In the pages of comic books and on the silver screen, superheroes like Wolverine and Deadpool have a “healing factor” that allows their bodies to regenerate and recover from injuries or illness at an amazing rate – but certainly nothing like that is possible in real life, right?
Amazingly, a team of scientists led by John Pimanda, a hematologist and associate professor at the University of New South Wales in Australia, published a study in Monday’s edition of the journal PNAS reporting that they had successfully reprogrammed bone and fat cells into induced multipotent stem cells (iMS) – the first step to making such a repair system a reality.
As they explained in a statement, stem cell therapies using iMS cells could theoretically repair a fractured bone or fix injured spinal discs, using a technique similar to how salamanders are able to regenerate lost limbs. These treatments could radically alter the field of regenerative medicine, and perhaps most surprisingly, the authors believe they could be available in just a few years.
The technique, which has been successfully tested in mice, “is a significant advance on many of the current unproven stem cell therapies, which have shown little or no objective evidence they contribute directly to new tissue formation,” Pimanda said.
Human trials could begin by the end of 2017
He added that their discovery is “ground-breaking” because, unlike other types of stem cells, iMS cells can regenerate multiple types of tissue. Pimanda noted that he and his colleagues are “currently assessing whether adult human fat cells reprogrammed into iMS cells can safely repair damaged tissue in mice” and that they expect to begin human trials “in late 2017.”
The technique utilized by the UNSW-lead team involves extracting fat cells from human adults, then treating them with a compound known as 5-Azacytidine (AZA), which is known to induce cell plasticity and is essential for reprogramming the cells, and platelet-derived growth factor-AB (PDGF-AB) for a period of about 48 hours.
Afterwards, the cells are treated with just the growth factor for an additional two to three weeks. Pimanda explained that this process essentially switches off the memory of the cells, converting them into iMS cells. The stem cells are then inserted into the damaged tissue site where they start to multiply, promoting growth and healing different types of cells in the process.
“Embryonic stem cells cannot be used to treat damaged tissues because of their tumor forming capacity,” said Dr. Vashe Chandrakanthan, first author of the study and the scientist that came up with the new technology. “The other problem when generating stem cells is the requirement to use viruses to transform cells into stem cells, which is clinically unacceptable. We believe we’ve overcome these issues with this new technique.”
The forthcoming human trials will begin once the method has proven safe and effective in mice. Those trials will be led by Dr. Ralph Mobbs, a neurosurgeon and conjoint lecturer with UNSW’s Prince of Wales Clinical School who said that the treatment “has enormous potential for treating back and neck pain, spinal disc injury, joint and muscle degeneration.”
—–
Image credit: Thinkstock
Comments