Researchers Make Cartilage From Skin Cells

The impossible keeps on getting easier. Researchers at Kyoto University, Japan, have found a way to use human skin cells to produce new types of cells—including cartilage cells. Instead of using stem cells to create different cells, which, they found, takes longer, they are using a direct reprogramming method where genes are implanted directly into skin cells to produce a different type cell.

The technique is expected to help treat cartilage damaged by disease or injury by reducing the time needed to produce new cells. The so-called old method involves using artificially created induced pluripotent stem cells. Though they can grow into any type of human body tissue the cells take longer to produce.

The team, including Professor Noriyuki Tsumaki, introduced three genes—c-MYC, KLF4 and SOX9—into the skin cells of a newborn using a virus. Within two weeks, cells bearing the features of cartilage cells had formed.

When these cells were transplanted into mice, they subsequently formed cartilage tissue. The team’s report stated that no tumor was observed and it only takes about two months to produce a sufficient amount of cells to transplant. That is about half the time required for the iPS cell technique, the team said.

An advantage of the direct reprogramming method over the iPS cell technique is that it eliminates the possibility of contamination occurring from undivided cells that can develop into tumors, Tsumaki said.