Wound healing breakthrough
18 May 2011 by Evoluted New Media
In a recent breakthrough, scientists in London and Japan have discovered not only how bone marrow cells aid wound healing but the trigger that kick-starts it.
In a recent breakthrough, scientists in London and Japan have discovered not only how bone marrow cells aid wound healing but the trigger that kick-starts it.
|
Bone marrow cells (green) can regenerate skin, including the outer epidermal layer (red) |
Previous research showed bone marrow may play a role in skin wound healing, but which specific cells were involved, what triggers the process how key cells are recruited to the affected skin area was unclear. However researchers at King’s College London and Osaka University have answered these questions.
Working with mice with and without skin grafts, researchers discovered that specific bone marrow-derived cells travelled to the skin graft to heal the skin more quickly. Few bone marrow cells travelled to un-grafted wound sites, and made little contribution to epidermal repair. The research showed around one in every 450 bone marrow cells has the capacity to transform into skin cells.
“This work is tremendously exciting for the field of regenerative medicine,” said Professor John McGrath, head of the genetic skin disease group at King’s. “The key achievement has been to find out which bone marrow cells can transform into skin cells and repair and maintain the skin as healthy tissue, and to learn how the process happens.”
The researchers also discovered that skin releases a distress hormone called HMGB1 which mobilises cells from bone marrow and directs them to where they’re needed. Mice with skin grafts expressed high levels of HMGB1 in their blood.
“Understanding how the protein HMGB1 works as a distress signal to summon these particular bone marrow cells is expected to have significant implications for clinical medicine, and could potentially revolutionise the management of wound healing,” McGrath said.
McGrath hopes to harness the key parts of HMGB1 to create a drug treatment that can augment tissue repair. The developed treatment – which could offer significant cost savings to the NHS – will be tested in animal models within a year and enter clinical trials shortly afterwards.
“Chronic wounds and tissue injury represent a significant cost to the NHS, not to mention the debilitating effect on peoples’ quality of life,” McGrath said. “Our plan is to see if we can now use this scientific advance to develop more effective treatments to improve tissue repair in skin and perhaps other organs.”
