Combined Therapy Triggers Stem Cells To Repair Damage

A research team has engineered a new method that stimulates bone marrow to generate and release two new types of stem cells that the body can use to repair damaged bone, blood vessels, and cartilage. Moreover, the investigators plan to start new animal trials to advance their study.

The treatment consists on a combination of Genzyme's (Cambridge, MA, USA) Mozobil compound and a human growth factor, which scientists reported can create a robust new line of stem cells. According to lead investigator Dr. Sara Rankin, from the National Heart and Lung Institute at Imperial College (London, UK), these new cells will be induced to zoom in on the injured site of the body and begin the repair process. The researchers also hope that by utilizing the findings from this research they could better fight autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, where the body is attacked by its own immune system, by triggering the mesenchymal stem cells into action. These stem cells are able to suppress the immune system.

Dr. Rankin stated, "The body repairs itself all the time. We know that the skin heals over when we cut ourselves and, similarly, inside the body there are stem cells patrolling around and carrying out repair where it's needed. However, when the damage is severe, there are limits to what the body can do of its own accord. We hope that by releasing extra stem cells, as we were able to do in mice in our new study, we could potentially call up extra numbers of whichever stem cells the body needs, in order to boost its ability to mend itself and accelerate the repair process. Further on the line, our work could lead to new treatments to fight various diseases and injuries which work by mobilizing a person's own stem cells from within.”

The researchers discovered that the bone marrow released around 100 times as many endothelial and mesenchymal stem cells into the bloodstream when the mice were treated with vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and Mozobil, compared with mice that received no treatment. Treating the mice with granulocyte-colony stimulating factor (G-CSF) and Mozobil mobilized the hematopoietic stem cells, which is a treatment already used in bone marrow transplantation.

The researchers now are planning to investigate whether releasing repair stem cells into the blood really does accelerate the rate and level of tissue regeneration in mice that have had a heart attack. Depending on the outcome of this research, they hope to conduct clinical trials of the new drug combinations in humans within the next 10 years.

The researchers are also eager to evaluate whether aging or having a disease affects the bone marrow's ability to produce different kinds of adult stem cells. They plan to investigate if the new technique might help to reinvigorate the body's repair mechanisms in older individuals, to help them fight disease and injury.

The study was published January 8, 2009, in the journal Cell Stem Cell.

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