LONDON: Scientist have found that simply switching off one protein can encourage stem cells to start becoming bone
Osteoporosis sufferers have been offered new hope after scientists discovered how to make stem cells grow into new bone.
Scientists at The Scripps Institute in the US have found that a single protein was stopping bone marrow stem cells from developing into bone.
Normally that would be beneficial, as it prevents bones becoming too big or forming lumpy masses where they are not needed.
But for people with osteoporosis, working out how to make bones grow back could be crucial to stopping the problem.
The researchers found that that a drug which supresses the protein – called PPARy – increased the rate of bone grown in mice. And that drug already exists, because it used in the treatment of diabetes to regulate insulin production.
Professor Patrick Griffin, chair of the Department of Molecular Therapeutics said: “These findings demonstrate for the first time a new therapeutic application for drugs targeting PPARy, which has been the focus of efforts to treat type 2 diabetes.
“The next step is to perform an in-depth analysis of the drug’s efficacy in animal models of bone loss, ageing, obesity and diabetes.”
