据《科学 - 转化医学》杂志报道说，研究人员已经发现了如何用生物化学的方法来加速小鼠断裂骨头的愈合方法。

        从增强骨移植到加快患者骨折的修复，对每年数百万因为骨折而需要住院的患者来说，这些发现在再生医学方面会有广泛的应用。 在人类和小鼠中，正常骨质的更新和损伤后的愈合都需要Wnt蛋白。Steven Minear及其同僚发现，Wnt蛋白是通过激活骨质干细胞而发挥其作用的，而骨质干细胞的功能是产生新骨。

        研究人员可通过在基因改良小鼠中放大这一自然修复过程来加速骨质的愈合。 与一般的小鼠相比，用基因改良来增强Wnt蛋白的信号使得损伤处的骨干细胞能够更加快速地分裂并更快地成熟为成骨细胞。 接着，研究人员创制了一种叫做脂质体Wnt3a的物质，这种物质可无需基因调整而产生相同的功效。 给小鼠注射脂质体Wnt3a可通过刺激骨干细胞更多的分裂及更快的成熟而再一次地加快骨质的修复过程，但该功效仅是暂时性的而且只发生在损伤的部位。 这一发现非常重要，因为不受控制的Wnt信号可造成诸如骨质过度等造成损害的副作用。 研究人员计划尝试用一种类似Wnt蛋白的方法来改善皮肤损伤、中风和心肌梗塞之后的组织再生。

Sci Transl Med. DOI: 10.1126/scitranslmed.3000231

Wnt Proteins Promote Bone Regeneration
Steven Minear1,*, Philipp Leucht1,2,*, Jie Jiang1,*, Bo Liu1, Arial Zeng3, Christophe Fuerer3, Roel Nusse3,? and Jill A. Helms1,?

The Wnt signaling pathway plays a central role in bone development and homeostasis. In most cases, Wnt ligands promote bone growth, which has led to speculation that Wnt factors could be used to stimulate bone healing. We gained insights into the mechanism by which Wnt signaling regulates adult bone repair through the use of the mouse strain Axin2LacZ/LacZ in which the cellular response to Wnt is increased. We found that bone healing after injury is accelerated in Axin2LacZ/LacZ mice, a consequence of more robust proliferation and earlier differentiation of skeletal stem and progenitor cells. In parallel, we devised a biochemical strategy to increase the duration and strength of Wnt signaling at the sites of skeletal injury. Purified Wnt3a was packaged in liposomal vesicles and delivered to skeletal defects, where it stimulated the proliferation of skeletal progenitor cells and accelerated their differentiation into osteoblasts, cells responsible for bone growth. The end result was faster bone regeneration. Because Wnt signaling is conserved in mammalian tissue repair, this protein-based approach may have widespread applications in regenerative medicine.