Source: Stowers Institute for Medical Research
Date: January 29, 2010
Summary:
Linheng Li, Ph.D., a Stowers Institute Investigator, together with Hans Clevers, M.D., Ph.D., Director of the Hubrecht Institute in Utrecht, Netherlands, co-authored a prospective review published today by the journal Science that proposes a model of mammalian adult stem cell regulation that may explain how the coexistence of two disparate stem cell states regulates both stem cell maintenance and simultaneously supports rapid tissue regeneration.
Adult stem cells are crucial for physiological tissue renewal and regeneration following injury. Current models assume the existence of a single quiescent (resting) population of stem cells residing in a single niche of a given tissue. The Linheng Li Lab and others have previously reported that primitive blood-forming stem cells can be further separated into quiescent (reserved) and active (primed) sub-populations. Emerging evidence indicates that quiescent and active stem cell sub-populations also co-exist in several tissues — including hair follicle, intestine, bone marrow, and potentially in the neural system — in separate yet adjacent microenvironments. In the review, Dr. Li proposes that quiescent and active stem cell populations have separate but cooperative functional roles.
Friday, January 29, 2010
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Making Old Stem Cells Act Young Again
Source: Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Date: January 28, 2010
Summary:
In virtually every part of the body, stem cells stand ready to replenish mature cells lost to wounds, disease, and everyday wear and tear. But like other cells, stem cells eventually lose their normal functions as they age, leaving the body less able to repair itself. Surprisingly, this age-related decline in stem cell potency may be somewhat reversible. A team of Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) researchers has found that in old mice, a several-week exposure to the blood of young mice causes their bone marrow stem cells to act “young” again.
The researchers have not yet isolated the blood-borne factors that can switch old stem cells back to a more youthful state, but their results are consistent with other recent studies that show stem-cell aging may be reversible. Together those results suggest that it might one day be possible to boost the practical lifespan of stem cells, and thereby increase the body’s resistance to disease and age-related degeneration. The new findings are reported in an advanced online publication in Nature on January 28, 2010.
Date: January 28, 2010
Summary:
In virtually every part of the body, stem cells stand ready to replenish mature cells lost to wounds, disease, and everyday wear and tear. But like other cells, stem cells eventually lose their normal functions as they age, leaving the body less able to repair itself. Surprisingly, this age-related decline in stem cell potency may be somewhat reversible. A team of Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) researchers has found that in old mice, a several-week exposure to the blood of young mice causes their bone marrow stem cells to act “young” again.
The researchers have not yet isolated the blood-borne factors that can switch old stem cells back to a more youthful state, but their results are consistent with other recent studies that show stem-cell aging may be reversible. Together those results suggest that it might one day be possible to boost the practical lifespan of stem cells, and thereby increase the body’s resistance to disease and age-related degeneration. The new findings are reported in an advanced online publication in Nature on January 28, 2010.
Stem Cell Breakthrough: Bone Marrow Cells Are the Answer
Source: Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology
Date: January 28, 2010
Summary:
Using cells from mice, scientists discovered a new strategy for making embryonic stem cell transplants less likely to be rejected by a recipient's immune system. This strategy involves fusing bone marrow cells to embryonic stem cells. Once fused, hybrid cells have DNA from both donor and recipient, raising hopes that immune rejection of embryonic stem cell therapies can be avoided without drugs. This strategy, described in a new research report appearing in the February 2010 print issue of The FASEB Journal, involves fusing bone marrow cells to embryonic stem cells.
Date: January 28, 2010
Summary:
Using cells from mice, scientists discovered a new strategy for making embryonic stem cell transplants less likely to be rejected by a recipient's immune system. This strategy involves fusing bone marrow cells to embryonic stem cells. Once fused, hybrid cells have DNA from both donor and recipient, raising hopes that immune rejection of embryonic stem cell therapies can be avoided without drugs. This strategy, described in a new research report appearing in the February 2010 print issue of The FASEB Journal, involves fusing bone marrow cells to embryonic stem cells.
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Research provides insight into the reprogramming of cell fate
Source: The Babraham Institute
Date: 27 January 2010
Summary:
A discovery by Babraham scientists brings new insight into how cells are reprogrammed and a greater understanding of how the environment, or factors like nutritional signals, can interact with our genes to affect health. As an embryo develops, cells acquire a particular fate, for example becoming a nerve or skin cell. The findings, reported online in the journal Nature, pinpoint a protein called AID as being important for complete cellular reprogramming in mammals. In addition, these findings may advance the field of regenerative medicine, by potentially enhancing our ability to guide the reversal of cell fate, and pave the way for novel therapeutics.
