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Ability to track stem cells in tumors could advance cancer treatments
June 17, 2008New therapies offer promise for patients, say researchers at SNM's 55th Annual Meeting, June 14-18
NEW ORLEANS, La.-Using noninvasive molecular imaging technology, a method has been developed to track the location and activity of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) in the tumors of living organisms, according to researchers at SNM's 55th Annual Meeting. This ability could lead to major advances in the use of stem cell therapies to treat cancer.
"Stem cell cancer therapies are still in the early stages of development, but they offer great promise in delivering personalized medicine that will fight disease at the cellular level," said Hui Wang, a postdoctoral fellow from Prof. Xiaoyuan (Shawn) Chen's group of the Molecular Imaging Program at Stanford (MIPS), Department of Radiology at Stanford University, Stanford, Calif., and lead researcher of the study, Trafficking the Fate of Mesenchymal Stem Cells In Vivo. "Our results indicate that molecular imaging can play a critical role in understanding and improving the process of how stem cells migrate to cancer cells. Eventually, this technique could also be used to determine if gene-modified stem cells are effective in fighting cancer."
MSCs are adult stem cells that have the ability to transform into many different types of cells, such as bone, fat or cartilage. Many scientists believe that stem cells show great promise in treating different types of diseases-and a few stem cell therapies are already used to fight some types of cancer. Leukemia patients who haven't responded to chemotherapy, for example, may receive bone marrow transplants, through which stem cells of a healthy bone marrow donor are injected into the patient's blood stream. If the transplant is successful, the stem cells will migrate to the patient's bone marrow and begin producing healthy cells that will replace the cancer cells. For other types of cancer, researchers are experimenting with modifying stem cells that could be engineered to deliver chemotherapy more precisely to specific tumor sites.
For these types of treatments to be successful, the ability to track what happens to stem cells after they are injected into a living organism is essential. Currently, three different tracking techniques are used: radiolabeling, which consists of using a radioactive substance to tag the cells; magnetic labeling, or using magnetic nanoparticles to tag cells for magnetic resonance imaging; and reporter-gene tracking, which involves engineering genes that can adhere to cells and be tracked with molecular imaging technologies. Of these, reporter gene techniques are highly sensitive and able to monitor cell migration, survival and proliferation over time in living organisms.
In their research, Wang and her team isolated stem cells from adult mice and engineered a reporter gene that would be both luminescent and green under a special microscope. Two tumor models were also tagged with reporter genes that were luminescent and red. The tumor cells were injected into live mice either intravenously or under the skin, followed days later by injection of the engineered stem cells.
The study produced solid evidence that the injected stem cells migrate to the tumors and don't begin to differentiate into other types of cells until they are at the tumor sites. In some of the mice, the breast cancer cells had begun to spread to the lungs. Researchers found that the injected stem cells also migrated to the lung cancer tumors. In addition, the stem cells that migrated to lung tumors differentiated into bone cells, while the stem cells that migrated to breast cancer tumors differentiated into fat cells. The results indicate that stem cells can migrate both to breast cancer cells and their lung metastasis. In addition, the MSCs differentiate into distinctly different cells. "The next logical step of this study is to incorporate therapeutic genes into MSCs and use multimodality molecular imaging techniques to follow the distribution, homing, survival, proliferation and cell/gene therapy efficacy of the MSC platform," said Wang.
Society of Nuclear Medicine
MSCs are adult stem cells that have the ability to transform into many different types of cells, such as bone, fat or cartilage. Many scientists believe that stem cells show great promise in treating different types of diseases-and a few stem cell therapies are already used to fight some types of cancer. Leukemia patients who haven't responded to chemotherapy, for example, may receive bone marrow transplants, through which stem cells of a healthy bone marrow donor are injected into the patient's blood stream. If the transplant is successful, the stem cells will migrate to the patient's bone marrow and begin producing healthy cells that will replace the cancer cells. For other types of cancer, researchers are experimenting with modifying stem cells that could be engineered to deliver chemotherapy more precisely to specific tumor sites.
