Sections
Log in
Top News
U.S. News World News Featured Voices
Odd News
Entertainment
Movies Music TV
Sports
Soccer NFL NBA MLB NHL Golf Horse Racing Tennis Col. Football Col. Basketball
Photos
News Entertainment Sports Features Archives
More...
Defense Featured Science Health Archive Almanac
About Feedback
About Feedback
Search
Trending
Deputy AG
Venezuela
Climate change
Meth bust
Michael Cohen
Vladimir Putin
Moon lander
Champions League
SeaWorld rescue
Montana
Allison Janney
Health News
Jan. 17, 2019 / 9:34 AM

Scientists use stem cells to grow functional blood vessels

The development may help push forward research on a host of vascular diseases, including diabetes, according to researchers.

By
Tauren Dyson
Grown in a petri dish from stem cells, an organoid uses its three-dimensional structure to imitate the look and function of an organ. Photo by qimono/Pixabay

Jan. 17 (UPI) -- Lab-grown blood vessels could push forward research on a host of vascular diseases, researchers say.

Scientists successfully grew blood vessels replicated from organoids, which may lead to new treatments for diabetes, among other diseases, according to a study published Wednesday in Nature.

"Being able to build human blood vessels as organoids from stem cells is a game changer," Josef Penninger, director of the Life Sciences Institute at University of British Columbia, said in a news release.

Grown in a petri dish from stem cells, an organoid uses its three-dimensional structure to imitate the look and function of an organ. Researchers study organoids as if they were the actual organ to gain insight on how to better treat diseases and improve health.

RELATED Study: Cellular frenzy strengthens the body's immune system, study says

"What is so exciting about our work is that we were successful in making real human blood vessels out of stem cells," said Reiner Wimmer, a researcher at Institute for Molecular Biotechnology of the Austrian Academy of Sciences. "Our organoids resemble human capillaries to a great extent, even on a molecular level, and we can now use them to study blood vessel diseases directly on human tissue."

For this study, researchers exposed a "diabetic" environment to a petri dish filled with blood vessel organoids.

Diabetes can cause a number of ailments, like the abnormal thickening of the blood vessels at the basement membrane, impairing the flow of oxygen and nutrients to cells and tissues. This can lead to kidney failure, blindness, strokes, heart attacks, as well as peripheral artery disease, which leads to amputations.

RELATED Heart healthy diet reduces diabetes risk, study says

The World Health Organization reports that about 1.6 deaths in 2016 were attributable to diabetes.

The researchers hope this work will help them find the underlying causes of vascular disease, and help in the development of new diabetes treatments.

After testing various anti-diabetic medications, they found that an inhibitor of γ-secretase stopped the thickening of blood vessel walls in test animals, which could help to better treat diabetes.

"Surprisingly, we could observe a massive expansion of the basement membrane in the vascular organoids," Wimmer said. "This typical thickening of the basement membrane is strikingly similar to the vascular damage seen in diabetic patients."

Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for more UPI news and photos.

Trending Stories

Google health-related searches double a week before ER visit, study says
Food allergy linked to certain form of eczema, study says
Study links sleep apnea, daytime drowsiness to heart disease
Study: High-carb, low-protein diets may extend lifespan
Teens view anxiety, depression as biggest problems in lives, study says

Photo Gallery

 
Balloons take flight at Al-Ula Balloon Festival in Saudi Arabia

Latest News

Pope Francis lays out 'concrete measures' to stop Catholic sex abuse
The 1975, Dua Lipa win big at the 2019 Brit Awards
Elisabeth Rohm touts 'Oath' as a 'very gritty, very uncomfortable show'
Netflix: What's coming and going in March 2019
'Fearless Girl' artist faces lawsuit over selling replicas
 
Back to Article
/
Back to top
About UPI Contact Feedback Advertisements Submit News Tips
Copyright © 2019 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Terms of UsePrivacy Policy