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Urinary stem cells

The previous article in this thread refers to a study that suggests urinary stem cells (USCs) as potentially useful in tooth regeneration but also points out reservations that some scientists have about USCs. Notwithstanding these concerns, various research groups, most notably in China, have been exploring the potential of these cells in other contexts. For example, one study used USCs in a study on genitourinary reconstruction in mice. They infected genitourinary reconstruction with adenovirus expressing mouse vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and mixed the infected USCs with human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) in a collagen gel before implanting the gels into athymic mice. They found that the mixture of cells resulted in grafts that were well-vascularised and contained more cells containing endothelial and smooth muscle markers and nerve fibres than in grafts using uninfected USCs. In another study, the viability of USCs after storage in urine for 24 h was assessed. Approximately 100 USC clones derived from stored urine were found to maintain features including expression of mesenchymal stem cell surface markers, high telomerase activity, and bipotent differentiation capacity. Furthermore, they could be induced to express urothelial cell-specific markers and barrier function upon exposure to urothelial differentiation medium. Thus despite reservations in some quarters, the potential of USCs is being explored and may prove to be of value in stem cell therapeutic approaches in a variety of contexts.

Sources

LANG, R. et al., 2013. Self-renewal and differentiation capacity of urine-derived stem cells after urine preservation for 24 hours. Plos One, 8(1), pp. e53980-e53980

WU, S. et al., 2011. Implantation of autologous urine derived stem cells expressing vascular endothelial growth factor for potential use in genitourinary reconstruction. The Journal of urology, 186(2), pp. 640-647