By ANNE JEANBLANC - Le Point Magazine - http://www.lepoint.fr/chroniqueurs-du-po...-1452906_57.php

The team of Professor Hans Clevers, Hubrecht Institute Director ( Netherlands ), and that of Mamoru Watanabe, University of Tokyo Medical and Dental ( Japan ), have succeeded in regenerating the damaged intestine of a mice by implanting stem cells from an adult colon. In a recent issue of the journal Nature Medicine , the researchers explain how they recreated in the laboratory, a three-dimensional structure reproducing the architecture of the small intestine and its biological properties, from a single cell isolated colonic and commissioning culture. They then implanted in the damaged intestine organoid. It has colonized the tissues and restored the intestinal mucosa.

This breakthrough was hailed today by Professor Daniel Louvard, director of research at the Institut Curie, and by his colleagues. In Science Translational Research , they publish a statement on the value of using adult stem cells, including regenerating tissue damaged or destroyed in the intestine. "The intestinal stem cells exhibit good capacity to maintain their genetic characteristics in their cultivation, the noted French specialists. Combined with their remarkable potential for proliferation in vitro (each of these cells are capable of multiplying by one million copies ), this offers new possibilities for new treatments for genetic diseases or inflammatory conditions, which cause an increased risk of cancers of the colon and intestine. "

Embryonic stem cells

More generally, the use of these adult cells, also present in other organs like the pancreas, stomach or lungs, opens new fields of application in other serious illnesses or disabling conditions such as diabetes. This work shows once again that, beyond the treatment of blood disorders (thanks to stem cells from bone marrow) and more recently the regeneration of the retina, the skin or muscles, using cells Adult stem is a way forward in the field of cellular repair.

"For over a decade, hopes have been focused on embryonic stem cells, because of their ability to multiply indefinitely and differentiate into any other cell type," recalls Professor Louvard. "But their use in humans raises questions not only for ethical reasons but also because of potential carcinogenicity. Another method, which involves reprogramming of differentiated adult cells to make them pluripotent, requires the introduction of several genes, one of which (called Myc) is implicated in oncogenesis, and therefore potentially capable of initiating malignant transformation. "

That's why adult stem cells or ASC (Adult Stem Cells) represent a future alternative. Because even if they have less potential for renewal and differentiation as embryonic cells, the cancer risk is lower and there is no ethical problem. Finally, the availability of "mini-gut in culture", obtained at this time part of tumor cells, will allow to study the development of colon cancers and to test the effectiveness of molecules used to treat these tumors in the rights."



Interesting. Moorfields have been working on retinal regeneration, and on stem cell use in treating AMD. And now this. Hope springs for treating Crohn's. Exciting. So long as it 'can' go somewhere!