Date: 27 January 2010
Summary:
A discovery by Babraham scientists brings new insight into how cells are reprogrammed and a greater understanding of how the environment, or factors like nutritional signals, can interact with our genes to affect health. As an embryo develops, cells acquire a particular fate, for example becoming a nerve or skin cell. The findings, reported online in the journal Nature, pinpoint a protein called AID as being important for complete cellular reprogramming in mammals. In addition, these findings may advance the field of regenerative medicine, by potentially enhancing our ability to guide the reversal of cell fate, and pave the way for novel therapeutics.
Researchers directly turn mouse skin cells into neurons, skipping IPS stage
Source: Stanford University
Date: January 27, 2010
Summary:
Even Superman needed to retire to a phone booth for a quick change. But now scientists at the Stanford University School of Medicine have succeeded in the ultimate switch: transforming mouse skin cells in a laboratory dish directly into functional nerve cells with the application of just three genes. The cells make the change without first becoming a pluripotent type of stem cell — a step long thought to be required for cells to acquire new identities. The finding, published online Jan. 27 in Nature, could revolutionize the future of human stem cell therapy and recast our understanding of how cells choose and maintain their specialties in the body.
Date: January 27, 2010
Summary:
Even Superman needed to retire to a phone booth for a quick change. But now scientists at the Stanford University School of Medicine have succeeded in the ultimate switch: transforming mouse skin cells in a laboratory dish directly into functional nerve cells with the application of just three genes. The cells make the change without first becoming a pluripotent type of stem cell — a step long thought to be required for cells to acquire new identities. The finding, published online Jan. 27 in Nature, could revolutionize the future of human stem cell therapy and recast our understanding of how cells choose and maintain their specialties in the body.
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Targeting cancer stem cells in the lab
Source: Oxford University
Date: 26 January 2010
Summary:
Understanding of the particular cancer cells within a tumour that drive its growth could now advance more rapidly, thanks to Oxford University scientists. They show in the journal PNAS how a crucial class of cancer cell, called cancer stem cells, can be investigated in the lab in ways that should greatly speed their study, and allow the development of drugs targeted against them.
Date: 26 January 2010
Summary:
Understanding of the particular cancer cells within a tumour that drive its growth could now advance more rapidly, thanks to Oxford University scientists. They show in the journal PNAS how a crucial class of cancer cell, called cancer stem cells, can be investigated in the lab in ways that should greatly speed their study, and allow the development of drugs targeted against them.
Scientists find survival factor for keeping nerve cells healthy
Source: Babraham Institute
Date: 26 January 2010
Summary:
Scientists at the Babraham Institute have discovered a novel survival factor whose rapid transport along nerve cells is crucial for keeping them alive. The same factor seems likely to be needed to keep our nerves healthy as we age. These findings, published today in the online, open-access journal PLoS Biology, show that a molecule known as Nmnat2 provides a protective function; in its absence healthy, uninjured nerve cells start to degenerate and boosting levels of Nmnat2 can delay degeneration when the cells are injured. This suggests an exciting new therapeutic avenue for protecting nerves from disease and injury-induced degeneration.
Date: 26 January 2010
Summary:
Scientists at the Babraham Institute have discovered a novel survival factor whose rapid transport along nerve cells is crucial for keeping them alive. The same factor seems likely to be needed to keep our nerves healthy as we age. These findings, published today in the online, open-access journal PLoS Biology, show that a molecule known as Nmnat2 provides a protective function; in its absence healthy, uninjured nerve cells start to degenerate and boosting levels of Nmnat2 can delay degeneration when the cells are injured. This suggests an exciting new therapeutic avenue for protecting nerves from disease and injury-induced degeneration.
Monday, January 25, 2010
Experimental Stem Cell Treatment Arrests Acute Lung Injury in Mice, Study Shows
Source: University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston
Date: January 25, 2010
Summary:
HOUSTON -- Stem cell researchers exploring a new approach for the care of respiratory diseases report that an experimental treatment involving transplantable lung cells was associated with improved outcomes in tests on mice with acute lung injury. The lung cells were derived from human embryonic stem cells (hESCs). Findings by investigators at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston are scheduled to appear in the March issue of Molecular Therapy.
Date: January 25, 2010
Summary:
HOUSTON -- Stem cell researchers exploring a new approach for the care of respiratory diseases report that an experimental treatment involving transplantable lung cells was associated with improved outcomes in tests on mice with acute lung injury. The lung cells were derived from human embryonic stem cells (hESCs). Findings by investigators at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston are scheduled to appear in the March issue of Molecular Therapy.
Friday, January 22, 2010
Scientists shed new light on walking
Source: Karolinska Institutet
Date: 22 January 2010
Summary:
Researchers at the medical university Karolinska Institutet have created a genetically modified mouse in which certain neurons can be activated by blue light. Shining blue light on brainstems or spinal cords isolated from these mice produces walking-like motor activity. The findings, which are published in the scientific journal Nature Neuroscience, are of potential significance to the recovery of walking after spinal cord injury.
