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Stockdale High graduate contributes to arthritis research
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Anonymous user Tue Aug 7, 2007 11:01:22 PDT
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0 responses 0 comments Kim Silken, 2007 Stockdale High School graduate, spent her summer at the University of Arizona in a laboratory dedicated to the development of a new treatment for arthritis.
Osteoarthritis, or OA, is a disease resulting from cartilage degeneration currently affecting millions of people. There is currently no successful treatment for OA, and many patients require total joint replacement surgery to maintain mobility. However, the Orthopaedic Research Lab directed by Dr. Szivek at the University of Arizona is involved in research to repair damaged joints without the need for total joint replacement.
The lab is using fat derived from stem cells to create engineered cartilage tissue that can replace damaged tissue. This is an exciting development because these stem cells, which are not embryonic stem cells, will not arouse religious and ethical controversy related to the use of embryonic cells. The lab is researching a method to isolate stem cells from fat and turn them into cartilage.
Once the stem cells are extracted from the fat, they are given growth factors and placed into a gel to support the conversion into cartilage. In addition to the growth factors, the lab applies loads while the engineered tissue is growing to give the tissue the appropriate strength and structure.
The engineered cartilage tissue is grown on a scaffold, which can be implanted into the patient’s joint where the native cartilage is damaged or missing. The purpose of the scaffold is to anchor the cartilage to the patient’s bone. The ability to anchor the implant is crucial. If the patient’s native bone fails to grow into the scaffold, the implant could become displaced or damaged as the patient recovers from surgery and begins to use his or her joint. Once the patient recovers from surgery, sensors embedded inside the scaffold will monitor the healing and rehabilitation process.
This exciting breakthrough will prevent the need to perform total joint replacements and will provide patients and doctors with a method to monitor the success of this procedure.
Kim is headed to college in the fall where she plans to study mechanical engineering.

— Carol Bender is the University of  Arizona Director of the Undergraduate Biology Research Program

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