Stem cells in urine easy to isolate and have potential for numerous therapies

Main Category: Stem Cell Research
Article Date: 03 Aug 2013 - 0:00 PDT Current ratings for:
Stem cells in urine easy to isolate and have potential for numerous therapies

Could harvesting stem cells for therapy one day be as simple as asking patients for a urine sample? Researchers at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center's Institute for Regenerative Medicine and colleagues have identified stem cells in urine that can be directed to become multiple cell types.

"These cells can be obtained through a simple, non-invasive low-cost approach that avoids surgical procedures," said Yuanyuan Zhang, M.D., Ph.D., assistant professor of regenerative medicine and senior researcher on the project.

Reporting online in the journal Stem Cells, the team successfully directed stem cells from urine to become bladder-type cells, such as smooth muscle and urothelial, the cells that line the bladder. But the urine-derived cells could also form bone, cartilage, fat, skeletal muscle, nerve, and endothelial cells, which line blood vessels. The multipotency of the cells suggests their use in a variety of therapies.

"These stem cells represent virtually a limitless supply of autologous cells for treating not only urology-related conditions such as kidney disease, urinary incontinence and erectile dysfunction, but could be used in other fields as well," said Zhang. "They could also potentially be used to engineer replacement bladders, urine tubes and other urologic organs."

Being able to use a patient's own stem cells for therapy is considered advantageous because they do not induce immune responses or rejection. However, because tissue-specific cells are a very small subpopulation of cells, they can be difficult to isolate from organs and tissues.

Zhang's team first identified the cells, which are a small subset of the many cells found in urine, in 2006. The current research builds on earlier studies by confirming the multipotency of the cells. In addition, the research found that unlike iPS cells or embryonic stem cells, the urine derived-stem cells do not form tumors when implanted in the body, indicating they may be safe for use in patients.

The research involved obtaining urine samples from 17 healthy individuals ranging in age from five to 75 years. Isolating the cells from urine involves minimal processing, according to the authors. Next, they evaluated the cells' ability to become multiple cell types.

Importantly, the cells differentiated into the three tissue layers (endoderm, ectoderm and mesoderm) that are a hallmark of true stem cells and also differentiated into the specific cell types mentioned earlier.

Next, the researchers placed cells that had been differentiated into smooth muscle and urothelial cells onto scaffolds made of pig intestine. When implanted in mice for one month, the cells formed multi-layer, tissue-like structures.

The urine-derived stem cells have markers of mesenchymal cells, which are adult stem cells from connective tissue such as bone marrow. They also have markers for pericytes, a subset of mesenchymal cells found in small blood vessels.

Where do the cells come from? Researchers suspect that the cells originate from the upper urinary tract, including the kidney. Female study participants who had received kidney transplants from male donors were found to have the y chromosome in their urine-derived stem cells, suggesting the kidney as the source of the cells.

"Identifying the origins of the cells will lead to a better understanding of the biology of this multipotent population of mesenchymal cells within the urinary tract system," said Zhang.

Article adapted by Medical News Today from original press release. Click 'references' tab above for source.
Visit our stem cell research section for the latest news on this subject.

Co-researchers were Shantaram Bharadwaj, Ph.D., Guihua Liu, M.D., Ph.D., Yingai Shi, M.D., Ph.D., Rongpei Wu, M.D., Ph.D., Bin Yang, M.D., Ph.D., Anthony Atala, M.D., and Jan Rohozinski, Ph.D ., Wake Forest Baptist; Tong-chan He, M.D., Ph.D., the University of Chicago Medical Center; Yuxin Fan, M.D., Ph.D., and Xinyan Lu, M.D., Baylor College of Medicine; Xiaobo Zhou, Ph.D., the Methodist Hospital Research Institute; and Hong Liu, Ph.D., University of Oklahoma.

Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center

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Test strips bearing gold nano-particles as sensor elements can detect numerous proteins simultaneously

Main Category: Medical Devices / Diagnostics
Also Included In: Biology / Biochemistry
Article Date: 03 Aug 2013 - 0:00 PDT Current ratings for:
Test strips bearing gold nano-particles as sensor elements can detect numerous proteins simultaneously

Chemists at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) have developed a new method for parallel protein analysis that is, in principle, capable of identifying hundreds or even thousands of different proteins. It could be used to detect the presence of viruses and identify their type in tiny samples. At the same time, it is very cost-effective and quick. "We see possible applications of this technique in medicine, where it could be used, for example, for the rapid diagnosis of a wide range of diseases. It would be almost as easy to use as a pregnancy test strip," said Professor Carsten Sonnichsen of the Institute of Physical Chemistry. The test involves placing a tiny drop of blood, saliva, or other bodily fluid on a small test strip, which is then placed in a device developed at the JGU Institute of Physical Chemistry. This device is able to identify the specific proteins in the fluid and thus allows to quickly and reliably differentiate between harmless microorganisms and dangerous pathogens.

In order to detect the many different substances present in a small sample, the sensors need to be as tiny as possible, preferably the size of nano-particles. Sonnichsen's team of scientists have designed a sensor no larger than the head of a pin but capable of performing a hundred different individual tests on a surface that is only of one-tenth of a square millimeter in area. The 'test strips' consist of glass capillary tubes that have gold nano-particles as sensor elements on their internal surfaces. "We first prepare our nano-particles using short DNA strands, each of which binds to a specific type of protein," explained Janak Prasad, who developed the functionalization method. When a protein docks with one of these special DNA strands, called aptamers, the corresponding nano-particle changes its color. The color changes can be detected with the aid of a spectrometer. For this purpose, the capillary tubes are placed under a microscope designed, constructed, and provided with the necessary software by the Mainz-based team of chemists.

"We demonstrate a new approach for a multiplexed assay that detects multiple proteins simultaneously by letting a fluid flow past the randomly positioned gold nano-rods," explained Christina Rosman, first author of the study. The team from JGU's Institute of Physical Chemistry used four different target proteins to demonstrate the viability of the new concept, its ability to detect concentrations in the nanomolar range, and the possibility to recycle the sensors for more than one analysis. "We see the potential to extend our method to the simultaneous detection of hundreds or even thousands of different target substances," assert the authors in their article published in the June 2013 issue of the journal Nano Letters. Low-cost serial production of the sensors is feasible if advanced nano-fabrication methods such as nano-printing or optical trapping are used.

There are manifold possible applications of a test for multiple targets in a single procedure. The low-cost sensors could be directly used by physicians in their practices in order to detect and discriminate various types of flu viruses with which their patients could be infected. In addition, the technique would also be suitable for detecting the presence of toxins in the environment or in food, particularly in liquids such as milk or baby food, or the presence of doping or other illicit drugs.

Article adapted by Medical News Today from original press release. Click 'references' tab above for source.
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Support for the research on this novel multiplexed protein sensor was provided by the Graduate School of Excellence 'Materials Science in Mainz' (MAINZ) and the European Research Council (ERC) 'Single Sense' project.

Johannes Gutenberg Universitaet Mainz

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