Researchers from the Department of Biomedical Engineering and the College of Medicine at Texas A&M University jointly identified the essential role of minerals in regulating gene expression, resulting in protein synthesis control of the cell, aiding tissue regeneration and redefining cellular identity. This study was recently published in Science Advances.

The findings of the study stated that minerals like silicon, magnesium, and lithium are involved in generating endochondral ossification, a process in which stem cells change into soft and hard tissues like cartilage and bone in young humans. Whole transcriptome sequencing (RNA-seq) data were evaluated to see how nanosilicates and ionic dissolution products affected stem cell gene expression profiles. RNA-seq is a transcriptome-wide high-throughput sequencing experiment that gives an unbiased and comprehensive view of gene expression levels to discover pathways damaged by certain treatments.

Current therapeutic approaches use supraphysiological doses of growth factors to direct tissue research, which could result in uncontrolled tissue formation, inflammation and tumorigenesis, and the production or formation of tumour cells, thus limiting growth factors use as a therapeutic agent in the field of regenerative medicine.

This study lays the path for more research into the role of certain minerals in the development of clinically applicable therapies which could heal damaged tissue and be used in regenerative medicine, medication delivery, and immunomodulation.