"Nanokicking" Stem Cells Offers Cheaper And Easier Way To Grow New Bone

Featured Article Academic Journal Main Category: Stem Cell Research Also Included In: Bones / Orthopedics Article Date: 05 Apr 2013 - 12:00 PDT

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Matt Dalby from the Centre for Cell Engineering at the University of Glasgow, and colleagues, write about their work in a study that was published recently in the journal ACS Nano.

In a statement released this week, Dalby says their new method offers a simple way of "converting adult stem cells from the bone marrow into bone-making cells on a large scale without the use of cocktails of chemicals or recourse to challenging and complex engineering".

Scientists have found it is possible to grow these tissue types in the lab by isolating MSCs and culturing them in an environment that simulates that which occurs naturally in the human body.

But current methods of coaxing the stem cells to differentiate are notoriously problematic and require expensive and highly engineered materials or complex chemical cocktails.

Nanokicking replicates a vibration that occurs in the membranes of bone cells when they stick together to form new bone naturally in the body.

The vibration, which has a frequency of 1,000 times per second, is thought to promote bone formation by encouraging signals between bone cells.

In the lab, the stem cells are about 5-30 nanometers apart when they receive their "nanokicking" at 1,000 times per second.

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"Nanokicking" Stem Cells Offers Cheaper And Easier Way To Grow New Bone