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Newly discover cell could heal damaged tissue and organs, researchers say

University of California San Francisco researchers have discovered a new type of cell that might one day be used to heal a variety of wounds and damaged organs.

The newly discovered cells act similarly to embryonic stem cells in that they can be placed in mice or in a Petri dish and "instructed" to produce many different cell types.

That raises hope that the cells might someday be used as a sort of personalized "patch kit," without the controversy that has surrounded stem cells taken from human embryos.

"When we saw that they could make cartilage, bone, gut, brain, pancreas cells -- even beating heart tissue -- we were excited and intrigued," said senior study author Thea Tlsty, a UCSF professor.

The study was published in the online early edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Scientists had previously believed that so-called pluripotent cells, which can transform into most cell types, did not exist in the body beyond the embryonic stage of development.

The new cells may have some advantages over a 2007 scientific breakthrough that revolutionized the field of regenerative medicine -- the discovery that adult skin cells could be reprogrammed or reverse-engineered to act like embryonic stem cells and transform into a variety of cell types, said Tlsty (pronounced "Til-stee").

Researchers dubbed these reprogrammed cells induced pluripotent stem cells, or iPS. Such cells are made without destroying embryos.

Tlsty noted that the newly discovered cells are more genetically stable than the iPS cells and are limited in how often they can reproduce, making them less likely to form cancers.

"They have great potential," Tlsty said. "

They are calling the newly identified cells endogenous pluripotent somatic cells, or ePS.

"Pretty much everything we've asked them to make, they've made," Tlsty said. "These cells have responded beautifully."


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