Arthritis :: Muscle Stem Cells transformed into cartilage

Researchers say they have turned adult muscle stem cells into cartilage, and used them in animals to heal the kind of damage caused by arthritis.

That is potentially good news for the many people who now face joint-replacement surgery because there is no available technique to repair cartilage damage from osteoarthritis, the wear-and-tear condition that afflicts many older people.

The transformed cells have successfully replaced damaged cartilage in rats for as long as 24 weeks, much longer than has been reported in studies using other methods, according to a report in the February issue of Arthritis & Rheumatism.


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