PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

Biomaterials get stem cells to commit to a bony future

Researchers discover exactly how calcium phosphate can coax stem cells to become bone-building cells

2014-01-07
(Press-News.org) Contact information: Daniel Kane
dbkane@ucsd.edu
858-534-3262
University of California - San Diego
Biomaterials get stem cells to commit to a bony future Researchers discover exactly how calcium phosphate can coax stem cells to become bone-building cells

With the help of biomimetic matrices, a research team led by bioengineers at the University of California, San Diego has discovered exactly how calcium phosphate can coax stem cells to become bone-building cells. This work is published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences the week of Jan. 6, 2014.

UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering professor Shyni Varghese and colleagues have traced a surprising pathway from these biomaterials to bone formation. Their findings will help them refine the design of biomaterials that encourage stem cells to give rise to new bone. The researchers say their study may also point out new targets for treating bone defects and bone metabolic disorders such as major fractures and osteoporosis.

The materials are built to mimic the body's own cellular niches, in which undifferentiated or "blank-slate" stem cells from bone marrow transform into specific bone-forming cells. "We knew for years that calcium phosphate-based materials promote osteogenic differentiation of stem cells, but none of us knew why," Varghese said.

"As engineers, we want to build something that is reproducible and consistent," she explained, "so we need to know how building factors contribute to this end."

The researchers found that when phosphate ions gradually dissolve from these materials, they are taken up by the stem cells and used for the production of ATP, a key metabolic molecule. An ATP metabolic product called adenosine then signals the stem cells to commit to becoming bone-forming cells.

Varghese said it was a surprise to her team that "the biomaterials were connected to metabolic pathways. And we didn't know how these metabolic pathways could influence stem cells' commitment to bone formation."

While the PNAS findings only apply to bone building, Varghese and her students at UC San Diego are working on a variety of projects to understand how stem cells thrive and differentiate into a variety of cell types. With this information, they hope to design biomaterials that can be used to help transform stem cells into tissues that may someday replace diseased or degenerated bone, muscle, or blood vessels.

Stem cell research may seem like an unusual endeavor for engineers, but tissue construction and the development of biomaterials have become one more type of "building" in the engineering repertoire, Varghese said.

"But to me, what we do is use engineering principles to solve a biological problem, and by integrating many research disciplines from molecular biology to engineering to medicine," she added.

The first author of the PNAS paper, Yu-Ru V. Shih is a postdoctoral fellow in Varghese's research group, the Bio-inspired Materials and Stem Cell Engineering Group. He came to UC San Diego as part of the UST-UCSD International Center of Excellence in Advanced Bioengineering, sponsored by the Taiwan National Science Council I-RiCE Program. This initiative by the Institute of Engineering in Medicine (IEM) at UC San Diego is directed by UC San Diego bioengineering professor Shu Chien. During the course of this study, Shih collaborated with Chien and Oscar K. Lee of the department of orthopedics and traumatology at Taipei Veterans General Hospital.

"This research is a testimony to how international collaborations could provide unique opportunities to young researchers to tackle interdisciplinary questions relevant to medical sciences," Varghese said.



INFORMATION:

The research was funded by the U.S. National Institutes of Health NIH (grant AR063184 to SV) and the UST-UCSD International Center of Excellence in Advanced Bio-engineering, sponsored by the Taiwan National Science Council I-RiCE Program (grant NSC101-2911-I-009-101).

"Calcium-Phosphate Bearing Matrices induce Osteogenic Differentiation of Stem Cells through Adenosine Signaling," by Yu-Ru V. Shih (a,b,c), YongSung Hwang (a), Ameya Phadke (a), Heemin Kang (a,d), Nathaniel Hwang (e), Eduardo J. Caro (f), Steven Nguyen (f), Michael Siu (a), Emmanuel A. Theodorakis (f), Nathan Gianneschi (f), Kenneth Vecchio (g), Shu Chien (a,b,g), Oscar K. Lee (h,i), Shyni Varghese (a,b,d,g)

(a) Department of Bioengineering, University of California, San Diego
(b) Institute of Engineering in Medicine, University of California, San Diego
(c) Institute of Clinical Medicine, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan
(d) Materials Science and Engineering, University of California, San Diego
(e) School of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Seoul National University, Korea
(f) Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California, San Diego
(g) Department of NanoEngineering, University of California, San Diego
(h) Department of Orthopaedics and Traumatology, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan
(i) Stem Cell Research Center, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan



ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Green spaces deliver lasting mental health benefits

2014-01-07
Green spaces deliver lasting mental health benefits Green space in towns and cities could lead to significant and sustained improvements in mental health, finds a new study published in the journal of Environmental Science & Technology ...

