UCLA study reveals bone-building protein’s impact on bone stem cells

A new study by UCLA researchers shows that administering the protein NELL-1 intravenously stimulates significant bone formation through the regenerative ability of stem cells. These preclinical results could one day have an impact on the development of a treatment for osteoporosis, which affects more than 200 million people worldwide, as well as potentially help those with traumatic bone injuries, such as members of the military or even astronauts who lose bone density while in space. The study, published in the journal Nature Communications, was led by co-senior authors Dr. Kang Ting, chair of orthodontics and the division of growth and development in the UCLA School of Dentistry and Dr. Chia Soo, professor and vice chair for research in the UCLA Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery in the David Geffen School of Medicine and member of the UCLA Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research. “Our end goal is really to harness the bone forming properties of NELL-1 to better treat patients with diverse causes of bone loss, from trauma in military personnel to osteoporosis from age, disease or very weak gravity, which causes bone loss in astronauts,” said Ting, who discovered NELL-1 in 1996. Ting had been studying children with craniosynostosis — a birth defect in which one or more of the joints between the bones of a baby’s skull close or fuse prematurely due to overactive bone growth — and found that the NELL-1 protein was close...
Source: UCLA Newsroom: Health Sciences - Category: Universities & Medical Training Source Type: news