Source: Johns Hopkins Medicine
Date: July 22, 2008
Summary:
Researchers at Johns Hopkins have discovered that the Notch protein helps human embryonic stem cells “decide” their own fate, a finding which may eventually be useful in programming cells for the development of stem cell therapies. Their results are reported in the May 2008 issue of Cell Stem Cell. Human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) receive signals from neighboring cells instructing them either to grow more of themselves or become other cell types, including the three types that make up the developing embryo or type that becomes the placenta. Researchers are just beginning to understand the many signals involved in committing hESCs to different fates.
