The key to the researcher’s discovery is in the use of adenosine. This naturally occurring molecule can be injected into bone tissue to coax human pluripotent stem cells (which are capable of becoming any type of cell in the body), to regenerate. In the experiment, this method helped fix cranial bone defects in mice, without causing infections or tumors.
Pluripotent cells can become any type of cell (muscle, heart, skin or bone) through differentiation; but prompting the process and directing stem cell differentiation is very complicated and can be very expensive. The method has also been known to cause the development of teratomas (tumors that contain multiple tissues taken from various organs upon transplantation.).
But, by simply adding adenosine to human pluripotent stem cells, the research team managed to effectively and safely direct stem cell differentiation. Right now, the team is focused on understanding how this single molecule is signaling bone formation.
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