Fighting cancer and COVID-19
Scientists are betting on stem cells
Growing new organs, editing genes, a complete cure for the most serious diseases. Scientists are looking for new ways to solve these problems by studying stem cells, although there is a wide debate around the ethics of these studies. According to the latest data, stem cell-based drugs can also help in the fight against COVID-19; the drug that was used to treat US President Donald Trump was developed with their help. Scientists from Russian universities included in the 5-100 Project told about what new unique opportunities the medical use of stem cells can give a person.
Stem cells and coronavirus
In early October, it became known that for the treatment of coronavirus, doctors prescribed Donald Trump a cocktail of antiviral antibodies created by Regeneron, which he himself called "miraculous." Regeneron developed this treatment using a cell line called HEK 293, originally obtained from an aborted fetus in 1973 in the Netherlands, but the stem cells themselves are not included in the drug.
In the fall of 2020, other researchers also announced the possibility of effectively using stem cells in treatment against the COVID-19 virus. In the USA, an application was submitted for the use of a drug based on mesenchymal stem cells of umbilical cord tissue. Scientists from Israel have proposed several treatment options using stem cells for acute and life-threatening respiratory distress in patients with coronavirus and pneumonia.
According to scientists, mesenchymal stem cells have great prospects for the treatment of patients with COVID-19 due to their ability to suppress the overactivated immune system and contribute to the restoration of lung failure and other organs in severe disease.
Stem cells – what is it?
Scientists have come up with the concept of a "stem cell" to explain why multicellular living organisms that constantly lose certain cells, for example, the protective layer of the skin, continue to live and retain the same appearance.
Stem cells are a universal building material that the body uses for self–renewal. They exist in the body at any stage of its development, can divide and multiply, remaining unchanged. At the necessary moment, they can change their program during division and create other, new, specialized types of cells, for example, blood and various organs, replacing the old ones that have served their time.
The theory of the stem cell and the idea that specialized descendants can develop from it was explained by the example of blood cells in 1909 by the Russian scientist Alexander Maksimov. In 1981, American scientists experimentally proved the existence of embryonic stem cells on the example of a mouse.
Stem cells can be divided into three large categories depending on their origin: embryonic (obtained from the placenta), fetal (they are taken from fetal materials after abortion), postnatal (adult cells).
Despite the fact that stem cells of a mature organism have significantly less potential for use compared to embryonic and fetal cells and can generate fewer different types of cells, the ethical aspect of their research and application does not cause serious controversy. Some researchers suggest using this type of stem cells in the fight against coronavirus and pneumonia. Today they are used in tissue engineering and for the development of individual diagnostic tools.
Embryonic stem cells have unique properties: firstly, they can divide indefinitely, and secondly, their descendants can turn into any specialized cell, be it one of the brain neurons, a liver hepatocyte or an intestinal epithelium cell - you just need to set the required molecular genetic program.
However, it is impossible to use the cellular material of human embryos for medical or purely scientific purposes for ethical reasons, in most countries it is prohibited to work with this type of cells. Therefore, biologists had to create an alternative: in 2006, Japanese scientist Shinya Yamanaka received the so-called induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC, or iPS) for the first time; for this discovery he received the Nobel Prize.
Analogues of embryonic stem cells can give a person a chance for artificial regeneration and cure of serious diseases. You can completely cure a person of cancer if you isolate the so-called tumor-associated T cells from him, modify them and bring them back. T-cells are the main weapon of the body, they are isolated from white blood cells in the bone marrow and provide recognition and destruction of cells carrying foreign antigens.
Stem cells can be divided into three large categories depending on their origin: embryonic (obtained from the placenta), fetal (they are taken from fetal materials after abortion), postnatal (adult cells).
Despite the fact that stem cells of a mature organism have significantly less potential for use compared to embryonic and fetal cells and can generate fewer different types of cells, the ethical aspect of their research and application does not cause serious controversy. Some researchers suggest using this type of stem cells in the fight against coronavirus and pneumonia. Today they are used in tissue engineering and for the development of individual diagnostic tools.
