By Cindy V. Culp

Tribune-Herald staff writer

Central Texans could soon be among some of the first people in the country to get relief from conditions ranging from diabetes to knee injuries through adult stem cell therapy.

Scott & White health system, in conjunction with the Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine, recently recruited a team of scientists who are conducting pioneering research using stem cells gleaned from adults’ bone marrow. The team’s focus is to bring the benefits of stem cell therapy from the laboratory to patients, said Dr. Darwin J. Prockop, who heads up the group.

Clinical trials involving diabetes patients are scheduled to begin in September, Prockop said. Other trials — including ones addressing heart disease, stroke, osteoporosis, and Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s diseases — are expected to follow.

Kent Claypool, who works for the Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine Institute for Regenerative Medicine at Scott & White , monitors the separation of cells as part of stem cell research that is being done there. Scientists at the institute hope a treatment method that uses stem cells derived from the bone marrow of adults can help treat everything from stroke to Alzheimer's disease. (Jerry Larson photo)

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Dr. Darwin J. Prockop discusses adult stem cell research at his office in Temple. He is the director of the Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine Institute for Regenerative Medicine at Scott & White. (Jerry Larson photo)

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“We don’t know any reason that it won’t work,” Prockop said of the therapy. “But we could have some surprises along the way.”

The therapy works like this: Using local anesthesia, doctors extract less than an ounce of marrow from a person’s hip bone. The stem cells in that material then are multiplied.

Once there are enough of the cells, they are injected into the patient’s bloodstream. From there, the theory is that they will attach to damaged tissues and either repair them or at least stop further damage, Prockop said.

With diabetes, for example, the hope is that the cells will help patients increase insulin production, Prockop said. Also, researchers believe stem cells can help damaged kidneys work better, thus staving off renal failure for diabetics if diagnosed in the beginning stages.

Another example of how the cells could heal is with stroke victims. The hope is that the cells could prevent cell death if they can be injected into stroke patients no later than a day after the brain’s blood supply is interrupted, Prockop said.

That might sound like science fiction. But Prockop pointed out that stem cells already are responsible for helping the body heal itself, such as when a person gets a cut or breaks a bone.

“The trouble is we don’t have enough to keep up with major disease,” Prockop said. “Our game is to make many more cells, to speed up (healing), make it better and faster.”

Tests using animals have shown promising results, Prockop said. One in mice, for example, demonstrated that marrow-derived stem cells can limit brain damage caused by an interruption in blood flow, such as after a heart attack.

Some of the trials will use stem cells gleaned from one person’s marrow and then injected in another person. Others will treat people with cells made from their own bone, Prockop said.

While much of the publicity about stem cell research has centered on work done with cells harvested from human embryos, Prockop said there have been problems with the results. Namely, tumors have resulted in many cases where embryonic stem cells were used, he said.

“They’re marvelous, fascinating cells, but they are hard to control,” Prockop said.

Because of that, virtually no humans are being treated with embryonic cells, Prockop said. In contrast, 15 to 20 centers worldwide are conducting trials using adult stem cells, he said.

Prockop’s team has 35 researchers. Within a year, the plan is to have 75 people on board, he said.

In addition to doing research, Prockop’s team also receives money from the federal government to act as the distributor of marrow-derived stem cells to academic centers. Shipments have been made to about 250 centers worldwide, he said.

Prockop moved his work from Tulane University in New Orleans to Central Texas in August. The lab here, called the Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine Institute for Regenerative Medicine at Scott & White, was established with a pledge of more than $40 million from Scott & White and Texas A&M over the next five years.

Money alone isn’t what drew Prockop, though, he said. His work was receiving similar financial support at Tulane.

Instead, it was the framework that Texas A&M and Scott & White offers for moving research from the lab to patients, Prockop said. Scott & White’s patient base is a large part of that, he said.

Plus, lingering damage from Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans would have delayed trials there, he said.

Prockop’s recruitment here was a coup for Central Texas and Scott & White, said Dr. Wally Dyck. He is former chief academic officer for Scott & White; former executive associate dean of the Temple campus of the health science center; and is a senior adviser to the Temple Health & Bioscience District, which promotes the development and creation of health, bioscience and biotechnology.

Prockop is known worldwide as a leader in adult stem cell research, Dyck said. His work ties together several other areas of research at Scott & White. For example, cardiovascular disease and orthopedics are two areas the health system is focused on and both are looking to regenerative medicine as the next frontier for treatment, he said.

Plus, there is the economic development angle, Dyck said. Prockop’s institute is expected to promote scientist development both in Central Texas and the state in general. Already, it has lured one biotechnology company that will move from California to Temple this fall for the diabetes trial.

The institute is in negotiations with a second biotech company to move here to help with trials.

“I think it’s going to have a significant impact along the Interstate 35 corridor, including down to Waco,” Dyck said of the institute’s economic influence.

cculp@wacotrib.com

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