown fat.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and such forward-looking statements are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. You are cautioned that such statements are subject to a multitude of risks and uncertainties that could cause future circumstances, events or results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements as a result of various factors and other risks, including those set forth in the Company's Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. You should consider these factors in evaluating the forward-looking statements included herein, and not place undue reliance on such statements. The forward-looking statements in this release are made as of the date hereof and the Company undertakes no obligation to update such statements.