Human Bone Regeneration Trial Slated

Human Bone Regeneration Trial Slated

Researchers from the University of Michigan (U-M) School of Dentistry in Ann Arbor are preparing for the first known human trial involving culled adult embryonic-like stem cells for the purpose of bone regeneration. The study will help examine whether adult stem cells have regenerative properties similar to those found in embryonic stem cells. If so, they could prove beneficial, through means of minimally invasive bone regeneration, to dental patients who have experienced bone trauma.

With funding from the National Institutes of Health, the controlled study—led by Russell Taichman, DMD, DMSc, and Aaron Havens, DDS—will explore the possibility of using human cells to develop therapies capable of tissue regeneration following trauma or infection. In partnership with NeoStem, a New York-based biopharmaceutical company focused on cellular therapies, Taichman and Havens are using a cell technology, known as very small embryonic-like stem cells (VSELs), that shows similarities to embryonic stem cells. Found in marrow and blood, VSELs may be able to conform to cells of any type, and the researchers are exploring their use with a focus on repairing craniofacial wounds.

Taichman and Havens hope to enroll 50 patients in need of tooth extractions and dental implants. Prior to extraction, U-M researchers will set aside cells from patients—extracted from bone marrow tissue—so that NeoStem technology can then purify and isolate VSELs. This will allow researchers to then insert pure and concentrated populations of VSELs back into test patients at the extraction sites. The hope is that the cells will form bone tissue. If so, the researchers will extract a small portion of the newly formed bone tissue for analysis and then place an implant.

The focus of the trials, Taichman notes, is “to see if these cells will expedite healing and produce better quality bone.”