Scientists Grow Blood Vessels Using Skin Cells

rubberbando writes "The new york times is running a story about how scientists have discovered a way to grow new blood vessels using skin cells. Since the blood vessels are grown using the patient's own skin cells, there isn't any chance for rejection. This looks to be quite a boon for people who have several damaged blood vessels from diseases such as diabetes. Perhaps one day they will be able to apply this technology/technique to creating other parts of the body and rid us of the whole stem cell controversy. Only time will tell."

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Article text for your convenience

[Karma Troll]

Blood Vessels Grown From Skin
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: November 16, 2005

DALLAS, Nov. 15 (AP) - Two kidney dialysis patients from Argentina have received the world's first blood vessels grown in a laboratory dish from snippets of their own skin, a technique that doctors hope will someday offer a new source of arteries and veins for diabetics and other patients.

Scientists from Cytograft Tissue Engineering Inc., a small biotechnology company in Novato, Calif., reported the tissue-engineering advance on Tuesday at the annual conference of the American Heart Association here.

Dr. Elizabeth Nabel, director of the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, which has spent $2.5 million to finance the company's work, called the new method "extraordinarily promising."

Because it uses the patient's own tissue, the technique steers clears of the political and ethical debate surrounding embryonic stem cells.

Think about your breathing. Inhale. Exhale.

Like many patients in dialysis, the two Argentines, a 56-year-old woman and a 61-year-old man, were faced with the prospect of running out of healthy blood vessels. To grow new ones, doctors took a small piece of skin and a vein from the back of the hand, and nurtured them in a laboratory dish with growth enhancers to help produce substances like collagen and elastin, which give tissues their shape and texture.

The process produced two types of tissue: one that forms the tough structure or backbone of the vessel and one that lines it and helps it to function.

The feel of the new tissue "was very similar to the other vessels" that were present from birth, said Dr. Sergio Garrido, the surgeon who implanted it in the two patients.

The woman's new vessel has withstood needle punctures three times a week for six months and the man's for almost three months.

In the future, doctors hope the homegrown vessels will prevent amputations in diabetics who suffer from poor circulation, and give heart-bypass patients new veins or arteries to detour around blocked vessels. The method may also hold promise for children born with defective blood vessels

Even broader implications?

[Potato Battery]

The summary refers to conditions where vessels have been severely compromised, but I wonder if it can go even further. Vascular deterioration, and its role in overall CV ill-health is both part and parcel of modern America, and also contributes to the severity of other conditions. Having some way of replacing damaged vessels that is easier than current methods could find applications across the board.

The article doesn't give much detail, but I would think that generation of blood vessels that won't be rejected, if it could be refined and the costs driven down, could have a huge effect, especially if combined with new, lower-impact, surgical techniques.

Or, we could just stop eating junk.

Re:Even broader implications?

[Red Flayer]

The problem is that the vessels (and various CT) are grown ex utero and not on the capillary scale. They are no easier to transplant than donated or synthetic vessels... the only difference is the risk of rejection being close to zero.

Also, not eating junk won't help you if you're on dialysis... you're still getting poked with a needle at least weekly, which is the cause of the degradation.

Re:As Usual....

[Scotty2]

That's wonderful for you... I don't read digg.

Re:Meat factories

[Loc_Dawg]

I'm a vegetarian, but I would more likely go back to real meat before eating this stuff.

Re:Hope At Last

[benf_2004]

Psst...I think you mean MENSA

Some cancers do this, too.

[macklin01]

This has been done before--by cancer.

Just the other day in my cancer seminar (biomedical engineering department at UC Irvine), we were discussing angiogenesis, which ordinarily occurs when tumors have an imbalance between angiogenic growth factors and inhibitors. (Usually arises when tumors become too large to receive their nutrients soley from diffusion through the tissues.) The resulting gradient in these chemical signals recruits endotheial cells (the cells that ordinarily form the walls of blood vessels) to move chemotactically towards the tumor, align themselves, and form a new blood vessel to supply nutrients to the previously hypoxic tumor.

But in some tumors, the tumor cells themselves align and form blood vessels, with no need for endotheial cells. Much like forming blood vessels from skin cells.

The human body is truly an amazing machine. The fascinating part about cancer is that you get to see many of the mechanisms at play, and what happens when they're out of balance. -- Paul

Re:Some cancers do this, too.

[macklin01]

For the AC, here are some definitions:

angiogenesis: angio = blood vessels, genesis = creation, so angiogenesis is the creation of new blood vessels. adjective form: angiogenic

angiogenic growth factor: a chemical substance / signal that promotes angiogenesis

angiogenic inhibitor: a chemical substance / signal that inhibits angiogensis

gradient: in this context, a variation with a pronounced direction of increase

chemotaxis: chemo = chemicals, taxis = motion or moving, so chemotaxis is the (active) motion of something in response to chemoicals. usually involves a cell or organism moving from areas of a high chemical concentration to an area of low chemical concentration, or vice versa. adverb form: chemotactically

hypoxic: hypo = too little, oxic = oxygen, so hypoxic means being in a condition of having too little oxygen

Given the generally science-educated readership, I didn't give it earlier, although I perhaps should have. I used the terms because they have specific meanings, and the interesting aspect (one of balance) wouldn't have been as well conveyed without them. I'll grant that I could have done a better job writing my post, but it's only slashdot. ;-)

The thing that's interesting about all these chemical signals is that it's the precise balance of them that leads to the proper formation or blood vessels when called for. When the chemicals are out of balance, strange things happen, like blood vessels growing towards tumors. Another interesting aspect is that the balance of promoters and inhibitors for tumors is different than in the usual formation of blood vessels. This inbalance actually causes the blood vessels to be "leaky" and less rigid. The implications of this are too numerous to go into here, but chemotherapy is one thing that is (adversely) affected.

These balance issues are present in almost all aspects of how the body regulates itself. Cells are replete with redundant signaling pathways (different chains of events that can trigger a cell activity). Sometimes, multiple, contradictory pathways will be active at the same time, and the balance or imbalance will determine the net result. In another example, the balance and distribution of chemicals, hormones, nutrients determines whether a growing tooth becomes a molar or an incisor. (There was a Scientific American article on this a few months ago, in the context of growing tissues and organs from stem cells.) Again, the issue of balance. Fascinating stuff! :) -- Paul

Re:hmm.. interesting...

[QuijiboIsAWord]

Wanted to post a respnse in here, even though its a bit late.

If the blood vessels truely do not involve blood itself, then a Jehovah's Witness would most likely be willing to accept, however it would be a personal decision, and would vary from one Witness to another, depending on their personal conscience.

Witnesses do NOT believe the blood contains a part of a person's soul. They don't believe in the soul as being separate from the person at all. When a person dies, they do not believe there is any "soul" that continues to exist separately.
Witnesses do not accept blood because they were explicitly told to abstain from it, and because God declared blood sacred. It has nothing to do with judgement day (other than that a Witness deliberately accepting a blood transfusion would be intentionally going against God's commandment), and Witnesses certainly don't think God would have any problem sorting people out.

Witnesses do not accept stored blood transfusions of any kind, regardless of whose blood it is, even their own.
Recent advances of medical technology have created some possible medical treatments such as autotransfusion and dialysis (sp?) treatments that are considered personal decisions. More information on Witnesses stand on blood should be available at their website. I just checked, and it's right on the front page.