Researchers find method to regrow cartilage in the joints – Stanford Medical Center Report
By daniellenierenberg
Damaged cartilage can be treated through a technique called microfracture, in which tiny holes are drilled in the surface of a joint. The microfracture technique prompts the body to create new tissue in the joint, but the new tissue is not much like cartilage.
Microfracture results in what is called fibrocartilage, which is really more like scar tissue than natural cartilage, said Chan. It covers the bone and is better than nothing, but it doesnt have the bounce and elasticity of natural cartilage, and it tends to degrade relatively quickly.
The most recent research arose, in part, through the work of surgeon Matthew Murphy, PhD, a visiting researcher at Stanford who is now at the University of Manchester. I never felt anyone really understood how microfracture really worked, Murphy said. I realized the only way to understand the process was to look at what stem cells are doing after microfracture. Murphy is the lead author on the paper. Chan and Longaker are co-senior authors.
For a long time, Chan said, people assumed that adult cartilage did not regenerate after injury because the tissue did not have many skeletal stem cells that could be activated. Working in a mouse model, the team documented that microfracture did activate skeletal stem cells. Left to their own devices, however, those activated skeletal stem cells regenerated fibrocartilage in the joint.
But what if the healing process after microfracture could be steered toward development of cartilage and away from fibrocartilage? The researchers knew that as bone develops, cells must first go through a cartilage stage before turning into bone. They had the idea that they might encourage the skeletal stem cells in the joint to start along a path toward becoming bone, but stop the process at the cartilage stage.
The researchers used a powerful molecule called bone morphogenetic protein 2 (BMP2) to initiate bone formation after microfracture, but then stopped the process midway with a molecule that blocked another signaling molecule important in bone formation, called vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF).
What we ended up with was cartilage that is made of the same sort of cells as natural cartilage with comparable mechanical properties, unlike the fibrocartilage that we usually get, Chan said. It also restored mobility to osteoarthritic mice and significantly reduced their pain.
As a proof of principle that this might also work in humans, the researchers transferred human tissue into mice that were bred to not reject the tissue, and were able to show that human skeletal stem cells could be steered toward bone development but stopped at the cartilage stage.
The next stage of research is to conduct similar experiments in larger animals before starting human clinical trials. Murphy points out that because of the difficulty in working with very small mouse joints, there might be some improvements to the system they could make as they move into relatively larger joints.
The first human clinical trials might be for people who have arthritis in their fingers and toes. We might start with small joints, and if that works we would move up to larger joints like knees, Murphy says. Right now, one of the most common surgeries for arthritis in the fingers is to have the bone at the base of the thumb taken out. In such cases we might try this to save the joint, and if it doesnt work we just take out the bone as we would have anyway. Theres a big potential for improvement, and the downside is that we would be back to where we were before.
Longaker points out that one advantage of their discovery is that the main components of a potential therapy are approved as safe and effective by the FDA. BMP2 has already been approved for helping bone heal, and VEGF inhibitors are already used as anti-cancer therapies, Longaker said. This would help speed the approval of any therapy we develop.
Joint replacement surgery has revolutionized how doctors treat arthritis and is very common: By age 80, 1 in 10 people will have a hip replacement and 1 in 20 will have a knee replaced. But such joint replacement is extremely invasive, has a limited lifespan and is performed only after arthritis hits and patients endure lasting pain. The researchers say they can envision a time when people are able to avoid getting arthritis in the first place by rejuvenating their cartilage in their joints before it is badly degraded.
One idea is to follow a Jiffy Lube model of cartilage replenishment, Longaker said. You dont wait for damage to accumulate you go in periodically and use this technique to boost your articular cartilage before you have a problem.
Longaker is the Deane P. and Louise Mitchell Professor in the School of Medicine and co-director of the Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine. Chan is a member of the Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine and Stanford Immunology.
Other Stanford scientist taking part in the research were professor of pathology Irving Weissman, MD, the Virginia and D. K. Ludwig Professor in Clinical Investigation in Cancer Research; professor of surgery Stuart B. Goodman, MD, the Robert L. and Mary Ellenburg Professor in Surgery; associate professor of orthopaedic surgery Fan Yang, PhD; professor of surgery Derrick C. Wan, MD; instructor in orthopaedic surgery Xinming Tong, PhD; postdoctoral research fellow Thomas H. Ambrosi, PhD; visiting postdoctoral scholar Liming Zhao, MD; life science research professionals Lauren S. Koepke and Holly Steininger; MD/PhD student Gunsagar S. Gulati, PhD; graduate student Malachia Y. Hoover; former student Owen Marecic; former medical student Yuting Wang, MD; and scanning probe microscopy laboratory manager Marcin P. Walkiewicz, PhD.
The research was supported by the National Institutes of Health (grants R00AG049958, R01 DE027323, R56 DE025597, R01 DE026730, R01 DE021683, R21 DE024230, U01HL099776, U24DE026914, R21 DE019274, NIGMS K08GM109105, NIH R01GM123069 and NIH1R01AR071379), the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, the Oak Foundation, the Pitch Johnson Fund, the Gunn/Olivier Research Fund, the Stinehart/Reed Foundation, The Siebel Foundation, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the German Research Foundation, the PSRF National Endowment, National Center for Research Resources, the Prostate Cancer Research Foundation, the American Federation of Aging Research and the Arthritis National Research Foundation.
