Bone Forming Stem Cells – By UConn Researchers
Researchers at the UConn School of Dental Medicine discovers a group of stem cells with the capacity to produce new bone.
A new group of bone-forming cells is presented in the journal STEM CELLS that live along the vascular channels and which extends throughout the bone and connects the inner and outer parts of the bone by lead investigator Dr. Ivo Kalajzic, who is also the professor of reconstructive sciences, postdoctoral fellows Dr. Natalie Wee and Dr. Sierra Root, and collaborators at Harvard, University of Auckland, and the Maine Medical Research Center.
Dr. Ivo Kalajzic said, “This is a recent discovery of perivascular cells which is present within the bone that produces new bone-forming cells”. “These bone-forming stem cells likely regulates bone development or aids in bone mass maintenance and repair.”
The stem cells for bone have been believed to exist within the bone marrow in addition to the exterior surface of the bone, working as reserve cells that regularly produce new bone or participate in bone repair. Current research studies by the UConn Researchers have explained the presence of a network of vascular channels that helps in providing blood cells out of the bone marrow, however, the presence of these cells within these networks that produce new bones has not yet been confirmed in any research.
In this research by UConn Researchers, the existence of these progenitor cells was first reported by Kalajzic and his team. These progenitor cells are present in the cortical bone and can produce new bone-forming cells known as osteoblasts that help in remodeling a bone.
To reach this verdict, the Researchers observed the Bone forming stem cells in an in vitro bone transplant model. These cells moved out of the in vitro bone transplant model and started to rebuild the bone marrow cavity and form a new bone.
This research on Bone Forming Stem Cells shows the presence of a group of cells present that helps in bone formation, however, more research is required to determine the cell’s potentiality to regulate formation and resorption of bone.
The National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin and CT Innovations has funded this research on bone-forming stem cells from The Regenerative Medicine Research Fund (RMRF; 16-RMB-UCHC-10).
Author: Sruthi S
