Endothelial cells from stem cells: ten times faster
A method of mass production of vascular cells has been foundMembrane Based on Technology Review: Towards Creating Blood Vessels
Researchers from Cornell University Medical College (Weill Cornell Medical College) have proposed a new method of growing endothelial cells from stem cells, which will increase their production tenfold.
The invention should be a breakthrough in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine.
As reported in the press release of the college, scientists monitored in real time the molecular factors on which the transformation of stem cells into endothelial cells depends. A green fluorescent protein marker was used for this purpose.
During the experiment, it was found that if at a certain stage of the cell culture process a natural molecule that blocks the protein TGF beta (transforming growth factor beta) is triggered, then the reproduction of endothelial cells is enormously accelerated. Realizing this, biologists decided that the blocker should be added artificially, at the right time.
While the old methods of converting embryonic stem cells into endothelium worked with an efficiency factor of about 0.2 (on average, a couple of ready–made cells per 10 original ones), the development of specialists from Cornell allows you to get seven full-fledged cells from each stem cell - 35 times more. And, what is even more striking, as numerous experiments on mice have shown, the cells obtained in this way assimilate without problems and very quickly and begin to function along with the native endothelium.
New endothelial cell cultures are currently being tested in college laboratories using a number of stem cell lines. Scientists plan to determine whether such cells can restore blood flow to damaged tissues in the animal's body. The next important step is, of course, human testing.
Within five years, experts promise to bring their development to clinical use. The article "Expansion and maintenance of human embryonic stem cell–derived endothelial cells by TGFß inhibition is Id1 dependent" summarizing the results of the study is published in Nature Biotechnology.
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