Scientists create human cells directly from skin
Two teams of British and Canadian scientists have created human cells directly from the skin of a patient, eliminating the need for embryos.
The results of investigations by both teams, announced by the journal Nature, are an important step in the search for safe treatments for the replacement of damaged tissue in any part of the body.
Properly manipulated by scientists, skin cells take on the properties of stem cells from embryos normally so they can become any tissue type in the human body.
Previously it was only possible to create these induced pluripotent stem cells (initials in English: iPS) using viruses to insert four genes that perform the reprogramming.
But the modified virus DNA in the cells so that increased the risk of cancer, so the technique was too risky for use in human patients.
Another danger was that the change was caused by genes would lead to developmental abnormalities.
But now, scientists have managed to avoid the use of viruses and genes to eliminate once they have fulfilled their task.
British and Canadian teams were able to insert four genes into a single segment of DNA to carry out the necessary reprogramming and then removed before they could cause damage.
The technique, described in the online version of Nature, was developed both in skin cells of people and in laboratory mice.
Tests carried out indicate that the reprogrammed cells behave exactly like stem cells from embryos.
This allows scientists to think more seriously about the possibility of using this type of pluripotent cells to replace tissue in people suffering from degenerative diseases hitherto incurable.
These cells may eventually become brain cells, insulin-producing pancreatic cells in bone or cartilage, heart muscle or other body tissue.
By proceeding in the cells of the patient’s own skin would resolve the problem of rejection step.
The cells are much more versatile embryonic stem cells “adult”, who have limited application.
The two teams that have worked in those jobs are one of the Center for Regenerative Medicine at Edinburgh University, led by Keisuke Kaji, and a Canadian University of Toronto, led by Andras Nagy.
“This new method will advance the field of regenerative medicine and will help us understand many diseases and testing new drugs,” said Dr. Kaji.
“It has taken a step toward the practical use of reprogrammed cells in medicine, perhaps eliminating the need to use human embryos to obtain stem cells,” added the expert.
The four genes needed to create the iPS cells are c-Myc, Klf4, Oct4 yXox.
As these genes reprogrammed cells, the scientists removed before they could cause disturbances in other genes.
This problem is resolved to turn the Canadian scientists led by Dr. Nagy, who managed to eliminate the genes without a trace.
The director of the Center for Regenerative Medicine’s Medical Research Council UK, Ian Wilmut, warned that it will pass some time before they can be administered to patients iPS cells, they need to develop a method capable of generating different types of cells from the skin.
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