Fracture treatment: stem cells + gene therapy
Broken bones can be spliced using stem cellsKirill Stasevich, Compulenta
Researchers from the Medical Faculty of the University of North Carolina (USA) have proposed a method for modifying mesenchymal stem cells, after which the overgrowth of fractures and cracks in bones occurs much faster and more reliably.
Increased fragility and poor fusion of fractures are characteristic signs of such severe disorders as osteogenesis imperfecta (manifested in early childhood) and osteoporosis (develops with age). In both cases, the mechanism of bone tissue regeneration is disrupted, the overgrowth of fractures occurs ineffectively, cracks remain in the bones. According to statistics, about 8 million bone fractures occur annually in the USA alone, from 10 to 20 percent of which, for one reason or another, are poorly treatable due to non-healing cracks, and surgical bone graft transplantation is not always possible and does not always end successfully.
A group of researchers led by Anna Spagnoli thought about improving the fusion of fractures using mesenchymal bone marrow stem cells. To increase the efficiency of bone repair, the cells were also modified in a special way: they were forced to synthesize the so-called insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-I). It is one of a whole class of proteins that regulate the growth, development and differentiation of cells and tissues throughout the body.
Cells with increased production of this growth factor were injected into mice with a fracture of the tibia; the healing of the fracture was monitored using computed tomography. It turned out that the modified cells significantly accelerate the "repair" of the bone. Fracture healing was even faster than in mice injected with ordinary (unmodified) bone stem cells. Cracks were tightened more effectively, and the healed bone turned out to be 3-4 times more durable. Stem cells with growth factor showed themselves even in mice with impaired osteogenesis (the process of bone formation), which by themselves were not able to fuse broken bones.
The proposed methodology is awaiting clinical trials. Its authors believe that their stem cells synthesizing growth factor can find the widest application, and that other stem cells modified in the same way can help, for example, in replenishing the level of blood cells in various disorders of hematopoiesis.
Prepared based on the materials of Medical Xpress: Stem cell treatment may offer an option for broken bones that don't heal.
Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru06.06.2011