Congratulations to Will Hotham and Frances Henson on their recent review paper, ‘The use of large animals to facilitate the process of MSC going from laboratory to patient—‘bench to bedside’‘. The paper was recently published in the International Journal of Cell Biology and Toxicology.
The review illustrates how mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) have been translated to man through large animal models. Two very different examples were used— myocardial disease (where one gold standard large animal model has been used in one species to show efficacy) and osteoarthritis (where multiple species and models have been used). Used appropriately, large animal models allow clinically relevant assessments of safety, efficacy and dosing prior to clinical trials and continue to provide a research platform that can be used to evaluate the value of cell-based therapies.
The use of large animals to facilitate the process of MSC
going from laboratory to patient—‘bench to bedside’
Abstract: Large animal models have been widely used to facilitate the translation of mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) from the laboratory to patient. MSC, with their multi-potent capacity, have been proposed to have therapeutic benefits in a number of pathological conditions. Laboratory studies allow the investigation of cellular and molecular interactions, while small animal models allow initial ‘proof of concept’ experiments. Large animals (dogs, pigs, sheep, goats and horses) are more similar physiologically and structurally to man. These models have allowed clinically relevant assessments of safety, efficacy and dosing of different MSC sources prior to clinical trials. In this review, we recapitulate the use of large animal models to facilitate the use of MSC to treat myocardial infarction-an example of one large animal model being considered the ‘gold standard’ for research and osteoarthritis-an example of the complexities of using different large animal models in a multifactorial disease. These examples show how large animals can provide a research platform that can be used to evaluate the value of cell-based therapies and facilitate the process of ‘bench to bedside’.
You can read the full paper online or download the PDF.