A precision breakthrough in stem cell therapy

Researchers at Johns Hopkins University have moved one step closer to treating brain diseases through stem-cell therapy.

The researchers used a new technique to deliver stem cells to the brains of dogs and pigs with a precision not previously possible. The researchers threaded a catheter through a blood vessel in the leg and then used X-ray to help place the catheter into a specific area of the brain. Next, they used an MRI machine to guide the infusion of the cells into the targeted brain area.

So-called pluripotent stem cells, which can be found in embryos, have the potential to treat many diseases and injuries because they have the ability to develop into any cell in the body. Though researchers have made progress developing sources of stem cells that don’t require the destruction of embryos, they have struggled to figure out how to deliver those cells to specific locations in the body, especially the brain.

Many past clinical trials have failed because researchers have been unable to deliver the cells to an exact area of the brain. Until now, scientists had to puncture the skull or inject the cells intravenously. Puncturing the skull allowed researchers to deliver stem cells to only one limited place in the brain. And injecting the cells intravenously scattered them throughout the body, sometimes to places where they could even be harmful.

In this study, the MRI allowed the researchers to watch the infusion in real time and make adjustments to the catheter placement if the cells weren’t getting to the right place.

“It’s like having GPS guidance in your car to help you stay on the right route, instead of only finding out you’re lost when you arrive at the wrong place,” said Jeff Bulte, a professor of radiology who participated in the study.

The research team injected both small stem cells from the brain and large stem cells from bone marrow and found in both cases the technique allowed them to accurately predict where the cells would end up. They could also see if clumps of cells were forming in arteries and intervene to avoid blood flow getting cut off.

“If further research confirms our progress, we think this procedure could be a big step forward in precision medicine, allowing doctors to deliver stem cells or medications exactly where they’re needed for each patient,” said Piotr Walczak, an associate professor of radiology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine’s Institute for Cell Engineering.

The research team hopes the technique will eventually make it possible to treat Parkinson’s disease, stroke, cancer, and other brain-damaging disorders in humans.