By Dr. Carlos Téllez Osorio
The reproduction under laboratory conditions of the cells that form the organs or tissues of the human body has been possible since the middle of the last century. However, during recent decades, cell extraction and purification procedures have been optimized, allowing almost any cell in the body to be cultured today.
The Stem Cell Bank of Genetic Rejuvenation Project 18 (GRP 18) has the necessary facilities and equipment to proliferate cells of human origin with clinical grade quality standards. All the reagents used in the reproduction of stem cells are free of components of animal origin, since they are produced by recombinant DNA technology and meet the specifications of good laboratory practices established by international societies or institutions related to cell therapies.
In addition—and fully complying with the expectations that the Secretary of Health in Mexico has established for laboratories that reproduce stem cells—GRP 18 has various laboratory manuals, standard operating procedures, and quality management to comply with good manufacturing practices.
Only by following the above standards can the therapeutic applications of mesenchymal stem cells be well accepted and show satisfactory results. It is essential to have safe procedures that eliminate the risk of transmitting any pathology to patients and that carry out the culture, reproduction, and application consecutively, that is, without moving the cells outside the institution where they are processed. Otherwise, the feasibility and therapeutic capacity of the stem cells will decrease significantly.
There is a wide spectrum of treatments with mesenchymal stem cells, ranging from acute to chronic degenerative diseases and the production of human tissues with a high degree of specialization for therapies in clinics and hospitals. A brief list of pathologies with a favorable clinical course includes Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s diseases, autoimmune disorders, strokes, heart disease, type 1 and 2 diabetes, multiple sclerosis, lupus erythematosus, muscular dystrophy, osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, and liver cirrhosis, among others.
Stem cells reside in a local and specialized microenvironment called a niche, which maintains the stem cells in a state of equipotentiality with regular production of «daughter cells,» or multipotentiality, differentiated into different cell types. In addition, the niche prevents early differentiation that would prevent efficient tissue regeneration.
Cellular niches thus provide a refuge in the environment that prevents stem cells from differentiation stimuli, programmed cell death, and other conditions that can modify stem cell pools. The niche also safeguards an excessive production of stem cells that lead to a type of cancer.
Based on the above, a dysregulation in stem cell niches has been implicated in many diseases, including premature aging, cancer, and degenerative diseases. A dynamic interaction between stem cells and their niches governs tissue homeostasis and repair under physiological or pathological conditions throughout life.
Is Mexico ready to enter the field of regenerative medicine with true scientific foundations? Biotechnology in our country is in full-stage development, with research in specialized centers and higher education institutions showing tendencies to move between basic research and applied research, which is focusing on solving problems of health, among other priority areas for the nation.
The insertion of biotechnological processes in research protocols has found an ideal field of application to link scientific research institutions with the productive sector, articulating public health programs that seek to reduce the enormous expense represented by the treatment of various chronic degenerative diseases that affect our country.
In this way, biotechnological tools currently represent the ideal support for various applications within the field of evidence-based regenerative medicine, with quantitative results that meet international standards that are beginning to be dictated mainly by industrialized countries.
The results to date are extremely encouraging, taking into consideration the microenvironments that are increasingly better characterized for the stem cells residing in our tissues. The aim is to bring each patient to a condition of reduced oxidative stress and cell deterioration that enables a better response to therapy with mesenchymal stem cells.
At GRP 18, we are working in a multidisciplinary manner with specialist doctors to modulate the physiology of patients and then carry out therapies with viable cells and in defined concentrations. A critical factor and, moreover, regulated by the health authorities, has been the strict quality control in the production of stem cells, to which GRP 18 has faithfully adhered, seeking to be a benchmark for our country.
