According to University of California – Irvine researchers, transplanting stem cells is not harmful and can serve as a therapeutic approach for the treatment of severe spinal cord injury.

The study conducted by Hans a UCI neurobiologist, and his colleagues at the Reeve-Irvine Research Center confirms previous findings by Hans’ lab; that replacing a cell type lost after injury improves the result after spinal cord injury in rodents. Identical data published by four other laboratories in the world show that rats with either mild or severe spinal cord injuries that were transplanted with using stem cells as a treatment suffered no visible injury or ill effects as a result of the treatment itself.

In 2005, Hans’ lab was the first to persuade stem cells to become highly pure specialized cells known as oligodendrocytes. The cells are imperative for the maintenance of electrical conduction in the central nervous system and also serve as the raw materials of myelin which acts as an insulation for nerve fibers. Paralysis can result when myelin is lost through disease or injury.

The current study, just like the original, exhibited that rats suffering from severe spinal cord injury injected with oligodendrocytes seven days after the injury, had the cells migrate to the proper sites within the spinal cord and wrap around damaged neurons, forming new myelin tissue.

In comparison, rats that were only slightly impaired showed no change in walking ability after transplantation or an increase or decrease in myelin generation. Hans says this is due to the fact that no loss of myelin occurred. Thus, any treatment targeted at regenerating myelin would have no effect because the animals were able to recover motor functions on their own, due to the minor nature of the injuries. It is important to note that although the treatment did was not able to provide ay benefit, it also did not cause any harm. Scientists decided to examine further and found no signs of damage to the tissue surrounding the spinal cord, thus demonstrating that no damage had occurred due to transplantation in the animals.

“Establishing the safety of implanted stem cells is crucial before we can move forward with testing these treatments in clinical trials,” said Hans an associate professor of anatomy and neurobiology and co-director of UCI’s Stem Cell Research Center. “We must always remember that a human clinical trial is an experiment and, going into it, we need to assure ourselves as best as we can that the treatment will not cause harm. This study is an important step in that direction.”

Hans is working with Geron Corp. to bring this treatment for acute spinal cord injury into Phase I clinical trials within the next year.

“Our biggest safety concern was that in the case of a severe injury, any harm the stem cell-derived treatment could cause would be masked by the injury itself,” Hans said. “In this study, we can see in animals that are only slightly injured that the transplantation does not cause visible harm and the injury is not hiding any damage the cells may have caused to the spinal cord or the surrounding tissue.”

UCI is a premier center for stem cell research in California. The university announced last week that it had received a $10 million gift from Bill and Sue in support of stem cell research, including matching funds to construct an $80 million Stem Cell Research Center facility.

Study co-authors are Hong Yu, Suresh M. Kumar, and Geza Acs, all from Penn; and Dong Fang, Ling Li, Thiennga K. Nguyen, and Meenhard Herlyn, all from the Wistar Institute, Philadelphia., University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, July 12, 2006

New sources of adult stem cells appear to have the potential to differentiate into several cell types. Isolated by researchers at the University Of Pennsylvania School Of Medicine, the cells could one day provide the tissue required by individuals for treating a multitude of disorders. However, the approach to growing the cells must be put into overdrive to combat diseases such as Parkinson’s, spinal cord injury, and peripheral nerve disease.

“We are very excited about this new source of adult stem cells that has the potential for a variety of applications,” says senior author Xiaowei, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor of Pathology. “A number of reports have pointed to the fact that adult stem cells may be more flexible in what they become than previously thought, so we decided to look in the hair follicle bulge, a niche for these cells.” Xiaowei and colleagues report their findings in the latest issue of the American Journal of Pathology.

The researchers used an environment equal to that in human embryonic stem cell culturing. After isolating the cells from hair follicles, which were already a well known source of adult stem cells, researchers were able to grow a new type of multipotent adult stem cell from the scalp tissue provided by the National Institute of Health’s Cooperative Human Tissue Network.

