Source: Tufts University
Date: December 3, 2008
Summary:
Natural changes in voltage that occur across the membrane of adult human stem cells are a powerful controlling factor in the process by which these stem cells differentiate, according to research published by Tufts University scientists in the November 17, 2008, issue of PLoS ONE. The Tufts researchers studied the changes in membrane potential (voltage across the membrane) shown by human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) obtained from donor bone marrow as the hMSCs were differentiating into fat and bone cells. They found that hyperpolarization (increased difference between the voltage in the interior and exterior of a cell) was characteristic of differentiated cells compared with undifferentiated cells and that hMSCs show different membrane potential profiles during bone vs. fat differentiation.
