Scientists Make Stem Cell Research Breakthrough
Life-prolonging Technique Developed for Cells by Researchers
Mar 4, 2009
Scientists at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) in Sydney, Australia have developed a new technique which prolongs the life of stem cells that have been injected into tissue to repair damage. Previously researchers have found the cells tend to get "crowded out" by existing cells and usually die within an hour.
Chemotherapy
Using chemotherapy though, the researchers have found they are able to remove many of the local cells giving the injected stem cells a numerical advantage and a better chance to regenerate the damaged tissue into which they have been placed.
Speaking to the Australian ABC's AM radio program on March 5, 2009, Professor Peter Gunning, the leader of the research effort, told the broadcaster the chemotherapy treatment of the tissue gave the stem cells a "selective advantage".
"When you introduce stem cells they tend to get out-competed by the locals and they tend to disappear quite quickly," he said.
"So what we decided to do was take a strategy where we got rid of the locals who would normally compete with the incoming stem cells and also give the incoming stem cells a selective advantage, and we did that using chemotherapy."
Chemotherapy-resistant Stem Cells
Prof Gunning told the broadcaster that by then introducing chemotherapy resistant stem cells into the muscle, the cells could continue with the mission of repairing the damaged tissue. He added that the breakthrough treatment overcomes a significant weakness in the use of stem cells in regenerative medicine and could have wider applications.
"It's very significant because it's the first time that we have an approach that gets over what has been the real bug bear for muscle stem cell therapy."
"So people have been looking at using muscle stem cell therapy for 30 years. The big problem has been when you introduce the muscle stem cells they disappear very quickly. They don't have time to really do much for you," he said.
Spinal Treatment
Though the immediate use for the treatment would be in the area of muscle-wasting conditions such as muscular dystrophy and myopathy, Prof Gunning was of the opinion that the application of the technique would benefit other conditions including treatment of the spine and liver.
"You should be able to use it in any situation where you can selectively put new stem cells into damaged tissue. So theoretically it should be potentially applied to any tissue repair situation," he said.
"I could see it be applied in the spinal cord. I could see it being applied to the pancreas. I could see it being applied to the liver."
He said negotiations with a French research agency were currently in progress which could see the breakthrough technique tested on humans within three to five years.
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