"Cell Stem Cell" artificially cultivates self-sustaining muscle cells

A report on the experiment was published April 7 in the journal Cell Stem Cell

To create the self-renewing stem cells, the scientists started with lab-grown human skin cells that have been genetically reprogrammed to a more primitive state in which they have the potential to become almost anything in the body.

In the lab, scientists have long been able to convert IPS cells into various types of cells, including skin cells and brain cells

The research team, led by Dr.

Lee is the co-founder of Vita Therapeutics

In proof-of-concept experiments in mice, the team sought to determine where newly developed cells would migrate in living animals and whether they could repair damaged tissue

The team reported that when they injected muscle stem cells into the muscles of mice, the cells moved to an area of ​​the muscle called a niche (cell niche), where other natural muscle stem cells are usually found, and Stayed there for over four months

The team then used two different methods to determine whether muscle stem cells could repair damaged tissue

In one approach, the researchers transplanted muscle stem cells into genetically engineered mice and bred them without an immune system to avoid rejection of the transplanted cells

At sites of toxin and radiation damage in muscle tissue, the researchers found that the transplanted human muscle stem cells developed into myoblasts, muscle-building cells that repair damage by fusing and developing microfibrils characteristic of normal muscle

In a second set of experiments, the researchers transplanted muscle stem cells into genetically engineered mice with mutations in the gene for muscular dystrophy, resulting in Duchenne muscular dystrophy, a mouse and human Muscle wasting disease

The researchers found that the transplanted muscle stem cells could move into the muscle niche

"These muscle stem cells have the potential to be developed as treatments for a variety of muscle diseases," Lee said

The research team plans to use the cells in other mouse models of muscle-related diseases to study their potential use in sports medicine, trauma and age-related muscle loss

Congshan Sun, Suraj Kannan, In Young Choi, HoTae Lim, Hao Zhang, Grace S.