One theory is that differences in blood flow may be to blame. But new findings suggest alternatives that could have an impact on cancer treatment, spinal fusion surgery and osteoporosis, a disease that weakens bones. Approximately 10 million American.
Stem cells are like the raw materials of the body. They can divide to form more stem cells or develop to reach a more specific fate, such as in the skin, red blood cells, neurons, or any of the estimated 200 different types of cells in the human body. can.
In the journal Nature, researchers at Weill Cornell Medicine and the New York Hospital for Special Surgery report that they have discovered something called vertebral skeletal stem cells within the spine. These cells produce proteins that act as “come here” signals to tumor cells, and this discovery offers new therapeutic possibilities.
“This discovery suggests that we can target these cells and disrupt their function, ultimately preventing the spread of cancer to the spine,” said study author Matthew B. Greenblatt, a pathologist at Weill Cornell Medicine. We predict that this will lead to a reduction.”
In a five-year study, scientists discovered the cells first in mice and then in humans. Cells involved in bone formation in the vertebrae appear as the bone hardens.
To demonstrate the important role of spinal skeletal stem cells, researchers developed mice that can snip out parts of their DNA. They used enzymes to remove specific bone-forming genes from newly discovered spinal stem cells. Mice with the gene removed showed clear spinal defects, demonstrating the importance of new stem cells in the formation of the spine.
The scientists then transplanted the stem cells into the mice’s leg muscles. The transplanted cells created new miniature bones from scratch and generated all the types of skeletal cells present in the spine. The researchers concluded that spinal skeletal stem cells help form the spine before birth and help maintain it after birth.
To find the same stem cells in humans, researchers studied very small pieces of vertebrae that were removed during laminectomy, a surgery that relieves pressure on the nerves and spinal cord.
“Discovering new stem cells is very rare, and that’s one of the things that excites us,” Greenblatt said. “I think there’s more to discover.”
By comparing the stem cells that form the bones of the spine with those that form the bones of the limbs, they discovered a protein that is made at much higher levels in the vertebrae. Mice lacking this protein had far fewer cancers that spread to the spine.
Feini Koo, principal faculty member at the University of Washington’s Institute for Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine, called the study “a groundbreaking achievement that will help us understand the developmental origins of the spine.” Qu, who was not involved in the project, added that the study “may help us understand how to be more creative” in slowing or stopping spinal metastases.
Sean Morrison, founding director of the Children’s Research Institute at UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, said the cells the researchers described are skeletal stem cells, a type whose existence has been known for years. He said he was thinking about it.
but Morrison, who is also a researcher at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, added that the paper still shows that skeletal stem cells found in different parts of the body have slightly different properties.
“Skeletal stem cells in the vertebrae have an amazing ability to attract cancer cells that other skeletal stem cells do not have,” he says.
C. Rory Goodwin, a neurosurgeon and spine surgeon at Duke Health, praised the study’s authors and said the stem cell discovery helped researchers improve the bleak outlook for cancer patients whose disease has spread to the spine. He said it could help improve.
“If a patient has spinal metastases, it’s usually near the end stage,” Goodwin says. Once the cancer reaches the spine, the average survival time is 10 to 14 months, he said, but “some patients survive much less than that.”
Additionally, this finding provides an explanation for why osteoporosis differs so much between the spine and other parts of the skeleton. This knowledge could help doctors tailor treatment for diseases of the spine if they appear.
In a separate study, Greenblatt and co-author of the Nature paper, Sravisht Iyer, a spine surgeon at the Hospital for Special Surgery, are investigating the role new stem cells play in the response to spinal fusion surgery. They want to see if they can improve fusion by implanting new stem cells during surgery.
The two scientists also suspect that a second type of spinal skeletal stem cell may exist. When they blocked the ability of new stem cells to form bone, they still found small amounts of bone in some areas of the spine, raising the question whether a second stem cell type might be involved.