Bone marrow as a site for transplantation

Patent Number: 6463933

This patent teaches how to perform transplantation of cells directly into the bone or bone marrow. The patent specifically claims the transplantation of hepatocytes or islet cells. It is known that the bone marrow is an immune priviledged environment, at least to some extent, therefore this idea is really novel.

Sakaguchi in Japan was at one time publishing that intra-bone transplant of bone marrow is more effective than administration of bone marrow into the systemic circulation.

If this concept is feasible, it may be very interesting for clinical implimentation, especially in the area of diabetes.

This patent reminds me of the work in which islets are co-cultured with xenogeneic sertoli cells for treatment of diabetes...in that work, the Sertoli cells not only provide an environment of localized immune suppression, but also provide various growth factors.

The science of this patent is interesting and should be explored in detail.

View this patent on the USPTO website.