Researchers of the Department of Histology of the University of Granada, the Tissue Bank of Granada and Almería and the University Hospitals Virgen de las Nieves and San Cecilio have improved the culturing method of different human tissues –such as cornea, oral mucous (gums), cartilage or urinary tissue for clinical purposes.
The experts, supervised by the professor of the UGR Miguel Alaminos Mingorance, have obtained very satisfactory results in the different analysis performed, both in adult stem cell isolation from biopsies capable of originating new cells, and in the development of culture methods and microarrays optimum for cell proliferation, according to the SINC platform.
These new findings, fruits of a Project of Excellence of the Department of Innovation, Science and Enterprise of the Andalusian Council, will be useful to improve the possibilities of regenerative medicine in interventions for the recovery or replacement of lost or damaged organs and tissues for any kind of pathology or traumatism.
The appropriate mechanism
“Isolating stem cells in suitable conditions is very important for the later development of the tissue. In this sense we have found and defined the appropriate mechanism for the extraction of adult stem cells of different tissues”, says Alaminos. One of the results of this project has been the improvement o the process of treatment of the tissue sample for the reliable isolation of the stem cells. Specifically, the Andalusian researchers have found the valid enzymes for the degradation of the tissue without altering the stem cells, defining the time lapse that proteins must remain in contact with the tissue and the exact temperature of the process.
On the other hand, the team supervised by Alaminos has developed the most appropriate biomaterials for stem cells’ growth, originating a tissue with similar features to natural ones. Specifically, they have designed a microarray based in a mixture of fibrin (a protein very abundant in the organism) and agarose (a natural element very abundant in certain living beings such as algae) on which cells may grow reproducing faithfully the tissues’ properties. “Depending on the designed tissue designed, the mixture of materials must be different in order to obtain different characteristics; for example, in the case of cornea, it must be transparent; or resistant and suturable in the case of skin” says the researcher.
“We have obtained good results evaluating the tissues, first through tests of the cultures developed in vitro and, second, through tests in vivo”, explains Alaminos.
Tested in animals
The tests have been carried out in animals. In the case of cornea, the tests were carried out in rabbits, whose evaluation has showed excellent results for the new isolation process and the effectiveness of the biomaterials as a microarray for tissues. For the rest of tissues, they have extracted human tissue stem cells and, after their culturing, they have been implanted in immunodepressed mice. In this case, the best results have been obtained for oral mucous and skin, where the tissue artificially obtained expresses the appropriate genes, produces the corresponding proteins and does not generate further problems such as cancer.
The project also has an important multidisciplinary nature, and the Tissue Bank of Granada and Almería (in affiliation with the Regional Centre for Blood Transfusion) has also participated in its development. In the not too distant future, these tissue development techniques will be directly used for clinical purposes and the patients who require it will have access to a personal tissue culturing service.
Reference
Miguel Alaminos Mingorance
Department of Histology of the University of Granada
Phone number. 958241000 (Ext. 20461) | E-mail. malaminos@ugr.es