For these types of treatments to be successful, the ability to track what happens to stem cells after they are injected into a living organism is essential. Currently, three different tracking techniques are used: radiolabeling, which consists of using a radioactive substance to tag the cells; magnetic labeling, or using magnetic nanoparticles to tag cells for magnetic resonance imaging; and reporter-gene tracking, which involves engineering genes that can adhere to cells and be tracked with molecular imaging technologies. Of these, reporter gene techniques are highly sensitive and able to monitor cell migration, survival and proliferation over time in living organisms.
In their research, Wang and her team isolated stem cells from adult mice and engineered a reporter gene that would be both luminescent and green under a special microscope. Two tumor models were also tagged with reporter genes that were luminescent and red. The tumor cells were injected into live mice either intravenously or under the skin, followed days later by injection of the engineered stem cells.
The study produced solid evidence that the injected stem cells migrate to the tumors and don't begin to differentiate into other types of cells until they are at the tumor sites. In some of the mice, the breast cancer cells had begun to spread to the lungs. Researchers found that the injected stem cells also migrated to the lung cancer tumors. In addition, the stem cells that migrated to lung tumors differentiated into bone cells, while the stem cells that migrated to breast cancer tumors differentiated into fat cells. The results indicate that stem cells can migrate both to breast cancer cells and their lung metastasis. In addition, the MSCs differentiate into distinctly different cells. "The next logical step of this study is to incorporate therapeutic genes into MSCs and use multimodality molecular imaging techniques to follow the distribution, homing, survival, proliferation and cell/gene therapy efficacy of the MSC platform," said Wang.
Society of Nuclear Medicine
Stem Cells Current Events and Stem Cells News RSSGene mismatch influences success of bone marrow transplants
A commonly inherited gene deletion can increase the likelihood of immune complications following bone marrow transplantation, an international team of researchers reports in the November 22 advance online issue of Nature Genetics.
New research shows versatility of amniotic fluid stem cells
For the first time, scientists have demonstrated that stem cells found in amniotic fluid meet an important test of potential to become specialized cell types, which suggests they may be useful for treating a wider array of diseases and conditions than scientists originally thought.
First reconstitution of an epidermis from human embryonic stem cells
Stem cell research is making great strides. This is yet again illustrated by a study carried out by the I-STEM* Institute (I-STEM/ Inserm UEVE U861/AFM), published in the Lancet on 21 November 2009. The I-STEM team, directed by Marc Peschanski has just succeeded in recreating a whole epidermis from human embryonic stem cells.
Bone Implant Offers Hope for Skull Deformities
A synthetic bone matrix offers hope for babies born with craniosynostosis, a condition that causes the plates in the skull to fuse too soon.
Your Own Stem Cells Can Treat Heart Disease
The largest national stem cell study for heart disease showed the first evidence that transplanting a potent form of adult stem cells into the heart muscle of subjects with severe angina results in less pain and an improved ability to walk. The transplant subjects also experienced fewer deaths than those who didn't receive stem cells.
Is hepatic differentiation of embryonic stem cells induced by valproic acid and cytokines?
Embryonic stem (ES) cells, known for their capacity to proliferate indefinitely and differentiate into almost all types of cells including hepatocytes, have raised the hope of cellular replacement therapy for liver failure.
Paradoxical protein might prevent cancer
One difficulty with fighting cancer cells is that they are similar in many respects to the body's stem cells. By focusing on the differences, researchers at Karolinska Institutet have found a new way of tackling colon cancer. The study is presented in the prestigious journal Cell.
U of M researchers find 2 units of umbilical cord blood reduce risk of leukemia recurrence
A new study from the Masonic Cancer Center, University of Minnesota shows that patients who have acute leukemia and are transplanted with two units of umbilical cord blood (UCB) have significantly reduced risk of the disease returning.
The use of stem cells in regenerative medicine may also be detrimental for health
The use of stem cells in regenerative medicine is not always beneficial for human health, it may even be harmful according to a work done by the University of Granada and University of León. Scientists have demonstrated that transplantation of human mononuclear cells isolated from umbilical cord blood exerted a deleterious effect in rats with liver cirrhosis.
Penn Study Provides First Clear Idea of How Rare Bone Disease Progresses
An international team of scientists, led by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, is taking the first step in developing a treatment for a rare genetic disorder called fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva (FOP), in which the body's skeletal muscles and soft connective tissue turns to bone, immobilizing patients over a lifetime with a second skeleton.
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