This informs us that the original
promise of stem cells has been met.
Anything that can be done in a horse can also be done in a human and
treatment protocols can now be developed first with horses before they are used
on us. This will hugely speed up the
process of development simply because the horse is also a large mammal.
We may also be able to rescue a
few damaged race horses.
I expect that the other
participant in research will be sports medicine. Professional sportsmen are subject to an
intense regimen that produces a lot of damage and stem cell therapy will speed
recovery. Recall that steroids never
actually made muscle per se but it allowed near immediate recovery from a
maximum work out. Thus a player could
get in several such sessions each week rather than a couple.
Now perhaps it will become easy
to produce the muscle mass needed.
They have learned how to reprogram
somatic cells to be unattached stem
cells, thus providing a complete range of options.
Canadian researchers first worldwide to generate pluripotent stem cells
from horses
Published: Monday, February 28, 2011 - 06:03 in Health & Medicine
In a world first, pluripotent stem cells have been generated from
horses by a team of researchers led by Dr. Andras Nagy at the Samuel Lunenfeld
Research Institute of Mount Sinai Hospital and Dr. Lawrence Smith at the
University of Montreal's Faculty of Veterinary Science. The findings will help enable
new stem-cell based regenerative therapies in veterinary medicine, and because
horses' muscle and tendon systems are similar to our own, aid the development
of preclinical models leading to human applications. The study was published in
the February 28 issue of the leading journal Stem Cell Reviews and Reports.
These induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells can develop into most other cell
types and are a source of great hope for use in regenerative medicine and the
development of new drugs to prevent and treat various illnesses. One aspect of
regenerative medicine is the process of creating living, functional tissues to
repair or replace tissue or organ function lost due to damage or disease.
"To date, iPS cells have been established from several species, but our
study is the first to report the derivation of these changeable cells from
horses," Dr. Smith explained.
The research represents a breakthrough for both human and animal
health alike. "Equine iPS cells bring new therapeutic potential to the
veterinary field, and open up the opportunity to validate stem-cell based
therapies before clinical studies in humans," Dr. Nagy said. "As
well, stem-cell based studies using the horse as a model more closely replicate
human illnesses, when compared with studies in mice."
After two months of reprogramming equine somatic cells, the resulting
iPS cell lines expressed hallmark markers of pluripotency, contained a correct
set of horse chromosomes, and were able to form a full spectrum of cell types
and tissues fulfilling the criteria of pluripotency. The term pluripotency
refers to the ability of a stem cell to become any of the vast number of
different cell types found in the body. "This means that the cell lines
passed all the tests available to us for determining if they truly are what we
think they are: pluripotent and a good source for future regenerative
applications," said Kristina Nagy, research associate in the Nagy
laboratory and lead author of the study.
"The horse is an excellent model for a range of human degenerative
diseases, especially those involving joints, bones, tendons and ligaments, such
as arthritis," said Dr. Sheila Laverty, a professor in the Faculty of
Veterinary Medicine at the University of Montreal. "Bone fracture, as well
as damaged cartilage, tendons and ligaments heal poorly in horses. Therefore,
the use of iPS cells in these animals may help enhance long-term tissue
repair." Further research will be required to develop clinical treatments.
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