Tiny bundles of stem cells built in the laboratory using microscopic magnets could pave the way to revolutionary treatments for repairing bone, cartilage, ligaments and tendons.
The technique, developed by British scientists, overcomes one of the main obstacles to unlocking the huge medical potential of mesenchymal stem cells.
Naturally found in the bone marrow, the stem cells have an awkward habit of spontaneously transforming into different cell types when stored outside the body.
Read more: In pictures - Orphaned baby red squirrel that was left for dead is nursed back to health
The University of Glasgow team overcame this problem by creating ball-shaped clumps of around 10,000 stem cells, just big enough to see with the naked eye.
When they were placed in a soft gel with the consistency of bone marrow jelly, the cell balls remained unchanged for long periods of time and displayed no unwanted differentiated.
Placing the 3D cultures next to laboratory "wound models" simulating damaged cartilage, bone and ligament, the stem cells re-activated. They migrated towards the injured tissue and began to develop into the right kind of cells to promote healing.
Dr Catherine Berry, from the university's Institute of Molecular Cell and Systems Biology, said: "This is a really exciting discovery, which uses a fairly simple and affordable method to grow and maintain stem cells ready to heal tissues."
Read more: In pictures - Orphaned baby red squirrel that was left for dead is nursed back to health
To make the stem cell bundles, the team used an ingenious technique that exploits magnetism.
Microscopic magnetic nanoparticles were first added to the stem cells, allowing them to be drawn together by the attractive force of a simple magnet.
The research, published in the journal ACS Nano, also has implications for the treatment of leukaemia and breast cancer.
Both diseases feature bundles of cancer stem cells that lie dormant in bone marrow for many years before re-activating and triggering disease recurrence.
Dr Berry added: "It may be that changes in mesenchymal stem cell activity are linked to cancer cell activation.
Read more: In pictures - Orphaned baby red squirrel that was left for dead is nursed back to health
"We're keen to explore how we can use our technique to understand more about how stem cells communicate with other cells and what we can do to use stem cells more effectively in medicine."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here