Embryonic stem cells have unique properties: firstly, they can divide indefinitely, and secondly, their descendants can turn into any specialized cell, be it one of the brain neurons, a liver hepatocyte or an intestinal epithelium cell - you just need to set the required molecular genetic program.
However, it is impossible to use the cellular material of human embryos for medical or purely scientific purposes for ethical reasons, in most countries it is prohibited to work with this type of cells. Therefore, biologists had to create an alternative: in 2006, Japanese scientist Shinya Yamanaka received the so-called induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC, or iPS) for the first time; for this discovery he received the Nobel Prize.
Analogues of embryonic stem cells can give a person a chance for artificial regeneration and cure of serious diseases. You can completely cure a person of cancer if you isolate the so-called tumor-associated T cells from him, modify them and bring them back. T-cells are the main weapon of the body, they are isolated from white blood cells in the bone marrow and provide recognition and destruction of cells carrying foreign antigens.
Accelerate growth and reduce costs
Stem cells have the potential for use in tissue engineering, in the creation of tissues and organs for transplantation. Among the latest achievements of scientists are a miniature human heart grown from stem cells, an embryo brain model, and an esophagus.
Researchers from the Baltic Federal University (BFU) named after Kanta is engaged in the creation of neurons from postnatal stem cells for transplantation in spinal cord injuries, nerve tissue damage and neurodegenerative diseases.
Today, to stimulate the differentiation of neural stem cells, scientists add growth factors and enzymes to the cellular environment. According to experts, this is a rather expensive method that takes a long time to differentiate stem cells.
"We plan to fix this with the help of our methodology. Materials such as piezopolymers are cheap to manufacture and easy to use, and the technique itself will speed up the development of stem cells into neurons of a certain type," Ekaterina Levada, senior researcher at the Laboratory of New Magnetic Materials at the I. Kant BFU, told RIA Novosti.
To stimulate cell growth, scientists are developing so–called composite multiferroics - magnetic particles diluted in a biocompatible piezopolymer matrix. Such composites have a pronounced relationship of magnetic and electrical properties.
"We plan to use the new material as an active substrate for the cultivation of biological objects, and to provide them with the necessary stimulating effects using magnetic and electric fields. This method can give a more effective result compared to single fields," Abdulkarim Amirov, senior researcher at BFU, told RIA Novosti.
Individual selection of antitumor therapy
Postnatal stem cells taken from a specific person can be used to create individual methods for the diagnosis of oncological diseases and for the primary screening of substances with antitumor activity.
According to experts, stem cells are not only a universal "building material" of blood cells and organs, but also support the growth and viability of malignant tumors in the body, make them resistant to chemotherapeutic drugs, which greatly complicates the therapy process. Doctors and scientists are faced with the urgent task of finding the most effective treatment methods that could overcome these barriers.
Today, the pharmaceutical industry actively uses mainly two–dimensional in vitro models - that is, cells growing on a flat surface. Moreover, most often only one type of tumor cells is used. However, two-dimensional models do not take into account the natural three-dimensional architecture of the tumor, complex intercellular interactions and, as a result, cannot give objective results.
Scientists all over the world are working on new models of tumor diseases, which range from relatively simple 3D aggregates of tumor cells (spheroids) and pieces of tumors (organoids), to complex organ-on-a-chip technologies.
The Scientific and Clinical Center of Precision and Regenerative Medicine of the Institute of Fundamental Medicine and Biology of Kazan (Volga Region) Federal University (KFU) is developing special test systems. They are based on the joint cultivation of stem, tumor and immune cells with the addition of a special extracellular matrix so that the cells exist in a three-dimensional environment resembling the natural tumor tissues of the body.
The development makes it possible to effectively obtain three-dimensional tissue-like structures similar to a tumor in the body, as well as simulate the processes of metastasis and the formation of drug resistance "in vitro".
"The test system developed by scientists can also be suitable for individual selection of antitumor chemotherapy regimen using stem, tumor and immune cells of the patient himself," said Albert Rizvanov, Professor of KFU, Honorary Professor of Fundamental Medicine at the University of Nottingham.
Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru