Stem cells are one hypefest that peaked before the curve. Years after they were trumpeted as a cure-all, and encouraged surgical butchery in unscrupulous countries, research programmes are beginning to bear some fruit. Even with the recent setback in the United States over embryonic stem cells, results have begun to be published.
A recent paper on the introduction of adult stem cells to damaged heart tissue has begun to answer some of the deep problems:
- How do you inject stem cells into damaged tissues?
- How do you ensure that the stem cells survive and begin to replace the damaged tissue?
- Can any clinical programme resulting from this research satisfy the FDA or other medical regulators?
The answer lies in technique and tools, rather then the content, with some nifty engineering and biomechanical materials:
But now, WPI researchers have developed a biopolymer microthread technology that could deliver these hMSCs directly to damaged heart tissue. The microthreads are made of fibrin, which is a protein that assists in blood clotting, and can be engineered to acquire different tensile strengths and to dissolve at various rates once implanted. This makes it easier to adjust the threads for several different uses.
[Glenn] Gaudette and [George] Pins used small bundles of the fibrin microthreads to seed hMSCs, where the stem cells would attach to the threads. Once attached, the hMSCs were cultured for five days. According to the study, the stem cells started multiplying and eventually covered the two-centimeter-long threads completely. There were approximately 10,000 hMSCs on each one.
Once the seeding and growing process was complete, the microthreads were attached to a surgical needle and drawn through a collagen gel. This gel stimulated the human tissue, keeping the stem cells both alive and attached to the threads. This result suggests that the cells could be sutured into human tissue.
These researchers at Worcester Polytechnic Institute illustrate the lesson over stem cells: that they are only as good as the tools that propel them to the damaged tissues. Innovation in medical tools may prove even more important than stem cells themselves if medical researchers wish to explore their full potential.