Methods for increasing osteoblastic function
This application provides methods for treating a human subject suffering from a bone fracture by administering to the subject a population of cells enriched from STRO-1 + multipotential cells and/or multipotential progeny of such cells.
1. A method for treating a human subject suffering from a bone fracture, the method comprising systemically administering to the subject an effective amount of a population of cells enriched for STRO-1 + multipotential cells and/or multipotential progeny thereof to treat the subject's bone fracture and thereby treat the subject.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the STRO-1 + multipotential cells are STRO-1 bright multipotential cells.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the administered effective amount of cells comprises a number of STRO-1 + multipotential cells sufficient to stimulate at least a five-fold increase in plasma osteocalcin levels within two weeks of administration.
4. The method of claim 3 , wherein administration of the population of cells stimulates at least a ten-fold increase in plasma osteocalcin levels within two weeks of administration.
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein administration of the population of cells stimulates an increase in plasma alkaline phosphatase levels in the subject.
6. The method of claim 5 , wherein administration of the population of cells alone or together with progeny thereof and/or soluble factors derived therefrom results in at least a five percent increase in plasma alkaline phosphatase levels within 6 weeks of administration compared to the level of plasma alkaline phosphatase prior to administration.
7. The method of claim 5 , wherein administration of the population of cells alone or together with progeny thereof and/or soluble factors derived therefrom results in at least a ten percent increase in plasma alkaline phosphatase levels within 6 weeks of administration compared to the level of plasma alkaline phosphatase prior to administration.
8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the population of cells is administered once every twelve or more weeks.
9. The method of claim 1 , comprising administering between 0.1×10 6 to 5×10 6 STRO-1 + multipotential cells and/or progeny thereof per kg body weight of the subject.
10. The method of claim 1 , comprising administering between 0.3×10 6 to 2×10 6 multipotential STRO-1 + cells and/or progeny thereof per kg body weight of the subject.
11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the population of cells is administered intravenously.
12. The method of claim 1 , wherein the population of cells was culture-expanded prior to the administration.