Myoblast therapy for cosmetic treatment

Patent Number: 7,341,719

One of the regenerative cells of the muscle is the myoblast. These cells essentially act as muscle stem cells, having the ability to multiply after injury and form muscle by fusing with other myoblasts. Myoblasts are very practical for cell therapy since they may be easily extracted from autologous sources and grown in vitro. Additionally, there is some evidence that myoblasts, upon fusing to make muscle fibers, actually downregulate expression of MHC antigens, thus reducing immunogenicity. Additionally, myoblasts express immune inhibitory molecules such as HLA-G which theoretically would allow for immune evasion and maybe allogeneic use (Wiendel et al. Express and protect yourself: the potential role of HLA-G on muscle cells and in inflammatory myopathies. Hum Immunol. 2003 Nov;64(11):1050-6)

Myoblasts have clinically been used for treatment of heart failure by companies such as Bioheart. Patents are issued for the use of myoblasts for reconstruction of bladder muscles. Additionally, the company Celogos is actually doing clinical trials testing such approaches.

The current patent covers the use of myoblasts for cosmetic purposes.

The first issued claim covers "A method for treating a body part of a subject, comprising (a) culturing myogenic cells to form a composition of cells and then (b) administering said composition into the body part such that the cosmetic appearance of the subject is altered."

Dependent claims include specific parts of the body such as "non-diseased" face, breasts, hips, and muscles.

This patent is interesting not only from what it covers, but also it provides a good background on the state of myoblast uses.

View this patent on the USPTO website.