Stem Cell Scaffolding Approach to Bio-Engineered Organs
Author: Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology
Published: 2009/02/26 - Updated: 2026/02/16
Publication Type: Research, Study, Analysis
Category Topic: Regenerative Medicine - Related Publications
Contents: Synopsis - Introduction - Main - Insights, Updates
Synopsis: This research, originally published in the peer-reviewed FASEB Journal - the most cited biology journal worldwide according to the Institute for Scientific Information - describes a significant advance in regenerative medicine by scientists at Stanford University and New York University Langone Medical Center. The study demonstrated that tissue harvested from mice could serve as a biological scaffold on which stem cells from blood, fat, and bone marrow successfully grew into three-dimensional structures without triggering transplant rejection. These findings address two of the most persistent obstacles in organ bioengineering and hold particular relevance for people with disabilities, chronic organ disease, and aging-related organ failure who currently face long transplant waiting lists and the lifelong burden of immunosuppressive drugs. The work represents a meaningful step toward the eventual goal of growing functional replacement organs from a patient's own cells - Disabled World (DW).
- Definition: Stem Cell Organ Engineering
Stem cell organ engineering, a branch of regenerative medicine, is the effort to grow functional replacement organs in the laboratory by combining stem cells with biological or synthetic scaffolds that guide cell growth into three-dimensional tissue structures. Stem cells - undifferentiated cells capable of developing into specialized cell types - are seeded onto these scaffolds, which provide the architectural framework necessary for cells to organize, differentiate, and ultimately form tissue that mimics the structure and function of a natural organ. The central challenges in this field have been finding scaffold materials that support complex tissue development and overcoming the immune rejection that occurs when foreign biological material is introduced into a patient's body. Research published in The FASEB Journal by teams at Stanford and NYU demonstrated that autologous tissue - tissue taken from the patient's own body - can serve as an effective vascularized scaffold, allowing stem cells to grow and persist without triggering an immune response, a finding that moved the field closer to the practical goal of bioengineered organ transplantation.
Introduction
From Stem Cells to New Organs
From stem cells to new organs: Stanford and NYU scientists cross threshold in regenerative medicine. Research in the FASEB Journal clears major hurdles for bio-engineered replacement organs. By now, most people have read stories about how to "grow your own organs" using stem cells is just a breakthrough away. Despite the hype, this breakthrough has been elusive.
Main Content
A new report published in the March 2009 issue of The FASEB Journal brings bio-engineered organs a step closer, as scientists from Stanford and New York University Langone Medical Center describe how they were able to use a "scaffolding" material extracted from the groin area of mice on which stem cells from blood, fat, and bone marrow grew. This advance clears two major hurdles to bio-engineered replacement organs, namely a matrix on which stem cells can form a 3-dimensional organ and transplant rejection.
"The ability to provide stem cells with a scaffold to grow and differentiate into mature cells could revolutionize the field of organ transplantation," said Geoffrey Gurtner, M.D., Associate Professor of Surgery at Stanford University and a senior researcher involved in the work.
To make this advance, Gurtner and colleagues first had to demonstrate that expendable pieces of tissue (called "free flaps") could be sustained in the laboratory. To do this, they harvested a piece of tissue containing blood vessels, fat, and skin from the groin area of rats and used a bioreactor to provide nutrients and oxygen to keep it alive. Then, they seeded the extracted tissue with stem cells before it was implanted back into the animal.
Once the tissue was back in the mice, the stem cells continued to grow on their own and the implant was not rejected. This suggests that if the stem cells had been coaxed into becoming an organ, the organ would have "taken hold" in the animal's body. In addition to engineering the stem cells to form a specific organ around the extracted tissue, they also could be engineered to express specific proteins which allows for even greater potential uses of this technology.
"Myth has its lures, but so does modern science. The notion of using one tissue as the scaffold for another is as old as the Birth of Venus to the Book of Genesis," said Gerald Weissmann, M.D., Editor-in-Chief of The FASEB Journal. "Eve may not have been formed from Adam's rib, but these experiments show exactly how stem cell techniques can be used to turn one's own tissue into newly-formed, architecturally-sound organs."
References
Research Report Details: Edward I. Chang, Robert G. Bonillas, Samyra El-ftesi, Eric I. Chang, Daniel J. Ceradini, Ivan N. Vial, Denise A. Chan, Joseph Michaels, V, and Geoffrey C. Gurtner. Tissue engineering using autologous microcirculatory beds as vascularized bioscaffolds. FASEB J. 2009 23: 906-915.
The FASEB Journal is published by the Federation of the American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB) and is the most cited journal worldwide according to the Institute for Scientific Information. FASEB comprises 22 nonprofit societies with more than 80,000 members, making it the largest coalition of biomedical research associations in the United States. FASEB advances biological science through collaborative advocacy for research policies that promote scientific progress and education and lead to improvements in human health.
Insights, Analysis, and Developments
Editorial Note: What makes this Stanford and NYU study stand out in the crowded field of stem cell research is that it tackled two problems at once - the need for a three-dimensional structure on which stem cells can organize into something resembling an organ, and the immune rejection that has historically plagued transplant medicine. By using the animal's own tissue as a living scaffold and then seeding it with stem cells that continued to thrive after reimplantation, the researchers demonstrated a proof of concept that had previously remained theoretical. The road from a mouse model to a functioning human organ is long and uncertain, but the underlying logic is sound: if you can provide stem cells with the right architecture and a hospitable biological environment, they will do much of the work themselves. For the thousands of people with disabilities and chronic conditions who spend years on organ transplant waiting lists, research like this represents not hype but a legitimate scientific foundation on which future breakthroughs may eventually be built - Disabled World (DW).Attribution/Source(s): This quality-reviewed publication was selected for publishing by the editors of Disabled World (DW) due to its relevance to the disability community. Originally authored by Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology and published on 2009/02/26, this content may have been edited for style, clarity, or brevity.