Investigators gave the name “hair spheres” to the multipotent stem cells which grow in masses. They were able to separate the stem cells into multiple lineages after growing the “raw” cells from hair spheres using different varieties of growth factors. The lineages included nerve cells, melanocytes, and smooth muscle cells.

“Although we are just at the start of this research, our findings suggest that human hair follicles may provide an accessible, individualized source of stem cells,” says Xiaowei. The researchers are now working on inducing other cell types from the hair sphere cells and testing the cells in animal models.

Study co-authors are Hong, Suresh, and Geza, all from Penn; and Dong, Ling, Thiennga, and Meenhard, all from the Wistar Institute, Philadelphia.

Steve wasn’t wearing a seatbelt. Two of the discs in the cervical region of his spinal cord were shattered. His skull, smashed against the car’s door jam. Steve left the intensive care unit at Christiana Hospital as a tetraplegic, with complete or partial paralysis in all four limbs.

It all happened on Feb. 18, 2001 as he headed home from his relatives house in southeastern Pennsylvania, south on Limestone Road toward Pike Creek. It was just before 4:30 a.m. as he drifted off to sleep and off the road, striking head on into a utility pole causing several power outages in the area.

No one could have predicted what was to happen that night, but Steve’s injuries could have been much worse. Presently he has some strength in his arms, hands and fingers. He can even drive, although in a specialized 2002 Dodge Caravan. Within the 8 months following the accident, he was back at work in Delaware. Steve was a senior motor vehicles technician at the Department of Motor Vehicles in New Castle.

Steve made strides in his progress following the accident, but soon Steve, now 37, may be able to do even more.

At the Hosptial de Egas Moniz in Lisbon, Portugal, Yaros underwent an olfactory mucosa autograph – a type of stem cell surgery. Cell tissue was extracted from the uppermost part of Steve’s nasal cavity and transplanted into his spinal cord. Researchers believe that the transplanted stem cells in this procedure can help repair a damaged spinal cord.

“It seems like these cells have the same potential in terms of forming a variety of cell types, just like embryonic stem cells,” said Jean, an associate professor at Wayne State University Medical School in Detroit.

The operation is not approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, thus facilitating the need for Americans to go outside the country for treatment. At a cost of almost $45,000, 40 individuals from the United States and more than 80 worldwide have undergone the procedure.

Steve would love to be able to walk again, but he has stated that even minor improvement would be worth it. For example, his grip has been so weak that it is difficult for him to get him cash withdrawal card out of the ATM machine.

“I can’t even tear a piece of paper,” he said before leaving for Portugal.

He learned about the stem cell procedure last year from a friend. A few months ago, he flew to the Rehabilitation Institute of Michigan in Detroit, where a doctor evaluated his X-rays, his physical abilities and his mental health to determine if he qualified for the surgery.

“We give people the pros and the cons,” said Cheryl, a spokeswoman for the institute. However, “we don’t endorse it,” Cheryl also stated.

Since Steve was under 40 and it had been less than 6 years after the accident Steve was a candidate for the surgery. Also helping was the fact that the length of his injury was only 1 centimeter.

“As soon as he found out that he could go, we started raising the money,” Steve’s boss Marion said. “Anybody who knew him donated things or money because we all love him.”

He credits his parents, John and Ruth, and his brother Mark for taking care of his nursing needs since the accident. He’s also appreciative to his employer and his co-workers. Steve can park his minivan in a handicap-accessible space that was created for him. A fund-raising effort — Friends of Steve — spearheaded by his boss Marion, helped raise $39,000 for the operation. (His family covered the remaining costs). The Friends of Steve effort will carry on over the next year to help raise money for therapy costs and equipment.

Steve will return to the United States a week from today, where he’ll begin rehabilitation. To him, the trip and the surgery are worth the risks.

“If I didn’t do this,” he says, “I’d regret it.”