脂肪细胞可以转变成软骨细胞
【摘要】有研究者指出：他们能使脂肪细胞转化成软骨细胞。如果事实如此，那么这项研究成果将为关节损伤治疗上的一大突破。【全文】Researchers make cartilage from fat cellsBy Joene HendryNEW YORK, Feb 27 (Reuters Health) - Researchers said Tuesday that they could coax fat cells to transform into cartilage cells, a breakthrough that could one day provide a much needed way to repair joint injuries.There is currently no good way to treat cartilage damage, according to Dr. Farshid Guilak of Duke University Medical Center in Durham, North Carolina. Cartilage has a very limited capacity to heal itself after injury, and such injuries often need surgery or joint replacement.The first people the researchers suggest might benefit from the breakthrough are those who damage their cartilage in sports or after an accident. People with osteoarthritis, where cartilage breaks down over time, would not be candidates for the treatment until researchers better understand what causes the disease."For patients with cartilage damage, we envision being able to remove a little bit of fat, and then grow customized, three-dimensional pieces of cartilage which would then be surgically implanted in the joint," Guilak said in a statement.Using the cells from an injured person to grow repair cells limits the possibility of rejection, Guilak explained.The researcher noted, however, that the testing of engineered cartilage cells in humans is at least 5 years away. The researchers liposuctioned fat cells from human donors and treated them "with a cocktail of growth factors and vitamins," Guilak told Reuters Health. The cells were then grown in three-dimensional matrix for 2 weeks.Guilak's team found that the fat cells exposed to the growth cocktail looked and acted like normal cartilage cells called chondrocytes. They presented their findings at the Orthopedic Research Society meeting in San Francisco.The investigators used a similar process to turn mouse fat cells into cartilage. After 3 months in a skin pouch on the mouse, the transformed cells formed into cartilage, but some of the implanted cartilage cells reverted to fat cells, Guilak said. His team is currently researching ways to stop this reversion process.Guilak and graduate student Geoffrey Erickson are working with researchers from Artecel Sciences, a Durham-based company that holds a patent for isolating fat cells from tissue., http://www.100md.com