Stem cell therapy is widely considered the cornerstone of future medicine. It offers to repair injured body tissue by modulating the immune system and replacing damaged cells, dead or aging. Adult stem cell therapy has the potential to significantly reduce long-term dependency on traditional Life Sciences Industry (LSI) products. Particularly daily pharmaceutical medications via the shifting of treatment from managing symptoms to repairing tissues and providing cures.
The highest concentrations of adult mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are in your body’s own adipose tissue (body fat). Adult stem cells that are in the lowest concentration, but the easiest to harvest, can be found in your blood. They are the Hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs). Harvesting stem cells from your blood is quick and less painful than fat removal, which requires minor surgery (liposuction).
MSCs are highly regenerative, and able to differentiate into a variety of connective tissues. When introduced into the body, MSCs respond to injury signals (inflammation) and migrate to the sites of injury. Once there, MSCs can differentiate into the specific cells of the injured tissue to directly replace dead cells in order to regenerate the tissue.
HSCs are also highly regenerative and able to differentiate into all blood and immune cells. They can regenerate the entire blood and immune system by switching from a dormant state to emergency hematopoiesis (the process of generating new blood and or immune cells). HSCs also respond to injury signals (inflammation).
Adult stem cells exist in multiple types throughout the body. There are four primary types of adult stem cells which include the two previously mentioned: Hematopoietic (blood/immune), Mesenchymal (bone/fat/connective tissue), Neural (brain/nervous system), and Epithelial (skin/intestines/hair follicles) stem cells. They are tissue specific, meaning they can only differentiate into a limited range of cells. Examples of, but not limited to, are the cells of tissues mentioned above.
Stem cells are obtained by separating them from blood or adipose tissue (body fat). The typical process involves spinning the sample of blood or adipose tissue at high speeds, to isolate the layer rich in stem cells. Alright, the first thing that is done, is to obtain a sample of a person’s own blood or adipose fat and mix it with an anticoagulant to prevent clotting.
The anticoagulant ensures that the sample remains in a liquid state. Next, the sample is put into as many test tubes as required. Each test tube must contain an equal amount of sample in order to create stability and symmetry (the state in which exact, identical parts are arranged around a common axis).
In a moment, you’ll understand what the previous sentence means and why it’s important. Okay, at this point a centrifuge machine is needed. A centrifuge machine spins material at high speeds to separate components within a mixture based on their density by using centrifugal force to simulate a high-gravity environment.
Denser substances will be forced to the bottom of the test tubes. While lighter, less dense substances remain at the top, enabling crucial separation. All the test tubes with samples are then placed in the centrifuge machine and rotated at high speeds, about 4,000 RPM to ensure a stable rotation.
After about 5 minutes at 4,000 RPMs, the tubes are removed and the buffy coat layer is carefully extracted. The buffy coat is the thin, yellowish-white layer that contains the stem cells. It has the highest concentration of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) from an adipose tissue sample and the highest concentration of Hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) from a blood sample.
The Buffy coat has to undergo further purification by giving them a second spin. Meaning, the Buffy coats are transferred to new test tubes and inserted back into the centrifuge machine for 20–30 minutes at 2000-2500 RPM. This increases the concentration of MSCs and HSCs, making the injection more potent.
The extracted Buffy coat has to be injected into the patient within 15–20 minutes after purification, or it will start to coagulate. Centrifugation is generally considered superior to filtering for maximizing stem cell concentration and viability. It is fast, efficient, and allows for consistent harvesting of stem cells. Centrifugation also avoids the clogging issues often seen with filtration.