New Research Could Change How We Harvest Stem Cells for Therapy
New research from the University of Copenhagen challenges traditional understanding of how stem cells work — and even suggests all immature cells could be developed into stem cells.
The study found that the destiny of intestinal cells is not predetermined — and instead grow according to the cells surroundings. The research could one day soon make it much easier to manipulate stem cells to be available for stem cell therapy and stem cell injections. It challenges our understanding of how stem cells can work — and could make stem cell therapy that much easier to apply to a range of treatments like back pain, knee pain, and urinary stress incontinence.
“We used to believe that a cell’s potential for becoming a stem cell was predetermined, but our new results show that all immature cells have the same probability for becoming stem cells in the fully developed organ,” said Associate Professor Kim Jensen from the Biotech Research & Innovation Centre (BRIC) and the Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Stem Cell Biology (DanStem). “In principle, it is simply a matter of being in the right place at the right time. Here signals from the cells’ surroundings determine their fate. If we are able to identify the signals that are necessary for the immature cell to develop into a stem cell, it will be easier for us to manipulate cells in the wanted direction.”
Increasing the Potential of Stem Cell Harvesting
And that new understanding could lead to easier harvesting of stem cells — vastly improving their potential for therapy.
‘We have gained greater insight into the mechanisms through which cells in the immature intestines develop into stem cells,” Jensen stated. “Hopefully we are able to use this knowledge to improve treatment of non-healing wounds, e.g. in the intestines. So far, though, all we can say for sure is that cells in the gastrointestinal tract have these characteristics. However, we do believe this is a general phenomenon in fetal organ development.”
Stem cell therapy grows more promising every day. Already, we’ve seen incredible benefits in our Cincinnati patients as part of treatment for neck pain, back pain, erectile dysfunction, and urinary stress incontinence. If you are interested in seeing what stem cell therapy can do for you, call our office to schedule an appointment.