The rest is here:
Researchers find method to regrow cartilage in the joints - Stanford Medical Center Report
- Efficacy and safety of human umbilical cord-derived mesenchymal stem cells in the treatment of refractory immune ... - Nature.com - April 28th, 2024
- Stem Cell Therapy: Know How The Procedure Stops Cancer - Times Now - April 28th, 2024
- Rejuvenating the immune system by depleting certain stem cells - National Institutes of Health (NIH) (.gov) - April 19th, 2024
- New gene therapy eliminates need for bone marrow transplant. Here's how it works. - CBS News - April 19th, 2024
- New gene therapy eliminates need for bone marrow transplant. Here's how it works. - MSN - April 19th, 2024
- Long Island boy with rare blood disorder undergoes gene therapy - MSN - April 19th, 2024
- Philadelphia Wings player, Connecticut man will be forever bonded by bone marrow donation: "He's my hero" - CBS Philly - April 10th, 2024
- VRD versus VCD as induction therapy before autologous stem cell transplantation in multiple myeloma: a nationwide ... - Nature.com - April 10th, 2024
- Register as a bone marrow donor today and save lives - The Citizen - April 10th, 2024
- Resilient anatomy and local plasticity of naive and stress haematopoiesis - Nature.com - March 26th, 2024
- A Deeper Depth of Response After Salvage Therapy Improves Outcomes of Autologous Stem Cell Transplantation in ... - Cureus - March 26th, 2024
- Iron restriction keeps blood stem cells young, researchers find - Phys.org - March 18th, 2024
- Blood drive, bone marrow testing to be held in local woman's memory - The Winchester Star - March 18th, 2024
- Signal of Benefit for Stem Cell Therapy in Progressive MS - Medscape - March 10th, 2024
- Woman, 22, With Leukemia Recalls Symptoms And New Treatment She Received: EXCLUSIVE - TODAY - March 10th, 2024
- This Swedish startup wants to reduce the cost, and controversy, around stem cell production - TechCrunch - March 10th, 2024
- Outcomes and prognosis of haploidentical haematopoietic stem cell transplantation in children with FLT3-ITD mutated ... - Nature.com - March 10th, 2024
- Harmonizing definitions for hematopoietic recovery, graft rejection, graft failure, poor graft function, and donor ... - Nature.com - March 10th, 2024
- Hematopoietic cell transplantation and cell therapy activity landscape survey in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia; a report ... - Nature.com - March 10th, 2024
- How an MS friendship led to HSCT and a love of running - Multiple Sclerosis News Today - March 10th, 2024
- Iron Limitation Preserves Youthfulness of Blood Stem Cells - Mirage News - March 10th, 2024
- Allogeneic Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation in Advanced Systemic Mastocytosis: A retrospective analysis of the ... - Nature.com - March 10th, 2024
- AJMC in the Press, February 23, 2024 - AJMC.com Managed Markets Network - February 24th, 2024
- Orca Bio Presents Promising Data on Orca-T in Two Oral Presentations at the 2024 Tandem Meetings of ASTCT and ... - Yahoo Finance - February 24th, 2024
- New approaches to live-track the production of different types of blood cells in mice - Medical Xpress - February 24th, 2024
- If Other Treatments Aren't Working -- Stem Cell Transplant May Be A Good Option In CLL - SurvivorNet - February 24th, 2024
- Expanding the Horizons of Cell and Gene Therapy - RegMedNet - February 24th, 2024
- The strangers who saved each others lives - BBC - February 24th, 2024
- City of Hope Research Featuring the Successful Treatment of the Oldest Patient to Achieve Remission for Leukemia ... - StreetInsider.com - February 15th, 2024
- 3D printing and material processing combined to create artificial bone - Optics.org - February 15th, 2024
- Man, 63, is in remission from HIV five years after receiving groundbreaking stem cell transplant... - The Sun - February 15th, 2024
- Team demonstrates fabrication method to construct 3D structures that mimic bone microstructure - Phys.org - February 15th, 2024
- Hematopoietic Stem Cells and Their Role in Development and Disease Therapy - The Scientist - February 15th, 2024
- Blood cell family trees trace how production changes with aging - MIT News - February 7th, 2024
- New study on promising stem cell-based therapy for Crohn's disease - Medical Xpress - January 30th, 2024
- Second haploidentical bone marrow transplantation with antithymocyte antibody-containing conditioning regimen for ... - Nature.com - January 30th, 2024
- Stem cell study shows how gene activity modulates the amount of immune cell production in mice - Medical Xpress - January 30th, 2024
- Global Stem Cell Therapy Industry Outlook to 2028, Driven by Therapeutic Innovations and Clinical Advancements ... - Yahoo Finance - January 30th, 2024
- 1st-of-its-kind therapy blocks immune attack after stem-cell transplant - Livescience.com - January 22nd, 2024
- Individualized dose of anti-thymocyte globulin based on weight and pre-transplantation lymphocyte counts in pediatric ... - Nature.com - January 22nd, 2024
