'Stepping stone' spinal cord tissue grown

A group of researchers from the Medical Research Council (MRC) has developed a technique that turns stem cells into the specialised cells that go on to form spinal cord, muscle and bone tissue in the growing embryo, it has emerged.

As an industry first, the discovery has the potential to radicalise the way scientists study degenerative conditions such as spinal muscular atrophy, which affects the nerve cells in the spinal column, the MRC said.

The discovery may also pave the way for future treatments for degenerative and other neuromuscular conditions.

“It’s like being able to make the bricks and raw materials but not yet build the house

Lead researcher James Briscoe

By studying the process through which neuro-mesodermal progenitors (NMPs) are developed, researchers at the MRC National Institute for Medical Research and the MRC Centre for Regenerative Medicine, at the University of Edinburgh, claim to have been able to coax mouse and human embryonic stem cells into becoming NMPs and then spinal cord cells.

MRC lead researcher James Briscoe said: “There have been some great advances in the field of stem cell research in recent years, with scientists being able to grow liver, heart and even some brain tissue in the lab. The spinal cord, however, has remained elusive because the NMP cells have largely been overlooked - even though they were first discovered more than 100 years ago.”

According to Briscoe, the researchers’ real breakthrough came when they realised they had to coax the stem cells into an intermediate ’stepping stone’ cell type before turning them into spinal cord and muscle cells.

“We can’t yet produce the tissues themselves, but this a really big step. It’s like being able to make the bricks and raw materials but not yet build the house,” Briscoe said.

In the near-term, growing NMP cells in the lab will allow researchers to learn more about normal human development in a part of the embryo that is otherwise difficult to study, the MRC said.

Looking further ahead, the researchers hope the method could be refined to grow tissue from patients with diseases that affect the spinal cord, muscles, or the motor neurones that connect muscles to the brain and spinal cord.

Head of regenerative medicine at the MRC Rob Buckle said: “This study is a fantastic example of how combining different branches of science can lead to new discoveries.

“While there have been many important advances in reprogramming stem cells, it’s important that we explore all the possible routes to generating the specific cell types best suited to clinical development.”

A full account of the study has been published in the journal PLOS Biology.