Lab Grown, Self-Sustainable Muscle Cells Repair Muscle Injury and Disease, Mouse Study Shows
Published:21 Apr.2022 Source:Johns Hopkins Medicine
A report on the experiments was published April 7 in Cell Stem Cell. To make the self-renewing stem cells, the scientists began with laboratory-grown human skin cells that were genetically reprogrammed to a more primitive state in which the cells have the potential to become almost any type of cell in the body. At this point, the cells are known as induced pluripotent stem (IPS) cells, and they are mixed with a solution of standard cell growth factors and nutrients that nudge them to differentiate into specific cell types.
In the laboratory, scientists have long been able to transform IPS cells into various types of cells, including skin and brain cells. What has been far more difficult, say the researchers, is the ability to turn IPS cells into self-renewing stem cells for a particular organ. The research team, led by Gabsang Lee, Ph.D., D.V.M., professor of neurology and member of the Institute of Cell Engineering at Johns Hopkins Medicine, coaxed IPS cells to turn into muscle stem cells using a nutrient-rich broth. Further studies are planned, Lee says, to examine the recipe further to determine which ingredients may be key to brewing the muscle stem cells.