UGA stem cell discovery could help bones mend faster
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- lee.shearer@onlineathens.com
Published Monday, February 6, 2012 Updated: Tuesday, February 7, 2012 - 12:29am
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Athens Banner-Herald
Richard Hamm/Staff Pictured here is a sheep being used by researchers at a University of Georgia animal research facility to develop a "fracture putty" with stem cells that is capable of healing broken bones quickly on Monday, Feb. 6, 2012 in Athens, Ga.
Broken bones could heal in weeks rather than months with the help of a new stem cell-containing gel that University of Georgia researchers have developed.
“We have a long way to go, but we think it’s promising,” said stem cell researcher Steve Stice, who is working with large-animal surgeon John Peroni, a professor in the UGA College of Veterinary Medicine.
The discovery — which the scientists call “fracture putty” — mixes stem cells derived from bone marrow with a gel that can be applied to fractured bones.
The stem cells produce a protein important in bone healing and new bone growth, inducing rapid bone formation and helping to replace missing tissue. The gel gradually dissipates.
The research, funded by the U.S. Department of Defense, eventually could help soldiers heal more quickly after battlefield injuries, Stice hopes.
“For many young soldiers, their mental health becomes a real issue when they are confined to a bed for three to six months after an injury,” he said. “This discovery may allow them to be up and moving as fast as days afterward.”
Research scientists and surgeons at the Baylor College of Medicine, Rice University and the University of Texas also have worked on developing the treatment.
It could be especially helpful when bones are broken in the face or skull, the type of injury that happens on the battlefield, Stice said.
But the healing technique also could have applications beyond the military, including animal medicine, said Peroni, a professor of large-animal surgery at UGA and chairman of the North American Veterinary Regenerative Medicine Association.
“Large-bone defects must be stabilized and necessitate technologies that induce rapid bone formation in order to replace the missing tissue and allow the individual to return to rapid function. To date, no single material can suffice.”
Peroni and researchers in Houston used the fracture putty gel along with a mechanical device to stabilize fractures in rats. The rats were running and standing on their hind legs two weeks later, showing no signs of injury, according to the researchers.
They also found enhanced healing when they tested the material on injured sheep bones, though their results were not as good with sheep as with rats.
The rodents were easier to work with because they were more genetically similar to one another, but more because the researchers have to produce a lot more of the stem cell gel for an injury to a sheep bone — 50 million cells, instead of only 500,000 cells for a mouse bone.
But the researchers see no reason why the approach would not work in large animals or humans. The basic biological processes of bone formation are the same among mammals.
In the future, the best approach might actually be a combination of the fracture putty and other techniques being developed by other research teams, such as substances that would reinforce or support a healing bones.
The researchers also have tested the gel in pigs, and soon will begin another round of research using sheep.
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