RT-Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh Researchers Find Stem Cells With the Potential to Repair Muscle and Produce Blood Cells
New Findings by Johnny Huard, PhD, and Team to be Published in Leading
Scientific Journal
PITTSBURGH, June 24 /PRNewswire/ -- Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh
researchers have discovered that a unique population of muscle-derived stem
cells has the potential to repair damaged muscle in muscular dystrophy
patients; produce blood needed for life-saving transfusions; and improve
outcomes for transplant recipients.
Johnny Huard, PhD, director of the Growth and Development Laboratory at
Children's, and his colleagues at the University of Pittsburgh first
identified this unique population of muscle-derived stem cells last year.
Since then, Dr. Huard's team, including Baohong Cao, MD, PhD, of the
University of Pittsburgh, have found that these muscle-derived stem cells are
able to grow into blood cells while retaining the ability to produce muscle.
It is the first time this ability - known as plasticity - has been
demonstrated.
Dr. Huard said his findings may lead to life-saving applications in the
hospital setting.
"Our findings show that this unique population of stem cells offers
unlimited potential," said Dr. Huard, an associate professor of Orthopaedic
Surgery, Molecular Genetics and Biochemistry, and Bioengineering at the
University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. "We could someday be using
muscle-derived stem cells to cure muscular dystrophy, to produce blood for
life-saving transfusions and to prevent rejection in people receiving organ
transplants."
The study will be published in the July issue of Nature Cell Biology.
In the study, Dr. Huard's team injected a unique population of stem cells
into the blood of mice with a muscle condition similar to Duchenne muscular
dystrophy, a genetic disease that causes muscle to weaken and can lead to
heart problems, scoliosis and eventually death. Until now, researchers only
had success injecting these stem cells directly into muscle, not into blood.
By injecting the stem cells into the blood, the researchers determined that a
small percentage of these stem cells regenerated the muscles that were ravaged
by dystrophy. In dystrophic patients, the muscles lack dystrophin, a protein
that provides structure and mechanical integrity to muscle cells.
Children's researchers also discovered that when they injected stem cells
into the blood, the percentage of stem cells working to repair damaged muscle
increased when the damage was greater.
A second important application of Dr. Huard's research is in the area of
blood transfusions. Children's researchers have discovered that the newly
identified population of stem cells can be coaxed to become blood cells.
These findings could make it possible to take a muscle biopsy from a patient
in need of a blood transfusion, isolate stem cells from the biopsy and use
those stem cells to produce blood for the patient.
"For instance, if you were in need of an emergency blood transfusion and
finding a match was difficult, we may be able to use your own stem cells taken
from your muscle to produce the blood you need," Dr. Huard said. "In the
future, we might be able to take these biopsies at a young age, grow blood
supplies for individuals and store the blood for use in emergencies when
matches are not available."
A third potential use for Dr. Huard's research is with transplantation.
Transplant recipients often suffer from rejection, a condition in which the
recipient's immune system attacks the new organ, causing it to fail.
Potentially, Dr. Huard said it might be possible to take muscle-derived
stem cells from the donor prior to transplant and inject them into the
intended recipient. These stem cells would then grow into blood cells that
make up the immune system. Then, when the organ is transplanted, the
recipient's immune system will recognize the organ. With that, the chance for
rejection decreases.
These findings are part of Dr. Huard's ongoing investigation into the
potential uses of the stem cell population he identified. In January of this
year, Dr. Huard received a grant of nearly $1.2 million from the National
Institutes of Health to study muscle regeneration in diseased mice - a
treatment that eventually could lead to a cure for Duchenne muscular dystrophy
(DMD). DMD is estimated to affect one in every 3,500 boys.
The grant was one of only five awarded to U.S. researchers in January by
the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases
(NIAMS). The NIAMS grants support research focusing on the use of adult stem
cells to treat bone and muscle that may have been altered by disease.
SOURCE Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh
/CONTACT: Marc Lukasiak, +1-412-692-5016, Marc.Lukasiak@chp.edu, orMelanie
Finnigan, +1-412-692-5016, Melanie.Finnigan@chp.edu, both of theChildren's
Hospital of Pittsburgh/
/Web site: chp.edu /
Jun-24-2003 18:42 GMT
Source PRN PR Newswire
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