New technology solves major problem in stem cell therapy research

When stem cells are injected into thick tissues, they often clump together and die from lack of oxygen or nutrients, making it almost impossible to use them for thick, highly vascularized tissues like organ transplants or muscle repair.

Peter Nghiem, associate professor in the Texas A&M University College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, and Aaron Morton, assistant professor in the College of Education and Human Development, have collaborated on a new tool that can prevent stem cells from clustering and may unlock future therapeutics as well as allow experts to revisit failed clinical trials.

Stem cell therapeutics have great potential to not just heal but replace tissues that have difficulty regenerating on their own, including hearts, kidneys or spinal tissues. However, the only stem cell therapeutics currently approved in the United States are for blood and immune disorders. While other applications are used, they are not approved. For cell therapies to regenerate organs, skeletal muscles or joints, stem cells need to be equally dispersed across the affected tissue. These therapies often fail due to the stem cell’s tendency to clump together when injected into tissue and subsequently dying. To combat this, Nghiem and Morton have developed a substance that strongly sticks to stem cells to keep them from clumping while still allowing them to do their job.

Nghiem said stem cell therapeutics research has been hampered in the past by cells clumping when injected into larger tissues.

“What you need to do with stem cell therapy is to get all stem cells that you inject to disperse equally across the entire muscle so they can turn into the mature muscle that is needed for contraction,” Nghiem said. “Once the cells clump together, they rapidly die off due to lack of nutrients or oxygen and are not able to perform their needed mechanisms in the tissue.”

The substance goes by two names in Morton’s and Nghiem’s lab: reacted matrix material and Agerea, which is derived from Latin for “react.” When exposed to body temperature over several days, Agerea becomes highly adherent to cells.

“Our material sticks to the outside of the stem cell so it’s still able to sense all the cues that it would be exposed to in the tissue,” Morton said. “We call it chaperoning the cell because the tissue still provides the appropriate growth cues that allow the cell to do what it needs to so it can work in a larger context like a muscle or organ while also making sure they stay separated. It’s possible that a lot of therapies that have been written off as ineffective by researchers could now be combined with this tool and become effective.”

Morton’s research specializes in reactive inorganic materials while Nghiem’s research focuses on therapeutic development for rare diseases including Duchenne muscular dystrophy, where stem cell therapies could assist in managing symptoms. Morton said it was essential for both of them to combine their research specialties to develop Agerea.

“He had a good command of the background of stem cell therapeutics, and I had a good knowledge of reactive inorganic materials,” Morton said. “When you have a collaborative situation with two individuals with a strong understanding of their respective research topics, you create the opportunity for novel solutions.”

Morton and Nghiem said they are working with licensing companies and fostering industry partnerships so Agerea can be available in the cellular tool market.

“Being in the stem cell research field for over 15 years, I think this is truly a remarkable scientific breakthrough and it’s going to allow not only us, but other researchers and clinicians get approved cellular therapies into the market for people who need them,” Nghiem said. “This is a breakthrough because our field has been hampered by this major problem and we’re excited to see where it goes from here. It’s not going to answer every single problem in the cellular therapy field, but it will help answer one of the major problems.”