FED: Trojan horse technology delivers stem cells

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FED: Trojan horse technology delivers stem cells

By Judy Skatssoon, National Medical Writer

SYDNEY, Aug 14 AAP - A new stem cell technology that uses the skin of dead people asa "trojan horse" would be used on Australian patients within three years, the founderof the National Stem Cell Centre (NSCC) said.

The technology had immediate potential for scarless burns treatment, muscle regenerationand repairing receding gums, stem cell pioneer Alan Trounson told an international conferenceof plastic surgeons in Sydney.

Prof Trounson said the NSCC's first project would be to develop the AlloDerm technologyfor clinical use by 2006.

The federal government has provided a $40 million grant to help establish the centre,which will also investigate therapeutic uses of adult and embryonic stem cells.

The AlloDerm technology is owned by a US company, LifeCell.

It entails removing all the cells from donated skin, leaving a "biomatrix" of tissue.

The tissue is then applied to the affected part of the body, where it attracts the patient'sown stem cells, which begin the process of repair.

"What this really does is provide us with a biological matrix - a 3D scaffolding -enabling us to encourage the patient's own cells to populate this tissue," Prof Trounsonsaid.

"We're going to bring that technology into Australia, and have it as a trojan horseto bring in cells, if you like."

The strips of skin tissue could also be ground into a powder and injected into partsof the body or packed into wounds, Prof Trounson said.

Prof Trounson, formerly the NSCC chief executive, said he was now the company's deputyexecutive chairman and global strategic scientific director.

His role would include internationally networking the centre, but he denied that localresearchers would be sidelined in the process.

"If we're not well networked with other researchers we may end up reproducing or tryingto do what people have already done," he said.

Prof Trounson admitted that the centre was under pressure to succeed if it was to qualifyfor the next round of funding, due in three years.

"It's a challenging area, and we've got to be productive in a relatively short time," he said.

"Hopefully, we'll have enough time to deliver the opportunities which are there.

"Some of them will be quite immediate ... but it'll be five (or) six years before alot of the stem cell work itself will appear in the clinic."

AAP jjs/ak/jlw/

KEYWORD: STEMCELL