Bone Marrow Cell Transplants Help Nerve Regeneration

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Bone Marrow Cell Transplants Help Nerve Regeneration

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/90766.php

A study carried out by researchers at the Kyoto University School of

Medicine and published in the current issue of CELL TRANSPLANTATION

(Vol.16 No. 8) has shown that when transplanted bone marrow cells

(BMCs) containing adult stem cells are protected by a 15mm silicon

tube and nourished with bio-engineered materials, they successfully

help regenerate damaged nerves. The research may provide an

important step in developing artificial nerves.

" We focused on the vascular and neurochemical environment within the

tube, " said Tomoyuki Yamakawa, MD, the study's lead author. " We

thought that BMCs containing adult stem cells, with the potential to

differentiate into bone, cartilage, fat, muscle, or neuronal cells,

could survive by obtaining oxygen and nutrients, with the result

that rates of cell differentiation and regeneration would improve. "

Nourished with bioengineered additives, such as growth factors and

cell adhesion molecules, the BMCs after 24 weeks differentiated into

cells with characteristics of Schwann cells - a variety of neural

cell that provides the insulating myelin around the axons of

peripheral nerve cells. The new cells successfully regenerated axons

and extended their growth farther across nerve cell gaps toward

damaged nerve stumps, with healthier vascularity.

" The differentiated cells, similar to Schwann cells, contributed

significantly to the promotion of axon regeneration through the

tube, " explained Yamakawa. " This success may be a further step in

developing artificial nerves. "

Grafting self-donated (autologous) nerve cells to damaged nerves has

been widely practiced and considered the " gold standard. " However,

autologous cells for transplant are in limited supply. Allologous

cells, donated by other individuals, require the host to take heavy

immunosuppressant drugs.

Artificial nerves, cultured from a variety of cells and transplanted

to nerve damaged areas, have been considered as alternatives to

nerve grafting. However, prior to this research, cells cultured for

this purpose have generally not been very successful in regenerating

axons with sufficient vascularity or length to bridge nerve gaps.

" This technique for implanting BMCs containing adult stem cells at

damaged nerve sites as employed by the Kyoto researchers has opened

up new possibilities for nerve regeneration, " said Sanberg,

PhD, D.Sc., Distinguished Professor at University of South Florida

Health and co-editor-in-chief of Cell Transplantation.