Fat may unlock medical mysteries
fwiw...
<emphasis mine...I believe the study in Japan had a patient with a 2 cup size increase maintained without an implant(mentioned in the UBS presentation for Cytori)>...bwdik?
Best of luck,
SS
>>>
Fat may unlock medical mysteries
By Sarah Barry
Daily Progress staff writer
Saturday, September 10, 2005
Dr. Adam Katz will join plastic surgeons and researchers at the Omni Charlottesville Hotel to discuss the potential uses of fat as a source of adult stem cells for research purposes. The Daily Progress/ Andrew Shurtleff
While most Americans are trying to lose weight by cutting calories and going to the gym, a small but growing community of doctors are exploring ways fat cells might be used as a source for stem cells.
“In a culture dish, stem cells from fat can acquire properties that are similar to bone, cartilage, nerve tissue and some muscles,” said Dr. Adam Katz, an assistant professor in the department of plastic surgery at the University of Virginia.
Katz is one of the many plastic surgeons, scientists and researchers who will be gathering in Charlottesville this weekend to discuss the best means for collecting, culturing and directing stem cells from fat tissue.
This is the third year that the International Fat Applied Technology Society has met, and each year the number of attendees has grown.
“Recycling someone’s waste tissue into something that’s good is something that is interesting to everyone.”
Today through Tuesday, scientists from around the world will detail their theories, most of which are being tested on animals.
One study claims to have treated 400 race horses suffering bone or tendon injuries from racing. “They took the horses’ own fat out of their rump,” Katz said, had the cells cultured, “and injected the fat into their tendons.” According to the study, the horses were able to race again.
“It’s not human but it’s kind of an interesting thing,” Katz said. “A model of what might be possible in humans, but that leap is always fraught with difficulties.”
One study in Japan involved using human stem cells to grow more fat cells. “It seems counterintuitive that we would want to make more fat tissue,” Katz said, “but it’s useful for reconstructive surgery after a mastectomy.” Potentially, breast cancer survivors could reconstruct a lost breast using their own fatty tissue.
Though research into using fat cells as a source of stem cells is still new and fledgling, the benefits could be enormous.
Adult stem cells, as opposed to embryonic stem cells, are less versatile and do not grow as readily. While they cannot differentiate into the variety of tissues that embryonic stem cells can, they are easier to control.
“Embryonic stem cells can become everything and anything, but they do it too well,” Katz explained. “They form cancers pretty regularly in animals.”
Dr. Marc Hedrick, who will also be at this weekend’s conference, said that not having to worry about tumor formation is one of the biggest benefits to using fat cells.
Hedrick, president of Cytori Therapeutics, a San Diego-based biotechnology company, said another benefit is the large available reservoir of fat cells.
“As a plastic surgeon, we were taking out fat and throwing it away by the liter,” Katz said.
Adult stem cells are also less politically controversial. They do not have the same restrictions or invoke the same moral debates that embryonic stem cells do.
Dr. Jeffrey Gimble, a professor in the stem cell laboratory at Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Baton Rouge, La., believes, however, that research on embryonic and adult stem cells go hand-in-hand.
“I’ve always found that the embryonic stem cell literature has been a great value to understanding what the potential is for adult stem cells,” Gimble said. “This isn’t an either-or kind of question, it’s a both-and. Each needs the other to fully develop.”
Contact Sarah Barry at (434) 978-7266 or sbarry@dailyprogress.com.
This story can be found at: archive.admin.virginia.edu |
