Newsroom

Improving stem cell therapy for muscle disease


April 14, 2014

Dr. Michael Rudnicki's group has published a paper in The Journal of Cell Biology that describes a novel approach to dramatically enhance the efficiency of stem cell therapy for skeletal muscle diseases, such as Duchenne muscular dystrophy. They have shown that a short treatment of muscle stem cells with a protein called Wnt7a is sufficient to significantly enhance their transplantation in dystrophic muscle, improving both muscle regeneration and function. This discovery provides a unique biotherapeutic approach to improve the outcome of cell therapy for muscle-wasting conditions and diseases.

About the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute
The Ottawa Hospital Research Institute (OHRI) is the research arm of The Ottawa Hospital and is an affiliated institute of the University of Ottawa, closely associated with the university’s Faculties of Medicine and Health Sciences. OHRI includes more than 1,700 scientists, clinical investigators, graduate students, postdoctoral fellows and staff conducting research to improve the understanding, prevention, diagnosis and treatment of human disease.

Media contact
Paddy Moore
Communications and Public Relations
Ottawa Hospital Research Institute
613-737-8899 x73687
613-323-5680 (cell)
padmoore@ohri.ca