From stem cells to new organs: Stanford and NYU scientists cross
threshold in regenerative medicine
Research in The FASEB Journal clears major hurdles for bioengineered
replacement organs
Bethesda, MD—By now, most people have read stories about how to "grow
your own organs" using stem cells is just a breakthrough away.
Despite the hype, this breakthrough has been elusive. A new report
published in the March 2009 issue of The FASEB Journal
(http://www.fasebj.
scientists from Stanford and New York University Langone Medical
Center describe how they were able to use a "scaffolding" material
extracted from the groin area of mice on which stem cells from blood,
fat, and bone marrow grew. This advance clears two major hurdles to
bioengineered replacement organs, namely a matrix on which stem cells
can form a 3-dimensional organ and transplant rejection.
"The ability to provide stem cells with a scaffold to grow and
differentiate into mature cells could revolutionize the field of
organ transplantation,
Professor of Surgery at Stanford University and a senior researcher
involved in the work.
To make this advance, Gurtner and colleagues first had to demonstrate
that expendable pieces of tissue (called "free flaps") could be
sustained in the laboratory. To do this, they harvested a piece of
tissue containing blood vessels, fat, and skin from the groin area of
rats and used a bioreactor to provide nutrients and oxygen to keep it
alive. Then, they seeded the extracted tissue with stem cells before
it was implanted back into the animal. Once the tissue was back in
the mice, the stem cells continued to grow on their own and the
implant was not rejected. This suggests that if the stem cells had
been coaxed into becoming an organ, the organ would have "taken hold"
in the animal's body. In addition to engineering the stem cells to
form a specific organ around the extracted tissue, they also could be
engineered to express specific proteins which allows for even greater
potential uses of this technology.
"Myth has its lures, but so does modern science. The notion of using
one tissue as the scaffold for another is as old as the Birth of
Venus to the Book of Genesis," said Gerald Weissmann, M.D., Editor-in-
Chief of The FASEB Journal. "Eve may or may not have been formed from
Adam's rib, but these experiments show exactly how stem cell
techniques can be used to turn one's own tissue into newly-formed,
architecturally-
The FASEB Journal (http://www.fasebj.
Federation of the American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB)
and is the most cited journal worldwide according to the Institute
for Scientific Information. FASEB comprises 22 nonprofit societies
with more than 80,000 members, making it the largest coalition of
biomedical research associations in the United States. FASEB
advances biological science through collaborative advocacy for
research policies that promote scientific progress and education and
lead to improvements in human health.
###
Research Report Details: Edward I. Chang, Robert G. Bonillas, Samyra
El-ftesi, Eric I. Chang, Daniel J. Ceradini, Ivan N. Vial, Denise A.
Chan, Joseph Michaels, V, and Geoffrey C. Gurtner. Tissue engineering
using autologous microcirculatory beds as vascularized bioscaffolds.
FASEB J. 2009 23: 906-915.
http://www.fasebj.
http://www.fasebj.
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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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