Researchers Discover New Blood-vessel-generating Cells With Therapeutic Potential

Stem cells that play key role in new blood vessel growth have been discovered by researchers.

If the researchers at the University of Helsinki, Finland, learn to isolate and efficiently produce these stem cells found in blood vessel walls, the cells offer new opportunities in the treatment of cardiovascular diseases, cancer and many other diseases.

About Stem Cells
Encyclopedia section of medindia gives general info about Stem Cells

The growth of new blood vessels, also known as angiogenesis, is needed in adults when repairing damaged tissue or organs.

Unfortunately, malignant tumours are also capable of growing new blood vessels to receive oxygen and nutrients. In other words, the treatment of diseases would benefit from two types of methods - ones that help launch the process of angiogenesis and ones that make it possible to prevent the process.

Medications that prevent the growth of new blood vessels have already been introduced, but their effectiveness and long-term efficacy leave much to be desired.

Quiz on Stem Cells
Scientists believe (and are working hard) to use stem cells in the future to treat a wide range of diseases and injuries. But what exactly is a stem cell? How can it be used in curing disorders? See if you get your answers from this quiz.

For more than a decade, Adjunct Professor Petri Salven from the University of Helsinki has studied the mechanisms of angiogenesis to discover how blood vessel growth could be prevented or accelerated effectively.

He has examined the birth and origin of endothelial cells, which form the thin layer that lines the interior surface of blood vessels. Endothelial cells are necessary for new blood vessel growth. Where do these highly diversified cells come from? Can their production be prevented or increased?

3D Blood Vessels can be Printed in Mere Seconds
A novel technology that can fabricate microscale three dimensional (3D) structures out of soft, biocompatible hydrogels has been developed

For a long time, it was assumed that new cells in the blood vessel walls of an adult originate in the bone marrow. In an article published in the PNAS journal in 2008, Salven's research team showed that such stem cells were not found in bone marrow.

Now Salven is ready to reveal where these mysterious stem cells originate.

Cancer Drugs Could Be Made More Effective Using Protein That Helps Tumor Blood Vessels Mature
Tumors need blood supply to provide them with nutrients and oxygen so as to survive.

"We succeeded in isolating endothelial cells with a high rate of division in the blood vessel walls of mice. We found these same cells in human blood vessels and blood vessels growing in malignant tumours in humans. These cells are known as vascular endothelial stem cells, abbreviated as VESC. In a cell culture, one such cell is able to produce tens of millions of new blood vessel wall cells," Salven said.

"Our study shows that these important stem cells can be found as single cells among ordinary endothelial cells in blood vessel walls. When the process of angiogenesis is launched, these cells begin to produce new blood vessel wall cells," he said,

The effects of new endothelial stem cells have also been tested in mice. The results show that the growth of new blood vessels weakens and the growth of malignant tumours slows if the amount of these cells in the organism is below normal. Correspondingly, a high number of new blood vessels quickly emerge where new stem cells are implanted.

Identifying stem cells among other blood vessel wall cells is challenging and time-consuming. Salven and his team managed to identify a few molecular surface structures that make it easier to trace these stem cells. However, the efficiency of the identification process needs to be enhanced.

"If we can find more molecules that are characteristic of the surface structure of these rare cells, it is possible that we can increase the efficiency and accuracy of the cell isolation process by more than tenfold. This would enable numbers that are sufficient for cell transplant treatments for humans," Salven said.

"The identification and isolation of an entirely new adult stem cell type is a significant discovery in stem cell biology. Endothelial stem cells in blood vessels are particularly interesting, because they offer great potential for applications in practical medicine and the treatment of patients," Salven added.

If an efficient method to produce endothelial stem cells can be developed, they will offer new treatment opportunities in situations where damaged tissue or diseases call for new blood vessel growth or where the constriction or dysfunction of blood vessels deprives tissues of oxygen.

These cells also offer new opportunities for developing medications that seek to prevent new blood vessel growth in malignant tumours.

The study has been published in the journal PLOS Biology.

Source-ANI