PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

18-Mar-2014

Contact: Anita Srikameswaran 412-578-9193 University of Pittsburgh Schools of the Health Sciences

PITTSBURGH, March 18, 2014 Stem cells derived from human muscle tissue were able to repair nerve damage and restore function in an animal model of sciatic nerve injury, according to researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. The findings, published online today in the Journal of Clinical Investigation, suggest that cell therapy of certain nerve diseases, such as multiple sclerosis, might one day be feasible.

To date, treatments for damage to peripheral nerves, which are the nerves outside the brain and spinal cord, have not been very successful, often leaving patients with impaired muscle control and sensation, pain and decreased function, said senior author Johnny Huard, Ph.D., professor of orthopaedic surgery, and Henry J. Mankin Chair in Orthopaedic Surgery Research, Pitt School of Medicine, and deputy director for cellular therapy, McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine.

"This study indicates that placing adult, human muscle-derived stem cells at the site of peripheral nerve injury can help heal the lesion," Dr. Huard said. "The stem cells were able to make non-neuronal support cells to promote regeneration of the damaged nerve fiber."

The researchers, led by Dr. Huard and Mitra Lavasani, Ph.D., first author and assistant professor of orthopaedic surgery, Pitt School of Medicine, cultured human muscle-derived stem/progenitor cells in a growth medium suitable for nerve cells. They found that, with prompting from specific nerve-growth factors, the stem cells could differentiate into neurons and glial support cells, including Schwann cells that form the myelin sheath around the axons of neurons to improve conduction of nerve impulses.

In mouse studies, the researchers injected human muscle-derived stem/progenitor cells into a quarter-inch defect they surgically created in the right sciatic nerve, which controls right leg movement. Six weeks later, the nerve had fully regenerated in stem-cell treated mice, while the untreated group had limited nerve regrowth and functionality. Twelve weeks later, treated mice were able to keep their treated and untreated legs balanced at the same level while being held vertically by their tails. When the treated mice ran through a special maze, analyses of their paw prints showed eventual restoration of gait. Treated and untreated mice experienced muscle atrophy, or loss, after nerve injury, but only the stem cell-treated animals had regained normal muscle mass by 72 weeks post-surgery.

"Even 12 weeks after the injury, the regenerated sciatic nerve looked and behaved like a normal nerve," Dr. Lavasani said. "This approach has great potential for not only acute nerve injury, but also conditions of chronic damage, such as diabetic neuropathy and multiple sclerosis."

Drs. Huard and Lavasani and the team are now trying to understand how the human muscle-derived stem/progenitor cells triggered injury repair, as well as developing delivery systems, such as gels, that could hold the cells in place at larger injury sites.

Here is the original post:
Stem cells from muscle can repair nerve damage after injury, Pitt researchers show

Durham, NC (PRWEB) March 19, 2014

In a study just published in STEM CELLS Translational Medicine, a group of researchers have discovered what appears to be an easy way to collect large quantities of viable stem cells that can be banked for future regenerative medicine purposes all from the simple prick of a finger.

We show that a single drop of blood from a finger-prick sample is sufficient for performing cellular reprogramming, DNA sequencing and blood typing in parallel. Our strategy has the potential of facilitating the development of large-scale human iPSC banking worldwide, said Jonathan Yuin-Han Loh, Ph.D., of the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) in Singapore. He is principal investigator on the study that also included scientists from other Singapore facilities as well as those in the United States and Great Britain.

The medical world in general is excited about the potential of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) for studying diseases and for therapeutic regenerative medicine. Stem cells harvested from bone marrow and cord blood are highly amenable to reprogramming.

Some methods can result in negative side effects, and then you have bone-marrow harvesting, which is invasive, while cord blood is limited to individuals who have deposited their samples at birth, Dr. Loh explained. The large amount of blood needed to collect enough cells for reprogramming has also deterred many potential donors.

"We gradually reduced the starting volume of blood (collected using a needle) and confirmed that reprogramming can be achieved with as little as .25 milliliters, Hong-kee Tan, lead author on the study and a research officer in the Loh lab reported.

This then made the team wonder whether a DIY (do-it-yourself) approach to blood collection might work too.

To test this idea, we asked donors to prick their own fingers in a normal room environment and collect a single drop of blood sample into a tube, Tan said. The tube was placed on ice and delivered to the lab for reprogramming.

The cells were treated with a buffer at 12-, 24- or 48-hour increments and observed under the microscope for viability and signs of contamination. After 12 days of expansion in medium, the cells appeared healthy and were actively dividing. The team next tested what happened when they reprogrammed the cells and succeeded in forcing them to become mesodermal, endodermal and neural cells. They were even able to induce some into giving rise to rhythmically beating cardiomyocytes.

Interestingly, we did not observe any noticeable reduction in reprogramming efficiency between the freshly collected and the DIY finger-prick samples, Dr. Loh said. In summary, we derived healthy iPSCs from tiny volumes of venipuncture and a single drop finger-prick blood samples. We also report a high reprogramming yield of 100 to 600 colonies per milliliter of blood.

See more here:
DIY Finger Prick Yields Ample Stem Cells for Banking

The Doctor #39;s In ~Stem Cells
Stem Cell possibilities ...... program air dates Monday March 17th at 6:10 pm and Thursday 9:06 am on WJEJ radio or http://www.wjejradio.com.

By: Irene Cardwell

Continued here:
The Doctor's In ~Stem Cells - Video