Personalized stem cell patch kit

Excerpted from "Newly discovered cell could heal damaged tissue, organs, researchers say," Jewish World Review, by Sandy Kleffman. To their surprise, University of California, San Francisco researchers have discovered a new type of cell in women's breast tissue that might one day be used to heal a variety of wounds and damaged organs, without having to destroy embryos to acquire stem cells. The newly discovered cells act similarly to embryonic stem cells in that they can be placed in mice or in a Petri dish and "instructed" to produce many different cell types. That raises hope that the cells might someday be used as a sort of personalized "patch kit," without the controversy that has surrounded stem cells taken from human embryos. "When we saw that they could make cartilage, bone, gut, brain, pancreas cells — even beating heart tissue — we were excited and intrigued," said senior study author Thea Tlsty, a UCSF professor of pathology.

Scientists had previously believed that so-called pluripotent cells, which can transform into most cell types, did not exist in the body beyond the embryonic stage of development. The new cells may have some advantages over a 2007 scientific breakthrough that revolutionized the field of regenerative medicine — the discovery that adult skin cells could be reprogrammed or reverse-engineered to act like embryonic stem cells and transform into a variety of cell types, said Tlsty. Researchers dubbed these reprogrammed cells induced pluripotent stem cells, or iPS. Such cells are made without destroying embryos and hundreds of scientists around the world are researching them, but some have wondered whether these cells might form cancerous tumors when introduced into a human body. Tlsty noted that the newly discovered cells are more genetically stable than the iPS cells and are limited in how often they can reproduce, making them less likely to form cancers.

A leading California stem cell researcher who was not involved with the study called the results "really interesting and intriguing," but said more research is needed. The cells were first discovered in healthy breast tissue from women who were undergoing breast reductions. Researchers have since looked at tissue from more than 60 women. All had some of the cells, although it isn't yet known whether they exist in older women and young girls. "We anticipate that we'll be able to get them from other tissues, and that's some of the research that we're doing now," Tlsty said. She added that researchers believe the cells will be found in both men and women. They are calling the newly identified cells endogenous pluripotent somatic cells, or ePS. "Pretty much everything we've asked them to make, they've made," Tlsty said. "These cells have responded beautifully." Full story can be found here.

Commentary

CMDA Member and Senior Fellow for Life Sciences, Center for Human Life and Bioethics David Prentice, PhD: “Here is one more example of the benefits of ethically-oriented science that protects life. We heard in the past that the only pluripotent stem cell was the embryonic stem cell, and from that perspective that embryonic stem cells were the only 'real' stem cell. But obtaining embryonic stem cells relies on destruction of young lives, young human embryos. The clear alternative—adult stem cells—was maligned as having less 'potential' and being inferior, despite the fact that adult stem cells are still the only stem cells to treat patients, thousands of them annually. The induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS cells) produced by Shinya Yamanaka (and for which he won the 2012 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine) provided an ethical pluripotent alternative to embryonic stem cells, because their production does not require human embryos, eggs or cloning. But despite their utility as lab models, there remain skeptics of the practical utility of iPS cells for patients. This report provides yet another ethical alternative to embryonic stem cells, 'endogenous pluripotent somatic cells' (ePS cells) from healthy breast tissue. The cells can be easily isolated and display similar pluripotent characteristics as those seen with embryonic stem cells, producing cartilage, bone, brain, pancreas and heart cells.

“Moreover, the cells grow in a more regulated manner than embryonic stem cells or iPS cells, decreasing chances of tumor formation. Since these ePS cells are from normal healthy tissue and do not require destruction of human life for their isolation, they provide a natural and ethical source of pluripotent stem cells. We truly are 'fearfully and wonderfully made!' (Psalm 139:14, NIV)."

CMDA Ethics Statement: Human Stem Cell Research and Use
Stem Cell Talking Points
Stem Cell Facts