Bath scientists to investigate how to grow cells with bone and cartilage-forming ability in the laboratory
A TEAM of scientists at the University of Bath have been awarded a major grant of £139,199 from leading medical research charity the Arthritis Research Campaign.
The team, led by Drs Susan Walsh and Jon Beresford, will work on the feasibility of using cells grown in the laboratory to treat patients with incurable skeletal diseases such as osteoarthritis and osteoporosis.
"Throughout life there remains a small number of cells in the bone marrow that can regenerate bone and cartilage," explained Dr Walsh of the School of Pharmacy and Pharmacology.
"If we could learn to identify these cells reliably, and make them grow and become bone or cartilage-forming cells in the laboratory, it might be possible to treat osteoporosis or osteoarthritis and other bone diseases using the patients' own cells."
As a step to making this possible the team have used a form of genetic manipulation to obtain cells from adult humans that will grow for long periods in the laboratory and seem to retain the characteristics of primitive bone marrow cells.
"The additional funding by the ARC will allow us to determine whether these cells remain capable of forming cartilage or bone, and what influences their growth and fate," added Dr Beresford.
The results of the study will improve the scientists' ability to recognise and isolate cells from patient's bone marrow, and to grow them in the laboratory for later use in the repair of bone and cartilage defects.
Osteoarthritis and osteoporosis are common skeletal diseases. Osteoporosis results from changes in the amount and strength of bone and is the major cause of fractures of the spine, hip and wrist.
Osteoarthritis is a degenerative disease associated with the ageing process. In the affected joints the cartilage, which normally provides a smooth cushion for the bones to rest on, breaks down and is not replaced. This causes great pain, loss of mobility, and in severe cases, requires surgery to replace the damaged joint.