Nomogram to determine individualized estimates of screen-detected prostate cancer overdiagnosis

2014-01-07
Nomogram to determine individualized estimates of screen-detected prostate cancer overdiagnosis Using a nomogram that incorporates age, Gleason score, and prostate-specific antigen (PSA) level at diagnosis, individual risks that a screen-detected ...

Study examines meditation programs of psychological well-being

2014-01-07
Study examines meditation programs of psychological well-being Mindfulness meditation programs may help reduce anxiety, depression and pain in some individuals, according to a review of medical literature by Madhav Goyal, M.D., M.P.H., of The Johns Hopkins University, ...

Inverse association between alcohol consumption, multiple sclerosis

2014-01-07
Inverse association between alcohol consumption, multiple sclerosis Drinking alcohol appears to have a dose-dependent inverse (opposite) association with the risk of developing multiple sclerosis (MS) and researchers suggest their findings give no support to advising ...

Meditation for anxiety and depression?

2014-01-07
Meditation for anxiety and depression? Johns Hopkins research suggests meditation may reduce symptoms Some 30 minutes of meditation daily may improve symptoms of anxiety and depression, a new Johns Hopkins analysis of previously published research suggests. "A ...

Newfound planet is Earth-mass but gassy

2014-01-07
Newfound planet is Earth-mass but gassy An international team of astronomers has discovered the first Earth-mass planet that transits, or crosses in front of, its host star. KOI-314c is the lightest planet to have both its mass and ...

Piggy-backing proteins ride white blood cells to wipe out metastasizing cancer

2014-01-07
Piggy-backing proteins ride white blood cells to wipe out metastasizing cancer ITHACA, N.Y. – Cornell biomedical engineers have discovered a new way to destroy metastasizing cancer cells traveling through the bloodstream – lethal invaders that are linked to almost all ...

Brief fever common in kids given influenza, pneumococcal vaccines together

2014-01-07
Brief fever common in kids given influenza, pneumococcal vaccines together Findings suggest utility of text messaging to monitor safety NEW YORK, NY (Jan. 6, 2014) – Giving young children the influenza and pneumococcal vaccines together appears ...

Breastfeeding associated with lower risk of rheumatoid arthritis, according to new study

2014-01-07
Breastfeeding associated with lower risk of rheumatoid arthritis, according to new study In a new study of over 7,000 older Chinese women published online today in the journal Rheumatology, breastfeeding – especially for a longer duration – is shown to be associated ...

No 'brakes' -- Study finds mechanism for increased activity of oncogene in certain cancers

2014-01-07
No 'brakes' -- Study finds mechanism for increased activity of oncogene in certain cancers PITTSBURGH, Jan. 6, 2014 – The increased activation of a key oncogene in head and neck cancers could be the result of mutation and dysfunction of regulatory ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Are lifetimes of big appliances really shrinking?

Pink skies

Monkeys are world’s best yodellers - new research

Key differences between visual- and memory-led Alzheimer’s discovered

% weight loss targets in obesity management – is this the wrong objective?

An app can change how you see yourself at work

NYC speed cameras take six months to change driver behavior, effects vary by neighborhood, new study reveals

New research shows that propaganda is on the rise in China

Even the richest Americans face shorter lifespans than their European counterparts, study finds

Novel genes linked to rare childhood diarrhea

New computer model reveals how Bronze Age Scandinavians could have crossed the sea

Novel point-of-care technology delivers accurate HIV results in minutes

Researchers reveal key brain differences to explain why Ritalin helps improve focus in some more than others

Study finds nearly five-fold increase in hospitalizations for common cause of stroke

Study reveals how alcohol abuse damages cognition

Medicinal cannabis is linked to long-term benefits in health-related quality of life

Microplastics detected in cat placentas and fetuses during early pregnancy

Ancient amphibians as big as alligators died in mass mortality event in Triassic Wyoming

Scientists uncover the first clear evidence of air sacs in the fossilized bones of alvarezsaurian dinosaurs: the "hollow bones" which help modern day birds to fly

Alcohol makes male flies sexy

TB patients globally often incur "catastrophic costs" of up to $11,329 USD, despite many countries offering free treatment, with predominant drivers of cost being hospitalization and loss of income

Study links teen girls’ screen time to sleep disruptions and depression

Scientists unveil starfish-inspired wearable tech for heart monitoring

Footprints reveal prehistoric Scottish lagoons were stomping grounds for giant Jurassic dinosaurs

AI effectively predicts dementia risk in American Indian/Alaska Native elders

First guideline on newborn screening for cystic fibrosis calls for changes in practice to improve outcomes

Existing international law can help secure peace and security in outer space, study shows

Pinning down the process of West Nile virus transmission

UTA-backed research tackles health challenges across ages

In pancreatic cancer, a race against time

[Press-News.org] Biomaterials get stem cells to commit to a bony future
Researchers discover exactly how calcium phosphate can coax stem cells to become bone-building cells