Medical researchers from UCLA have announced that they have been able to take stem cells from lung tissue and trigger those stem cells to form new lung tissue cells.
That may not sound exactly ground-breaking. After all, researchers working in the field of regenerative medicine have been doing this sort of thing for years.
Researchers have been able to produce any number of cells through the use of stem cell research. What makes this effort different is that the researchers have been able to make the newly formed cells take the shape of the all-important sacs that form the real working portion of the lung.
Said another way, this effort takes the next step beyond growing cells in a dish with the intent of developing three dimensional organs.
The team at UCLA worked with the Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research on this project.
It’s important to clarify that UCLA has NOT created a 3-D lung using stem cells. They have simply identifies a means to cause the cells to collectively grow in the shape of the air sacs.
How the Lung Tissue Was Formed
The scientists were able to make the cells grow in a three dimensional shape by invoking the lung cells to grow around tiny spheres. The spheres provided the proper geometric shape consistent with lung sacs.
Benefit of This Research
This progress enables future researchers to conduct studies of lung tissue not previously possible due to the invasive nature of examining the lungs.
Previous tests for various chemotherapy treatments have relied on live patients or simulations done in a petri dish. The problems with using live patients are fairly obvious. The problem with using petri dishes is less obvious.
Two dimensional testing in a dish does not provide researchers the same experience as a three dimensional model would. This is what makes this stem cell advancement significant.
Another Step Forward for Stem Cell Research
Nobody reading this should expect a science fiction-like capability to manufacture organs in the near future. It is reasonable however to expect further progress as regenerative medicine researchers use different techniques to manipulate cellular growth.
Journal Reference:
Dan C. Wilkinson et al. Development of a Three-Dimensional Bioengineering Technology to Generate Lung Tissue for Personalized Disease Modeling. Stem Cells Translational Medicine, 2016 DOI: 10.5966/sctm.2016-0192
