News

Aug 3, 2009

Washington, DC -- A research team comprised of faculty at Worcester Polytechnic Institute and investigators at CellThera, a private company, have discovered a novel way to turn on stem cell genes in human fibroblasts (skin cells) without the risks associated with inserting extra genes or using viruses. This discovery opens a new avenue for reprogramming cells that could eventually lead to treatments for a range of human diseases and traumatic injuries by coaxing a patient's own cells to repair and regenerate the damaged tissues. The research team reported its findings in the paper "Induction of Stem Cell Gene Expression in Adult Human Fibroblasts without Transgenes," published in Cloning and Stem Cells. "We show that by manipulating culture conditions alone, we can achieve changes in fibroblasts that would be beneficial in development of patient-specific cell therapy approaches," the authors wrote in the paper. Early on, the emerging field of regenerative medicine focused on embryonic stem cells, which can only be obtained by destroying human life. Now, scientists are using direct reprogramming, which can create embryonic-like stem cells without destroying human life. Called induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS), these reprogrammed cells could be used to regenerate tissue without some of the problems associated with embryonic stem cells, including ethical questions and the potential for embryonic stem cells to be rejected by a patient's immune system or to grow out of control and cause tumors.