Australian researchers have grown new human stem cells outside the body and this may provide new hope to cancer patients and those with genetic disorders. The team found a way to manipulate the environment of blood-forming stem cells to make them multiply. This will mean a lesser number of painful bone-marrow harvests needed for transplantation and also drastically increase the number of people able to use rare donations of blood taken from umbilical cords. Cell transfusions would also be possible for many severe genetic disorders say the scientists.
Lead researcher John Rasko, who is the head of gene and stem cell therapy at the Centenary Institute explained that stem cell transplants are vital in the treatment of cancer patients who have had their bone marrow destroyed by chemotherapy but the use is hindered by the difficulty of collecting sufficient amounts of cells. Usually only what is harvested can be transplanted to a patient, and any cells that die in the process are not replaced. In this new technique the team found that if the stem cells were placed on a unique stretchy surface called tropoelastin the number of cells would double or even treble. The material is a microscopic-thin and springy substance that mimics conditions inside the human body, and so can promote the growth of hemopoietic stem cells (HSCs) on a lab plate.
They have tried the technique in both mice and humans, but only mice have so far had the cells transplanted into their bodies. Professor Rasko said the new process could make “a very substantial difference” to the global availability of a “very precious and limited resource”. He added, “What we have shown, and discovered for the first time in the world, is that these rare and precious red blood-forming stem cells can sense their physical environment… And just like a cat on a sofa bed trying to find a comfortable spot, they can actually sense the springiness or elasticity of the bed they find themselves on… By recreating that elastic bed for the stem cells, outside of the body, we can cause those cells to double or triple in number and grow them outside of the body.”
The research was a collaboration of the Centenary Institute, the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital and the University of Sydney, and the results are published in the journal Nature Biotechnology. They are looking at human trials soon but say cancer therapy with this technique may take some more years.
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