A team of researchers from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) are conducting experiments to establish that the shape of stem cells can be controlled in order to make them perform the desired function without the addition of biochemical or hormonal stimulants.
Bone-like cell growth on nanofibers: confocal microscope images detail the growth of a human bone marrow stromal cell (actin filaments in the cell "skeleton" are stained orange) on a nanofiber scaffold (green). The structure of thin fibers encourages stem cells to develop into the elongated, branched form characteristic of mature bone cells.
The experiments are being done specifically on the stromal cells of the bone marrow in human beings.
In what could be a major breakthrough in tissue re-engineering cell biologists have conducted a one on one comparative study with five well known designs of tissue scaffold made from biologically compatible polymer. Different methods such as leaching, foaming, free fabricating and electro spun nano fibre were used to create structures to facilitate the growth of the cells.
After a culture was done on the stromal cells of the bone marrow to locate calcium deposits, researchers have concluded that the scaffold structures made from nano fibres enabled the stem cells to grow without the presence of any hormonal additive. The cultured cells were also tested using microarray analysis to establish the gene expression pattern. The cells in the nano fibre structure alone acquired the same long and stringy shape that a fully grown bone cell has. This finding is likely to have a large impact on the design of materials that are used for tissue regrowth. NIST biologist Carl Simon, Jr said that controlling the shape of the stem cell for the desired function could prove to be safer, easier and much more economical than using biochemical additives.
http://www.nist.gov/index.html