Process Will Speed Up Body Surgery

Scientists are developing a revolutionary way to mend damaged bones and cartilage using a patient’s own stem cells.

They are working on a way of making stem cells grow into bone and cartilage in the patient’s body to speed up the repair process.

The research at Edinburgh University could have a major impact on helping trauma victims whose bones have been shattered beyond repair, and treating conditions such as osteoarthritis, scientists said.

The process would involve taking stem cells from a patient’s bone marrow and culturing them to turn into bone or cartilage cells. These cells would then be placed inside a “bioactive scaffold” made of a fairly rigid mesh structure impregnated with molecules that benefit the cells.

This would be placed inside the patient’s body at the injury site to boost the healing process. The scaffold would protect the stem cells, while the molecules would stimulate their growth into bone or cartilage. Dr Brendon Noble, of the University of Edinburgh’s MRC Centre for Regenerative Medicine, said: “We hope that this will kick start the body’s natural healing processes, enabling cells to grow and carry out repair to the damaged area. Half of us have some form of orthopaedic surgery at some point in our lives.

“Although the specific group of patients who would receive the most benefit from such therapy have yet to be determined, we envisage a number of scenarios where this therapy could be used for cartilage injuries or severe fractures.”

He said it could be useful for helping elderly patients, whose bones repair slowly, or people who have suffered high-energy fractures such as the kind sustained in road accidents, and could also help people with cartilage damage. The use of a patient’s own stem cells means they are unlikely to be rejected.

As well as using cells derived from bone marrow, the scientists will work in collaboration with the Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service to culture bone-forming cells derived from blood, which can be extracted without the need for surgery.

Scientists have long known roughly the right chemical conditions needed to encourage stem cells taken from a patient’s bone marrow to change into bone and cartilage cells in the laboratory.

This project is seen as an important step towards enabling the cells to grow within the human body.

The researchers will also work with clinicians, headed by Hamish Simpson, professor of orthopaedics and trauma at Edinburgh University, with a view to transforming their findings into treatments for patients.

The pounds1.4million research project is being funded by the UK Stem Cell Foundation, the Medical Research Council and Scottish Enterprise in partnership with the Chief Scientist’s Office. It is hoped a clinical trial, likely to involve around 30 patients, will be set up within two years. Experts said the research could also generate business.

Dr Anna Krassowska, research manager for the UK Stem Cell Foundation said: “In the UK hip fractures kill 14,000 elderly people every year – more than many cancers. The worldwide market for orthopaedic devices alone represents some 17billion (pounds8.6billion).

“This research has the potential not only to impact on a significant number of people’s lives but to open up one of the largest stem cell markets in the industry.”

Rhona Allison, senior director of life sciences for Scottish Enterprise, said: “This is an exciting opportunity for Scotland to demonstrate its capability in translating stem cells technologies into clinical therapies which ultimately could improve the health and wellbeing of people with musculoskeletal disorders such as osteoarthritis or trauma injuries.”

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