Griffith team grows adult stem cells

A research team led by Prof Alan Mackay-Sim of Griffith University has successfully grown nerve, heart, liver, kidney and muscle cells from adult stem cells harvested from the olfactory mucosa.

A paper on their work will published this week in the journal Developmental Dynamics.

"Our experiments have shown adult stem cells isolated from the olfactory mucosa have the ability to develop into many different cell types if they are given the right chemical or cellular environment," said Prof Mackay-Sim.

"These adult olfactory stem cells appear to have the same ability as embryonic stem cells in giving rise to many different cell types but have the advantage that they can be obtained from all individuals, even older people who might be most in need of stem cell therapies. Stem cells obtained from and transplanted into the same person would not be rejected by the immune system," he said.

"Another advantage of adult olfactory stem cells is they are readily obtained from the nose and relatively easy to grow and multiply in the lab. In a few weeks we can make plenty of cells for transplantation or for studying their biology. We can get them from people with diseases and study the biology of those diseases as they affect the stem cells or the differentiated cells derived from them."

Mackay-Sim's research team has been investigating the potential of olfactory stem cells in treating Parkinson's disease.