Researchers transform fat to muscle

Research out of the University of California, Los Angeles, this week sounds like a dream come true: Scientists say they have found a way to turn cells from fat into muscle.

As reported in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers took stem cells from fat donated by liposuction patients and treated the cells with chemicals to produce functioning muscle cells.

When stimulated with drugs, scientists said, the tiny muscle cells flexed and stretched – perfectly toned.

Dr. Albert Donnenberg of the University of Pittsburgh said the study was an important step toward providing cell-based treatments to patients.

The body contains different kinds of muscle. The UCLA team produced smooth muscle, the sort that lines blood vessels and the intestinal tract. So the discovery won’t be used to build bigger biceps, which are made of skeletal muscle.

Lead author Dr. Larissa V. Rodriguez, a urologist, said the experiment could one day allow scientists to rebuild the urethra in women with urinary incontinence. Her lab is working on urethras and bladders for small animals, she said.

Rodriguez envisions using a patient’s own cells to develop personalized treatments, thus avoiding the problems of rejection inherent with organ transplants.

An advantage of fat is that it easy to obtain from patients, in contrast to mesenchymal stem cells – another kind of stem cell that shows therapeutic promise but is located in the bone marrow.

Donnenberg said fat-derived therapies are on a faster track than those using embryonic stem cells, which face complex technical and political problems.

A fat-derived treatment could be ready for human tests in two years, Rodriguez said.