Scott & White doctors pioneering adult stem cell research
Buzz up!Monday, January 12, 2009
By Cindy V. Culp
Tribune-Herald staff writer
Central Texans could soon be among some of the first people in the
country to get relief from conditions ranging from diabetes to knee
injuries through adult stem cell therapy.
Scott & White health system, in conjunction with the Texas A&M Health
Science Center College of Medicine, recently recruited a team of
scientists who are conducting pioneering research using stem cells
gleaned from adults' bone marrow. The team's focus is to bring the
benefits of stem cell therapy from the laboratory to patients, said
Dr. Darwin J. Prockop, who heads up the group.
Clinical trials involving diabetes patients are scheduled to begin in
September, Prockop said. Other trials — including ones addressing
heart disease, stroke, osteoporosis, and Parkinson's and Alzheimer's
diseases — are expected to follow.
Kent Claypool, who works for the Texas A&M Health Science Center
College of Medicine Institute for Regenerative Medicine at Scott &
White , monitors the separation of cells as part of stem cell
research that is being done there. Scientists at the institute hope a
treatment method that uses stem cells derived from the bone marrow of
adults can help treat everything from stroke to Alzheimer's disease.
(Jerry Larson photo)
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Dr. Darwin J. Prockop discusses adult stem cell research at his
office in Temple. He is the director of the Texas A&M Health Science
Center College of Medicine Institute for Regenerative Medicine at
Scott & White. (Jerry Larson photo)
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"We don't know any reason that it won't work," Prockop said of the
therapy. "But we could have some surprises along the way."
The therapy works like this: Using local anesthesia, doctors extract
less than an ounce of marrow from a person's hip bone. The stem cells
in that material then are multiplied.
Once there are enough of the cells, they are injected into the
patient's bloodstream. From there, the theory is that they will
attach to damaged tissues and either repair them or at least stop
further damage, Prockop said.
With diabetes, for example, the hope is that the cells will help
patients increase insulin production, Prockop said. Also, researchers
believe stem cells can help damaged kidneys work better, thus staving
off renal failure for diabetics if diagnosed in the beginning stages.
Another example of how the cells could heal is with stroke victims.
The hope is that the cells could prevent cell death if they can be
injected into stroke patients no later than a day after the brain's
blood supply is interrupted, Prockop said.
That might sound like science fiction. But Prockop pointed out that
stem cells already are responsible for helping the body heal itself,
such as when a person gets a cut or breaks a bone.
"The trouble is we don't have enough to keep up with major disease,"
Prockop said. "Our game is to make many more cells, to speed up
(healing), make it better and faster."
Tests using animals have shown promising results, Prockop said. One
in mice, for example, demonstrated that marrow-derived stem cells can
limit brain damage caused by an interruption in blood flow, such as
after a heart attack.
Some of the trials will use stem cells gleaned from one person's
marrow and then injected in another person. Others will treat people
with cells made from their own bone, Prockop said.
While much of the publicity about stem cell research has centered on
work done with cells harvested from human embryos, Prockop said there
have been problems with the results. Namely, tumors have resulted in
many cases where embryonic stem cells were used, he said.
"They're marvelous, fascinating cells, but they are hard to control,"
Prockop said.
Because of that, virtually no humans are being treated with embryonic
cells, Prockop said. In contrast, 15 to 20 centers worldwide are
conducting trials using adult stem cells, he said.
Prockop's team has 35 researchers. Within a year, the plan is to have
75 people on board, he said.
In addition to doing research, Prockop's team also receives money
from the federal government to act as the distributor of marrow-
derived stem cells to academic centers. Shipments have been made to
about 250 centers worldwide, he said.
Prockop moved his work from Tulane University in New Orleans to
Central Texas in August. The lab here, called the Texas A&M Health
Science Center College of Medicine Institute for Regenerative
Medicine at Scott & White, was established with a pledge of more than
$40 million from Scott & White and Texas A&M over the next five years.
Money alone isn't what drew Prockop, though, he said. His work was
receiving similar financial support at Tulane.
Instead, it was the framework that Texas A&M and Scott & White offers
for moving research from the lab to patients, Prockop said. Scott &
White's patient base is a large part of that, he said.
Plus, lingering damage from Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans would
have delayed trials there, he said.
Prockop's recruitment here was a coup for Central Texas and Scott &
White, said Dr. Wally Dyck. He is former chief academic officer for
Scott & White; former executive associate dean of the Temple campus
of the health science center; and is a senior adviser to the Temple
Health & Bioscience District, which promotes the development and
creation of health, bioscience and biotechnology.
Prockop is known worldwide as a leader in adult stem cell research,
Dyck said. His work ties together several other areas of research at
Scott & White. For example, cardiovascular disease and orthopedics
are two areas the health system is focused on and both are looking to
regenerative medicine as the next frontier for treatment, he said.
Plus, there is the economic development angle, Dyck said. Prockop's
institute is expected to promote scientist development both in
Central Texas and the state in general. Already, it has lured one
biotechnology company that will move from California to Temple this
fall for the diabetes trial.
The institute is in negotiations with a second biotech company to
move here to help with trials.
"I think it's going to have a significant impact along the Interstate
35 corridor, including down to Waco," Dyck said of the institute's
economic influence.
cculp@wacotrib.
http://www.wacotrib
acStemCellGuy.
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StemCells subscribers may also be interested in these sites:
Children's Neurobiological Solutions
http://www.CNSfoundation.org/
Cord Blood Registry
http://www.CordBlood.com/at.cgi?a=150123
The CNS Healing Group
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CNS_Healing
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