INNOVATION | health & wellness ||
31
A
team of researchers in Scotland and Ireland have
successfully combined technology developed for
use in astrophysics with laboratory attempts to en-
gineer bone grafts from a multipotent line of stem
cells. An account of their work is reported in an ar-
ticle published on September 17th in the online journal Na-
ture Biomedical Engineering.
Why is this achievement
a real breakthrough?
As explained in the announcement from the University
of Glasgow, the patient is the best source for bone used in
reconstructive and other surgeries, because donor grafts
are often rejected by the patient’s immune system and non-
living sources of graft material have no capacity for growth,
which restricts their usefulness, but the amount of autolo-
gous bone the patient can provide for a graft is by definition
limited. This new technology will permit three-dimensional,
living grafts to be grown from the patient’s own cells in a
form and amount suited to the patient’s needs, with the po-
tential to improve the lives of millions.
How does it work?
The mesenchymal stem cells used in this procedure
are formed in the bone marrow. These multipotent cells can
differentiate into various connective tissue cell lines such
as bone, cartilage, ligament, tendon, and muscle. The re-
searchers subjected mesenchymal stem cells suspended
in collagen gels to nanovibrations from “Nanokick,” a bio-
generator based on technology used to detect gravitational
waves. The vibrations stimulate the cells inside the gels to
form mineralized bone tissue, a kind of “bone putty” that
can be used to fill cracks and gaps in damaged bones.
In reporting the team’s achievement, Matthew Dalby,
professor of cell engineering at the University of Glasgow,
called the use of nanovibrations on mesenchymal cells “a
huge breakthrough in orthopedics and an enormous step
into the future.” “We are especially excited by this discov-
ery,” Professor Dalby said, “because much of the work
we’re doing now is funded by Sir Bobby Charlton’s land-
mine charity Find a Better Way, which helps individuals and
communities heal from the devastating impact of land-
mines and other explosive remnants of war. Now that we
have advanced the process to a degree where it’s readily
reproducible and available, we will begin our first human
trials around three years from now...”
Where will the new
technology be applied?
The Find a Better Way project at the University of Glas-
gow is headed by prof essor of bioengineering Manuel
Salmeron-Sanchez. The project’s team of scientists plans
to unite the methodology used in creating “bone putty” with
the manufacture of 3-D printed scaffolds in sizes that will
make it possible to repair extensive bone damage. They
also plan to generate ready-to-use blocks of synthetic bone
tissue that can be shipped to where it is needed and
shaped for the individual patient.
Nanokick bioreactors are already being tested in other
laboratories in the United Kingdom. The researchers ex-
pect that mesenchymal stem cells will grow not only bone,
but also other lines of connective tissue, with a kick from
Nanokick.
The following Web pages provided source material and quotes
for this article:
Nanokicking stem cells to open new generation of orthopaedics
(www.gla.ac.uk/news/archiveofnews/2013/april/headline_274263_
en.html);
Lab-Grown Bone-Cell Breakthrough Heralds new Benefits for Or-
thopedics (www.biosciencetechnology.com/news/2017/09/lab-
grown-bone-cell-breakthrough-heralds-new-benefits-orthopedics)
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