New research uncovers a potential new source of stem cells to help patients going through radiation therapy for blood cancers.
Researchers from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine report they’ve found a way to isolate and culture human blood-forming stem cells from adipose, or fat, tissue.
They were able to isolate particular cells from adipose tissue and grow them in a special medium for 21 to 42 days.
By using a cell-sorting method called flow cytometry, researchers found a wide range of blood-forming cells among the cultured cells in both early and mature stages. They discovered CD34+ cells in the same amount found in isolated bone marrow.
“We took cells from the stromal vascular fraction of normal adipose tissue and basically gave them bone marrow food to see what would happen. We were able to culture a variety of [blood-forming] cells, including blood progenitor cells,” Albert Donnenberg, Ph.D., from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, reported in a press release issued by the school. Progentior cells are the foundation for all different types of blood cells.
What does this mean for patients with blood cancers? According to Dr. Donnenberg, there is a risk in using the patient’s own bone marrow or blood-derived stem cells to make new bone marrow because the original cells could contain some of the patient’s tumor cells. With this new technique, he says, “This might be a way of giving patients who need bone marrow reconstitution their own [blood-forming] cells derived from a source other than their defective bone marrow.”
Study authors conclude, “These data indicate that [blood-forming] progenitor cells are resident in adipose tissue … Autologous adipose derived stem cells may be of value to reconstitute the bone marrow of patients undergoing dose intensive therapy for hematologic malignancies.”
SOURCE: Presented at the Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine International Society North American Chapter meeting in Toronto, June 13-16, 2007
