By Steve McGregor
Research lab scientist
Years of scientific research have shown that the adult human body contains a small number of cells which can be of value in tissue repair following injury. At the Research Laboratory of the Spinal Cord Society we currently work with some of these cell types so that we may discover more about their potential roles in injury repair.
One of the cell types is the MSC (Mesenchymal Stromal Cell) which is found in the bone marrow. MSC’s do not exist or act alone; they live in between other cells in what is called a niche. They also interact with numerous other cell types to move around the body and aid in injury repair. These other cell types are essential for the cells to grow, divide and function efficiently. An understanding of how all the many cell types interact is essential to enable us to utilize the best cells for injury repair and get the best possible results.
In the research laboratory of the Spinal Cord Society we have collected bone marrow from donors and isolated the MSC population from the whole marrow. We have studied these cells and their ability to turn into fat, bone and cartilage cells. It is rare for cells of the adult human body to be able to change into different cell types. We have worked with cells from a number of different donors and discovered some differences between cells from different people.
Most laboratories use a cocktail of growth factors taken from animal blood, which the cells must have to grow and divide. These cocktails are a potential source of contamination and infection and so we are designing a culture system where we can grow the cells without animal products. This culture system will allow us to grow cells so that we have enough cells to be effective when transplanted back into the patient and will allow us to ensure that the cells are healthy and of good quality.
We will continue to work on the culture system so that we can grow cells from any donor efficiently and have a good idea of exactly what the system contains (A defined or partially defined system). We will also continue to investigate the abilities of these cells to change into different cell types and investigate how these cells interact with other cell types to aid in injury repair.
In the near future we will begin culture of the olfactory epithelium, a layer of cells lining the upper nose. This layer contains many cell types and contains a type of nerve cell which can grow and interact with other nerves. This tissue has been used in trials of Spinal Cord Repair by Dr Carlos Lima (In Portugal) with encouraging results. We will collect and culture the tissue for study so that we can begin to understand the individual cells which make up the tissue and understand how they work together to enable new nerves to grow. This work will enable us to select the best cells for injury repair. We will be able to study how MSC’s and Cells from the nose can be used together to get better results for patients with spinal cord injury.
