<p>Researchers have successfully engineered cartilage from induced pluripotent stem cells which can be used to repair body tissues.<br /><br /></p>.<p>A team of researchers from Duke Medicine suggest that induced pluripotent stem cells, or iPSCs, may be a viable source of patient-specific articular cartilage tissue.<br /><br />"This technique of creating induced pluripotent stem cells – an achievement honoured with this year's Nobel Prize in medicine for Shimya Yamanaka of Kyoto University - is a way to take adult stem cells and convert them so they have the properties of embryonic stem cells," said researcher Farshid Guilak.<br /><br />"Adult stems cells are limited in what they can do, and embryonic stem cells have ethical issues," Guilak said.<br /><br />"What this research shows in a mouse model is the ability to create an unlimited supply of stem cells that can turn into any type of tissue – in this case cartilage, which has no ability to regenerate by itself," said Guilak.<br /><br />Articular cartilage is the shock absorber tissue in joints that makes it possible to walk, climb stairs, jump and perform daily activities without pain.<br /><br />However, ordinary wear-and-tear or an injury can diminish its effectiveness and progress to osteoarthritis.<br /><br />Because articular cartilage has a poor capacity for repair, damage and osteoarthritis are leading causes of impairment in older people and often requires joint replacement.<br /><br />The Duke researchers, led by Brian O Diekman, aimed to apply recent technologies that have made iPSCs a promising alternative to other tissue engineering techniques, which use adult stem cells derived from the bone marrow or fat tissue.<br /><br />One challenge the researchers sought to overcome was developing a uniformly differentiated population of chondrocytes, cells that produce collagen and maintain cartilage, while culling other types of cells that the powerful iPSCs could form.<br /><br />Researchers induced chondrocyte differentiation in iPSCs derived from adult mouse fibroblasts by treating cultures with a growth medium.<br /><br />They also tailored the cells to express green fluorescent protein only when the cells successfully became chondrocytes.<br /><br />As the iPSCs differentiated, the chondrocyte cells that glowed with the green fluorescent protein were easily identified and sorted from the undesired cells.</p>
<p>Researchers have successfully engineered cartilage from induced pluripotent stem cells which can be used to repair body tissues.<br /><br /></p>.<p>A team of researchers from Duke Medicine suggest that induced pluripotent stem cells, or iPSCs, may be a viable source of patient-specific articular cartilage tissue.<br /><br />"This technique of creating induced pluripotent stem cells – an achievement honoured with this year's Nobel Prize in medicine for Shimya Yamanaka of Kyoto University - is a way to take adult stem cells and convert them so they have the properties of embryonic stem cells," said researcher Farshid Guilak.<br /><br />"Adult stems cells are limited in what they can do, and embryonic stem cells have ethical issues," Guilak said.<br /><br />"What this research shows in a mouse model is the ability to create an unlimited supply of stem cells that can turn into any type of tissue – in this case cartilage, which has no ability to regenerate by itself," said Guilak.<br /><br />Articular cartilage is the shock absorber tissue in joints that makes it possible to walk, climb stairs, jump and perform daily activities without pain.<br /><br />However, ordinary wear-and-tear or an injury can diminish its effectiveness and progress to osteoarthritis.<br /><br />Because articular cartilage has a poor capacity for repair, damage and osteoarthritis are leading causes of impairment in older people and often requires joint replacement.<br /><br />The Duke researchers, led by Brian O Diekman, aimed to apply recent technologies that have made iPSCs a promising alternative to other tissue engineering techniques, which use adult stem cells derived from the bone marrow or fat tissue.<br /><br />One challenge the researchers sought to overcome was developing a uniformly differentiated population of chondrocytes, cells that produce collagen and maintain cartilage, while culling other types of cells that the powerful iPSCs could form.<br /><br />Researchers induced chondrocyte differentiation in iPSCs derived from adult mouse fibroblasts by treating cultures with a growth medium.<br /><br />They also tailored the cells to express green fluorescent protein only when the cells successfully became chondrocytes.<br /><br />As the iPSCs differentiated, the chondrocyte cells that glowed with the green fluorescent protein were easily identified and sorted from the undesired cells.</p>