In a small article written by the editors of Veterinary Practice News, a discovery by the University of Wisconsin – Madison (UWM) researchers “could one day lead to the use of proteins found in human bone marrow to regrow bone – not just for humans, but for dogs and cats too.” Their findings were published in the scientific journal Stem Cell Reports that was published in February.
These scientists were able to identify two proteins in bone marrow as “key regulators of the master cells controlling bone growth” and “critical in regulating the fate of mesenchymal stem cells.” While this research is human-based, their findings are “universal and should be true across different species, thus holding promise for veterinary medicine too.”
The idea would be to be able to manipulate these stem cells in the lab and keep them ready to divide and form bone on cue such that there will be the use of “implants seeded with cells that can replace bone tissue lost to disease and injury.” The researchers' next step will be to find an appropriate animal model to verify these results.
Article: VPN news editors. UWM Uncovers Bone-Replacement Proteins. Published: 2017.041908:42 AM. veterinarypracticenews.com
