Step by step we are creeping closer to the capability of fully
repairing any targeted body tissue. Already we can do a decent job
in many cases. Of course, everyone would like to see nerve
regeneration move along as swiftly, but that is likely the last part
of the problem set.
Here we have a superior method to infiltrate an artificial bone
scaffold leading often to full restoration.
We have posted on other advances in bone work and this is all
improvements.
RCSI researchers
develop new method of regenerating bone tissue using gene therapy
24 July 2012
Cell regeneration
method may have potential for other tissue in the body
Researchers at the
Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI) have developed a new
method of repairing bone using synthetic bone graft substitute
material, which combined with gene therapy, can mimic real bone
tissue and has potential to regenerate bone in patients who have lost
large areas of bone from either disease or trauma.
The researchers have
developed an innovative scaffold material (made from collagen and
nano-sized particles of hydroxyapatite) which acts as a platform to
attract the body’s own cells and repair bone in the damaged area
using gene therapy. The cells are tricked into overproducing bone
producing proteins known as BMPs, encouraging regrowth of healthy
bone tissue. This is the first time these in-house synthesised
nanoparticles have been used in this way and the method has potential
to be applied to regenerate tissues in other parts of the body.
Professor Fergal
O’Brien, Principal Investigator on the project explained:
“Previously, synthetic bone grafts had proven successful in
promoting new bone growth by infusing the scaffold material with bone
producing proteins. These proteins are already clinically approved
for bone repair in humans but concerns exist that the high doses of
protein required in clinical treatments may potentially have negative
side effects for the patient such as increasing the risk of cancer.
Other existing gene therapies use viral methods which also carry
risks”.
“By stimulating
the body to produce the bone-producing protein itself, using
non-viral methods these negative side effects can be avoided and bone
tissue growth is promoted efficiently and safely,”
Professor O’Brien said.
The research is the
result of a collaborative project carried out between the Tissue
Engineering Research Group led by Professor Fergal O’Brien and Dr.
Garry Duffy in the Department of Anatomy, RCSI; Professor Kazuhisa
Bessho, Kyoto University, Japan, and Dr. Glenn Dickson, Queen’s
University Belfast, Northern Ireland and consists of a
multi-disciplinary research effort between cell biologists,
clinicians and engineers. Results of this study were recently
published in the esteemed materials science journal Advanced
Materials (1) with Dr. Caroline Curtin, a postdoctoral researcher in
the Department of Anatomy, RCSI, as first author.
Bone grafts are second
only to blood transfusions on the list of transplanted materials
worldwide with approximately 2.2 million procedures performed
annually (2) at an estimated cost of $2.5 billion per year (3). At
present, the majority of these procedures involve either
transplanting bone from another part of the patient’s own body
(autograft) or from a donor (allograft). However, these procedures
have a number of risks such as infections or the bone not growing
properly at the area of transplantation. Therefore there is a large
potential market for bone graft substitute materials such as the
innovative scaffolds being developed by the RCSI team and their
collaborators.
While the biomaterials
developed in this project have undoubted potential for bone repair
with the capability to act as a superior alternative to existing bone
graft treatments, this gene delivery platform may also have
significant potential in the regeneration of other degenerated or
diseased tissues in the body when combined with different therapeutic
genes. This is currently a major focus of ongoing research in the
Tissue Engineering Research Group which has a particular interest in
using the platform to deliver genes that promote the formation of
blood vessels (using angiogenic genes) in the regeneration of
tissues which suffer from compromised blood supply such as heart wall
tissue which has been damaged following a heart attack.
This research was
funded by the European Research Council under the European
Community’s Seventh Framework Programme and a Science Foundation
Ireland, President of Ireland Young Researcher Award.
(1) Curtin, CM,
Cunniffe, GM, Lyons, FG, Bessho, K, Dickson, GR, Duffy, GP, O’Brien,
FJ. Innovative Collagen Nano-Hydroxyapatite Scaffolds Offer a Highly
Efficient Non-Viral Gene Delivery Platform for Stem Cell-Mediated
Bone Formation. Advanced Materials 01/2012; 24(6):749-54.
(2) Lewandrowski KU, Gresser JD, Wise DL, Trantol DJ. Bioresorbable bone graft substitutes of different osteoconductivities: a histologic evaluation of osteointegration of poly(propylene glycol-co-fumaric acid)-based cement implants in rats. Biomaterials 2000; 21:757-764.
(3) Desai BM (2007) Osteobiologics. Am J Orthop (Belle Mead NJ) 2007; 36:8-11.
(2) Lewandrowski KU, Gresser JD, Wise DL, Trantol DJ. Bioresorbable bone graft substitutes of different osteoconductivities: a histologic evaluation of osteointegration of poly(propylene glycol-co-fumaric acid)-based cement implants in rats. Biomaterials 2000; 21:757-764.
(3) Desai BM (2007) Osteobiologics. Am J Orthop (Belle Mead NJ) 2007; 36:8-11.
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