Using Signals Instead of Cells

Some first generation stem cell therapies seem to work because of the chemical signals emitted by implanted cells. An obvious next step is to only use the signals and skip the cells entirely. EurekAlert! notes a step along that path: "This method, developed in laboratory research with pigs, is the first non-cell based therapeutic application of human embryonic stem cells (hESCs). It entails using secretions from stem cells. In their studies with pigs, the researchers found that the administration of secretion from stem cells minimized heart injury by enhancing reperfusion therapy (angioplasty and cardiac bypass surgery) and reducing tissue death by another 60%. Heart function was also markedly improved ... Using secretion instead of cells allows us to circumvent many highly intractable problems such as tumour formation, immune compatibility, cell viability, delivery, costs and timeliness." Researchers are still working to understand the signals that drive regeneration, but I imagine that a few years from now we will see tests of artificially produced signal chemicals to stimulate stem cells already present in the body.

Link: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-09/afst-hes090908.php

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