This presentation explores the potential of Stem Cell Therapy to not only keep the muscles flexible during the normal ageing process but also treat various muscle wasting diseases.

1. USING STEM CELLS
TO PREVENT TISSUE SCARRING

2. AGEING IS A NATURAL PROCESS THAT NO ONE
CAN DENY. BUT HOW ABOUT A TREATMENT THAT
WILL NOT ONLY KEEP YOUR MUSCLES FLEXIBLE
DURING THE NORMAL AGING PROCESS, BUT
ALSO TREAT VARIOUS MUSCLE WASTING
DISEASES?

3. WELL, THIS IS NO MORE A
MERE CONCEPT
THE STANFORD UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF
MEDICINE RESEARCHERS HAVE DISCOVERED
THAT STEM CELLS, PRESENT IN THE MUSCLE
TISSUES, CAN PREVENT TISSUE SCARRING,
CLINICALLY TERMED AS FIBROSIS.

4. THOMAS RANDO, WHO LEAD THE STUDY,
SAID, “FIBROSIS OCCURS IN MANY
DEGENERATIVE DISEASES AND ALSO IN
NORMAL AGING. IT NEGATIVELY IMPACTS
MUSCLE REGENERATION BY ALTERING THE
STEM CELL NICHE AND INHIBITING THE STEM
CELL FUNCTION. IN ADDITION, AS MORE
SCARRING OCCURS, MUSCLES BECOME STIFF
AND CAN’T CONTRACT AND RELAX
SMOOTHLY.”

5. ABOUT THE
RESEARCH

6. • THE TEAM TRIED TO UNDERSTAND HOW NORMAL
MUSCLE TISSUES REGENERATE UNDER USUAL
CIRCUMSTANCES AND AT THE SAME TIME HOW THEY
RESPOND TO INJURIES.
• DURING THE RESEARCH, THEY CONCENTRATED ON
FIBRO-ADIPOGENIC PROGENITORS (FAPS), THE
STEM CELLS THAT RESIDE IN THE MUSCLE AND
BUILD THE DESIRED CONNECTIVE TISSUE
STRUCTURE TO SUPPORT MUSCLE REGENERATION.
• THE FINDINGS OF THE RESEARCH ARE QUITE
AMAZING. NOT ONLY HAD THEY DISCOVERED THAT
THE STEM CELLS IN THE MUSCLE HAVE THE ABILITY
TO RESPOND TO AGING, INJURIES OR DISEASES,

7. SALIENT FEATURES OF THE
RESEARCH
• THE SCIENTISTS STUDIED PDGFR ALPHA, A PROTEIN
FOUND ON THE SURFACE OF FAPS.
• IT STRADDLES THE CELL MEMBRANE. THE OUTER PART
OF THE PROTEIN FUNCTIONS AS A LANDING AREA FOR
ANY EXTERNAL FACTORS THAT ENCOURAGE THE FAP
CELLS TO DIVIDE.
• THE INNER PORTION HELPS TO PASS ON THE EXTERNAL
SIGNAL INSIDE. IF THE RESPONSE IS SOMEHOW OVER-
ENTHUSIASTIC, IT MAY LEAD TO FIBROSIS.
• SO, A BALANCED RESPONSE ON THE STEM CELL’S PART IS
REQUIRED FOR AN OPTIMUM RESULT.

8. RESULTS

9. • THE STUDY SHOWED THAT THE MUSCLE-EMBEDDED
STEM CELLS CAN POLICE THEMSELVES TO GET THE
OPTIMUM RESPONSE.
• RANDO POINTED OUT, “WE’VE FOUND THAT THE CELLS
ACTIVELY REGULATE THE PRODUCTION OF THE
INHIBITORY FORM OF THE PROTEIN, WHICH IS VERY
SURPRISING. IF THEY MAKE LESS, THE DEGREE OF
FIBROSIS INCREASES; IF THEY MAKE MORE, IT
DECREASES.”
• THE NORMAL VERSION OF PDGFRA PROTEIN INSTRUCTS
THE FAPS TO DIVIDE AND GROW, WHICH IS IDEAL IF FAPS
TRY TO REPAIR ANY TISSUE DAMAGE.
• HOWEVER, EXCESSIVE GROWTH MAY LEAD TO FIBROSIS.
IN ORDER TO AVOID IT, FAPS BUILD A TRUNCATED
VERSION OF PDGFRA PROTEIN THAT ORDERS THE CELLS
TO PREVENT TISSUE SCARRING BY RESTRICTING ANY

10. CONCLUSION

11. • THE RESEARCH TEAM FIGURED OUT THAT THE STEM
CELLS CREATE A SHORTENED VERSION OF THE PROTEIN,
WHICH IS NOT THERE IN THE INTERIOR PORTION.
• THE CELLS GROW THE ABILITY TO CREATE THE
SHORTENED FORM OF THE PROTEIN BY IDENTIFYING AND
IMPLEMENTING A SERIES OF NUCLEOTIDES.
• THE NUCLEOTIDE CODE THEN INSTRUCTS THE CELL’S
MESSENGER RNA TO SET UP A SHORTER SIGNAL.
CONSEQUENTLY, THE PROTEIN GETS TRUNCATED.

12. • THE RESEARCHERS FORCED THE FAPS TO BUILD THE
SHORTENED VERSION OF THE PROTEIN IN A MOUSE
MODEL.
• FOLLOWED BY THE PROCESS, BOTH YOUNG AND OLD
MICE SHOWED LESS SCARRING. THE TEAM IS SOON TO
TEST THIS APPROACH FOR MUSCLE WASTING DISEASES
LIKE MUSCULAR DYSTROPHY IN A SIMILAR MOUSE
MODEL.

13. POWERED BY: