USP group studies bone regeneration with modified stem cells

Researchers from the Bone Research Lab, linked to USP (University of São Paulo), are studying new therapies based on genetically modified stem cells for cases of trauma in which bones cannot regenerate completely. Treatments can be an alternative to grafts, which cause several side effects.

Among the tissues in the human body with the greatest capacity for natural regeneration after trauma or surgical intervention, bones most often require simple care to return to their normal function. For more complex cases, where the extent of the defect exceeds the capacity for repair, additional treatments are necessary.

“Our central objective is to investigate stem cells as a tool in therapies to promote bone regeneration to replace grafts, which can cause problems such as pain and inflammation, and even non-integration with the patient's bone, that is, graft rejection. ”says Adalberto Luiz Rosa, professor and head of the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery and Traumatology and Periodontics at Forp-USP (Faculty of Dentistry of Ribeirão Preto).

One of these new possibilities is the use of genetically edited stem cells (with DNA alteration) through the technique known as CRISPR (Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats) to express proteins that act in bone formation, including bone morphogenetic protein 9 (BMP-9).

“When starting work in an animal model, with mesenchymal stem cells, we did not observe complete filling or reestablishment of the original bone tissue and we began to look for alternatives, such as modifying the cells to make them more effective”explains Rosa.

Researchers found that bone defects created in the skull of rats and treated with local injection of these cells exhibited greater bone formation and mineral density than defects treated with cells that did not express BMP-9. It was the first time that this was proven by the scientific community.

NEXT STEPS

Part of the data obtained by the researchers was published in articles in journals Journal of Cellular Physiology It is gene therapybut they believe there is still a long way to go.

“To achieve this, it is necessary to refine the entire process to achieve complete bone regeneration. One of these possibilities would be the isolation of components of the cellular secretome with greater osteogenic potential to be used in the treatment of bone defects.”says Rosa.

Also participating in the work are researchers from the Department of Biochemistry at University of Vermontin the United States).

With information from Fapesp Agency.