Researchers Use Amniotic Stem Cells To Build Tissue
Researchers Use Amniotic Stem Cells To Build Tissue
Researchers at Children’s Hospital Boston have successfully taken stem cells from the amniotic fluid of a fetal lamb, used them to grow windpipes, and then implanted the tracheas while the lamb was still fetal. 5 of the 7 lambs treated survived to birth (two were premature twins who did not live) and were able to breath spontaneously, and 4 of the 5 had no respiratory distress. The hope is that this technique can be used to repair rare windpipe defects in humans, rather than the alternative risky post-natal surgery.
In the process, mesenchymal stem cells are extracted from the amniotic fluid, then grown on scaffolding to create the complex tissue—in this case, cartilage. The researchers have also shown this can be used to repair a congenital diaphragmatic hernia in lambs, and have applied to the FDA to begin studies on human infants with CDH. Treating CDH surgically with a Teflon patch is frequently only a short-tem solution requiring additional surgery later, as the patch does not grow while other parts of the body do, and tears occur.
Taking amniotic fluid during pregnancy is frequently done anyway, and the researchers estimated they could use only a tablespoon or two of fluid to get enough mesenchymal stem cells to grow them. According to lead researcher Dr. Dario Fauza, fetal cells are the best for tissue engineering, as they are very plastic and grow very rapidly. Tissue engineering in the past has usually been done with adult stem cells, and it has not been considered as a way to treat birth defects.
A detailed narrative of Dr. Fauza’s work can be found at the website for Children’s Hospital Boston, and an account of this study based on the hospital’s press release can be found at the Newswise.com site. It has also been picked up by UPI and the Health Day News, so many other sources will be carrying it.
