Locating a single needle hidden among a vast pile of straw
In a groundbreaking development, a research team, led by W.C. Lee and Hui Shi, has discovered a novel way to identify and isolate mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), which could lead to more effective stem-cell treatments for tissue injuries. The research, funded by the National Research Foundation of Singapore through the SMART BioSystems and Micromechanics Interdisciplinary Research Group, was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
MSCs, found in bone marrow, have the ability to differentiate into cells producing bone, cartilage, fat, or muscle. The team, which includes researchers from MIT and the Singapore-MIT Alliance in Research and Technology, such as Dr. Sangeeta N. Bhatia and Prof. Subra Suresh, has identified three physical characteristics of MSCs to distinguish them from other immature cells in bone marrow.
Contrary to popular belief, cell size alone cannot be used to distinguish MSCs. Instead, the researchers found that two physical traits, cell stiffness and the degree of fluctuation in the cell's nuclear membrane, can be combined with size to completely distinguish MSCs from other stem cells. This provides a marker-free way of identifying MSCs with maximum differentiation capacity.
Until now, there has been no effective way to separate MSCs from bone marrow cells that have already begun to differentiate. The new method could potentially allow for 100% of the desired cells, leading to more reliable patient outcomes, as opposed to the current mixture of 30% desired cells and 70% filler.
The researchers have also found that MSCs identified as osteogenic stromal cells were able to repair bone but not muscle. This suggests that the approach of identifying and highly enriching subpopulations of MSCs for bone growth and muscle repair could be important in the selection and purification of bone marrow-derived stem cells for tissue repair in human patients.
The team is now working on high-speed methods for separating MSCs to create more pure populations of such cells. They also plan to develop devices to rapidly isolate MSCs for stem-cell-based therapies. Other authors involved in the study include Jongyoon Han, Zhiyong Poon, L.M. Nyan, Tanwi Kaushik, G.V. Shivashankar, J.K.Y. Chan, C.T. Lim, and Krystyn Van Vliet.
This research may explain why stem-cell treatments in clinical trials are not as effective as they could be. By developing a more efficient way to isolate MSCs, the team hopes to contribute to the advancement of stem-cell therapies, potentially revolutionising the way we treat tissue injuries in the future.
