Using Stem Cells to Heal Joint Injuries (2/6/2007)

Biomedical sciences professor Dean Betts and doctoral candidate Thomas Koch with the University of Guelph, are trying to isolate and manipulate stem cells in horses in hopes of repairing cartilage damage.

Because horse joints are similar to human joints the researchers hope that the techniques they learn may be usable in humans.

Most of the team's research focuses on creating a technique for isolating, expanding and differentiating adult stem cells. They're using blood from the umbilical cord of horses as a source of stem cells.

Umbilical cord blood is rich in what are being called cord blood stem cells, which are superior to most stem cells because they can change into more types of cells. Obtaining cord blood is also much easier than obtaining stem cells from an embryo, and can be harvested when a new horse is born.

Betts and Koch are the first scientists known to be isolating stem cells from equine cord blood. They've succeeded in differentiating the cord blood stem cells into three different cell types including chondrocytes, one of the tissues that make up cartilage.

This isn't the first time someone has tried to grow cartilage. Scientists at Bristol University in Great Britain have successfully grown and implanted knee cartilage into human patients, and researchers at University of Twente's Institute for Biomedical Technology in the Netherlands have developed a method of seeding a biodegradable scaffold that can be implanted into a person.

Note: This story has been adapted from a news release issued by the University of Guelph

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