Researchers at the McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh (MIRM) have discovered a way of regenerating muscle. Using a tissue culture, the researchers have been able to grow new muscle from pig bladder cells.
(Dr. Badylak; image courtesy of MIRM)
The Defense Department is funding the McGowan Institute's Stephen F. Badylak and J. Peter Rubin to head up the research. Working with an implantable matrix made from pigs' bladders, the researchers have successfully regrown muscle in a human patient.
U.S. Marine, Cpl. Isaias Hernandez lost 70% of his right thigh muscle in an explosion. Doctors had recommended an amputation before the breakthrough in this research.
Researchers made a small incision in Hernandez's thigh, and inserted the matrix. Within a few weeks, Hernandez's muscle began to grow. Three years later, Hernandez has regained most of his strength.
The procedure involves tricking the human body into accepting a matrix of pig proteins. The proteins are injected onto the injury site, which attracts human stem cells and stimulates the creation of matching tissue and bone cells. “We put a homing device inside and it recruits stem cells on its own. It’s a shortcut," Badylak said. “This offers the possibility of creating new functional tissue”.
Anthony Atala, director of the Institute for Regenerative Medicine at Wake Forest University said, “We know this technique works with soft tissue. The question is whether it will be able to regenerate bone tissue as well. With all these technologies, we have to look at them long term and assess the functionality of the repaired tissues in the patients.”
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