Nanofiber Expanded CD34+ Stem Cells for Osteoporosis Therapy

Summary
Glucocorticoid induced osteoporosis is the most common cause of secondary osteoporosisand the primary
cause before ageIt affects overof the general populationwhereinare womenIn postmenopausal women and men agedand overtreatment would be recommended in at least half based on
theAmerican College of Rheumatology guidelinesAdult stem cells are a promising class of
regenerative cellssome lineages of which can be induced to differentiate into osteoblasts and potentially cure
osteoporosisWe have shown thatfold nanofiber expanded hematopoieticCDstem cells can
reverse glucocorticoid induced osteoporosis in an aged murine modelNow we have discovered a way to
expand CDstem cells over a million fold while preserving their stemnesswhich promises to make this
therapy cost effectiveThese cells can be obtained noninvasively from umbilical cord bloodUCBUCB is
readily available and is considered safe for human application for treating a variety of diseases such as
leukemia and other blood disordersIf these million fold expanded CDstem cells can be shown to be safe
and efficacious in reverting glucocorticoid induced osteoporosisthis cell based therapy may extend to other
types of osteoporosisand would represent a major paradigm shiftPatients with osteoporosis must undergo
lifetime therapy with traditional therapeuticswhereas stem cells promise to be atotime treatmentFurthermorepatients will not have extended hospitalization nor surgery costsas stem cell therapy in many
cases is an outpatient IV infusionMillion fold expansion provides the opportunity to reduce costs furtheras
one cord blood unit will be able to treat overpatientsThe aims of this Phase I project are therefore toadetermine the potential of million fold expanded CDstem cells to differentiate into osteoblastsandbtest
the efficacy of million fold expanded CDstem cells for reverting glucocorticoid induced osteoporosis in
aged miceIf successfulthis research will be extended to more severe forms of osteoporosisand potentially
provide a pathway towards a cost effective clinical regenerative treatment for this debilitating diseaseIt may
also have extensions for the lower cost treatment of leukemias and a variety of other blood disorderswhich
will be the subject of future investigations Public Health Relevance
Glucocorticoid induced osteoporosis is the most common cause of secondary osteoporosisand the primary
cause before ageIt affects overof the general populationwhereinare womenThis research
focuses on investigating a promising cell based therapy using million fold expanded CDstem cells derived
from human umbilical cord blood for reverting glucocorticoid induced osteoporosis in aged miceIf successfulthis research will provide a pathway towards a cost effective clinical regenerative treatment for this debilitating
diseasewith potential extension to other forms of osteoporosis as well as a variety of blood related disorders