Pittsburgh Scientists Identify Human Source of Stem Cells With
Potential To Repair Muscle Damaged by Disease or Injury
Results of study published in September issue of the journal Nature
Biotechnology
PITTSBURGH – Sept. 4, 2007 – For the first time, scientists at
Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC have discovered a unique
population of adult stem cells derived from human muscle that could
be used to treat muscle injuries and diseases such as heart attack
and muscular dystrophy.
In a study using human muscle tissue, scientists in Children's Stem
Cell Research Center – led by Johnny Huard, PhD, and Bruno Péault,
PhD – isolated and characterized stem cells taken from blood vessels
(known as myoendothelial cells) that are easily isolated using cell-
sorting techniques, proliferate rapidly and can be differentiated in
the laboratory into muscle, bone and cartilage cells.
These characteristics may make them ideally suited as a potential
therapy for muscle injuries and diseases, according to Drs. Huard and
Péault. Results of the study are published in the September issue of
the journal Nature Biotechnology.
"Finding this population of stem cells in a human source represents a
major breakthrough for us because it brings us much closer to a
clinical application of this therapy," said Dr. Huard, the Henry J.
Mankin Professor and vice chair for Research in the Department of
Orthopaedic Surgery at the University of Pittsburgh School of
Medicine. "To make this available as a therapy, we would take a
muscle biopsy from a patient with a muscle injury or disease, remove
the myoendothelial cells and treat the cells in the lab. The stem
cells would then be re-injected into the patient to repair the muscle
damage. Because this is an autologous transplant, meaning from the
patient to himself, there is not the risk of rejection you would have
if you took the stem cells from another source."
Working in dystrophic mice while searching for a cure for Duchenne
muscular dystrophy (DMD), Dr. Huard's laboratory team first
identified a unique population of muscle-derived stem cells with the
ability to repair muscle eight years ago.
Dr. Péault, a professor in the Department of Pediatrics, Cell Biology
and Physiology at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine,
recognized the importance of determining the origin of these muscle-
derived stem cells. His team applied, among others, techniques of
confocal microscopy and cell sorting by flow cytometry which led to
the discovery in human muscle biopsies that these myoendothelial
cells are located adjacent to the walls of blood vessels.
According to their study, myoendothelial cells taken from the blood
vessels are much more efficient at forming muscle than other sources
of stem cells known as satellite and endothelial cells.
A thousand myoendothelial cells transplanted into the injured
skeletal muscle of immunodeficient mice produced, on average, 89
muscle fibers, compared with nine and five muscle fibers for
endothelial and satellite cells, respectively. Myoendothelial cells
also showed no propensity to form tumors, a concern with other stem
cell therapies.
Drs. Huard, Péault and colleagues in Children's Stem Cell Research
Center (SCRC) are researching and developing numerous therapeutic
uses for the population of stem cells the SCRC team identified. One
of the most promising uses could be for the treatment of DMD, a
genetic disease estimated to affect one in every 3,500 boys. Patients
with DMD lack dystrophin, a protein that gives muscle cells
structure.
Dr. Huard is an internationally recognized cell biologist conducting
laboratory research into the therapeutic use of stem cells to treat a
variety of musculoskeletal and orthopaedic diseases and injuries. In
the lab, Dr. Huard is developing cutting-edge therapies to regenerate
bone and cartilage and to repair damaged muscle. The application of
these therapies could range from the repair of heart muscle damaged
by heart attack to the repair of sports-related bone, cartilage and
muscle injuries.
Dr. Péault is internationally recognized principally for his work on
the prospective identification and characterization of human
hematopoietic (blood) stem cells, of which his laboratory has also
deciphered the ultimate origin during embryonic life. Besides blood
development, his team also is investigating elusive populations of
multipotent stem cells that persist in adult tissues, including
dispensable ones like fat. Such cells should be invaluable for the
regenerative therapy of multiple organs damaged by trauma, aging,
genetic or acquired diseases.
Learn more about the research being conducted by Drs. Huard and
Péault.
Contacts:
Marc Lukasiak, 412-692-7919 or 412-692-5016, Marc.Lukasiak@
Melanie Finnigan, 412-692-5502 or 412-692-5016,
Melanie.Finnigan@
http://www.chp.
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StemCells subscribers may also be interested in these sites:
Children's Neurobiological Solutions
http://www.CNSfoundation.org/
Cord Blood Registry
http://www.CordBlood.com/at.cgi?a=150123
The CNS Healing Group
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CNS_Healing
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