- Implications of stress-induced gene expression for hematopoietic stem cell aging studies - Nature.com - January 22nd, 2024
- LVHN announces opening of new stem cell transplant center. Here's what that means for the Lehigh Valley - The Morning Call - January 22nd, 2024
- Fast Five Quiz: Chronic GVHD Risk Factors and Prevention - Medscape Reference - January 22nd, 2024
- Could Treatments for HIV and Sickle Cell Open the Gene Therapy Floodgates? - BioSpace - January 22nd, 2024
- Effects of fine particulate matter on bone marrow-conserved hematopoietic and mesenchymal stem cells: a systematic ... - Nature.com - January 14th, 2024
- Donating Bone Marrow and Stem Cells: The Process and What To Expect - On Cancer - Memorial Sloan Kettering - January 14th, 2024
- No, Rep. Steve Scalise Didn't Vote Against Stem Cell Research From Which He Is Now Benefiting - Yahoo News - January 14th, 2024
- Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation Market to Grow Rapidly During the Study Period (2019-2032), Evaluates ... - PR Newswire - January 14th, 2024
- Life-saving donation from Philly athlete saves life: 'Feeling so strong, I owe that all to him' - AOL - January 14th, 2024
- The Key to Creating Blood Stem Cells May Lie in Your Own Blood - ScienceAlert - January 14th, 2024
- Dr Phillips on the Rationale for the GLOBRYTE Trial in Relapsed/Refractory MCL - OncLive - January 14th, 2024
- COVID-19 and HSCT Recipients: Risk Factors and Prevention Measures - Medriva - January 14th, 2024
- Bone Marrow Transplant: Heres What You Need To Know About This Therapy - Times Now - January 5th, 2024
- New insights about the development of hematopoietic stem cells - Drug Target Review - December 28th, 2023
- Bone Marrow Transplantation | Johns Hopkins Medicine - December 20th, 2023
- Stem Cell or Bone Marrow Transplant | American Cancer Society - December 20th, 2023
- Embryonic-stem-cell-derived mesenchymal stem cells relieve experimental contact urticaria by regulating the functions ... - Nature.com - December 20th, 2023
- Researchers discover crucial step in creating blood stem cells - Phys.org - December 20th, 2023
- A niche topic: understanding the development of hematopoietic stem cells - Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center - December 20th, 2023
- Vertex developed a CRISPR cure. Its already on the hunt for something better. - MIT Technology Review - December 20th, 2023
- FDA approves cure for sickle cell disease, the first treatment to use gene-editing tool CRISPR - NBC News - December 12th, 2023
- First therapy using CRISPR technology will treat sickle cell disease - Morning Brew - December 12th, 2023
- 7 medical breakthroughs that gave us hope in 2023 - National Geographic - December 12th, 2023
- Understanding Chronic Myeloid Leukemia: Causes, Symptoms, and Treatment - Everyday Health - December 12th, 2023
- Mansour bin Zayed witnesses inauguration of ADSCC Bone Marrow Transplant & Cellular Therapy Congress 2023 - ZAWYA - November 26th, 2023
- ADSCC Bone Marrow Transplant and Cellular Therapy Congress 2023 to take place in Abu Dhabi - ZAWYA - November 18th, 2023
- Orchard Therapeutics Reports First Quarter 2023 Financial Results and Announces Initiation of Rolling Submission for Biologics License Application of... - May 16th, 2023
- Family of 7-month-old in need of bone marrow transplant hosting donor registration event - CBS Pittsburgh - May 8th, 2023
- Anika Continues to Expand Addressable Market for Tactoset Injectable Bone Substitute with Additional 510(k) Clearance from FDA - Marketscreener.com - April 5th, 2023
- MorphoSys Completes Enrollment of Phase 3 MANIFEST-2 Study of Pelabresib in Myelofibrosis with Topline Results Expected by End of 2023 -... - April 5th, 2023
- VOR BIOPHARMA INC. Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations (form 10-K) - Marketscreener.com - March 25th, 2023
- BioRestorative Therapies to Seek FDA Approval to Expand the Clinical Application of BRTX-100 - Marketscreener.com - March 17th, 2023
- BioSenic delivers a new post-hoc analysis of its Phase III JTA-004 trial on knee osteo-arthritis with positive action on the most severely affected... - March 17th, 2023
- JASPER THERAPEUTICS, INC. MANAGEMENT'S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS (form 10-K) - Marketscreener.com - March 9th, 2023
- For a range of unmet medical needs, India offers a fantastic opportunity to push cell and gene therapies: B .. - ETHealthWorld - March 9th, 2023
- NGM BIOPHARMACEUTICALS INC Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations. (form 10-K) - Marketscreener.com - March 1st, 2023
- Bone health: Tips to keep your bones healthy - Mayo Clinic - January 27th, 2023
- Bone marrow drive held for military wife with cancer - January 27th, 2023
- Bone cancer - Symptoms and causes - Mayo Clinic - January 27th, 2023
- Bone | Definition, Anatomy, & Composition | Britannica - January 19th, 2023