Date: 22 January 2010
Summary:
Researchers at the medical university Karolinska Institutet have created a genetically modified mouse in which certain neurons can be activated by blue light. Shining blue light on brainstems or spinal cords isolated from these mice produces walking-like motor activity. The findings, which are published in the scientific journal Nature Neuroscience, are of potential significance to the recovery of walking after spinal cord injury.
Thursday, January 21, 2010
New Concoction Reprograms Differentiated Cells Into Pluripotent Stem Cells
Source: Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR)
Date: January 22, 2010
Summary:
Scientists from the Genome Institute of Singapore (GIS), a biomedical research institute of the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), and the National University of Singapore (NUS), have discovered a transcription factor, known as Nr5a2, which is responsible for the reprogramming of differentiated cells into stem cells. Stem cells generated from differentiated cells are known as induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS cells). This find, published on January 21, 2010 in the prestigious journal Cell Stem Cell, is especially crucial in the area of cell therapy-based medicine.
Date: January 22, 2010
Summary:
Scientists from the Genome Institute of Singapore (GIS), a biomedical research institute of the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), and the National University of Singapore (NUS), have discovered a transcription factor, known as Nr5a2, which is responsible for the reprogramming of differentiated cells into stem cells. Stem cells generated from differentiated cells are known as induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS cells). This find, published on January 21, 2010 in the prestigious journal Cell Stem Cell, is especially crucial in the area of cell therapy-based medicine.
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
New Way to Generate Abundant Functional Blood Vessel Cells From Human Stem Cells Discovered
Source: Weill Cornell Medical College
Date: January 20, 2010
Summary:
NEW YORK (Jan. 20, 2010) — In a significant step toward restoring healthy blood circulation to treat a variety of diseases, a team of scientists at Weill Cornell Medical College has developed a new technique and described a novel mechanism for turning human embryonic and pluripotent stem cells into plentiful, functional endothelial cells, which are critical to the formation of blood vessels. Endothelial cells form the interior "lining" of all blood vessels and are the main component of capillaries, the smallest and most abundant vessels. In the near future, the researchers believe, it will be possible to inject these cells into humans to heal damaged organs and tissues.
The new approach allows scientists to generate virtually unlimited quantities of durable endothelial cells — more than 40-fold the quantity possible with previous approaches. Based on insights into the genetic mechanisms that regulate how embryonic stem cells form vascular endothelial cells, the approach may also yield new ways to study genetically inherited vascular diseases. The study appears in the advance online issue of Nature Biotechnology.
Date: January 20, 2010
Summary:
NEW YORK (Jan. 20, 2010) — In a significant step toward restoring healthy blood circulation to treat a variety of diseases, a team of scientists at Weill Cornell Medical College has developed a new technique and described a novel mechanism for turning human embryonic and pluripotent stem cells into plentiful, functional endothelial cells, which are critical to the formation of blood vessels. Endothelial cells form the interior "lining" of all blood vessels and are the main component of capillaries, the smallest and most abundant vessels. In the near future, the researchers believe, it will be possible to inject these cells into humans to heal damaged organs and tissues.
The new approach allows scientists to generate virtually unlimited quantities of durable endothelial cells — more than 40-fold the quantity possible with previous approaches. Based on insights into the genetic mechanisms that regulate how embryonic stem cells form vascular endothelial cells, the approach may also yield new ways to study genetically inherited vascular diseases. The study appears in the advance online issue of Nature Biotechnology.
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Stem Cells Become Functioning Neurons in Mice
Source: HealthDay News
Date: January. 19, 2010
Summary:
HealthDay News reports researchers have enabled neurons grown from embryonic stem cells to form propper connections in mice:
Date: January. 19, 2010
Summary:
HealthDay News reports researchers have enabled neurons grown from embryonic stem cells to form propper connections in mice:
Transplanted neurons grown from embryonic stem cells were able to form proper brain connections in newborn mice, U.S. scientists report. Researchers from Stanford Medical School say their study was the first to show that stem cells can be directed to become specific brain cells and to link correctly in the brain. The findings, they say, could help in efforts to develop new treatments for spinal cord injuries and nervous system diseases such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS, also called Lou Gehrig's disease.
Monday, January 18, 2010
“Jekyll and Hyde” cell may hold key to muscular dystrophy, fibrosis treatment: UBC research
Source:University of British Columbia
Date: January 18, 2010
Summary:
A team of University of British Columbia researchers has identified fat-producing cells that possess “dual-personalities” and may further the development of treatments for muscle diseases such as muscular dystrophy and fibrosis. The team found a new type of fibro/adipogenic progenitors, or FAPs, that generate fatty fibrous tissues when transplanted into damaged muscles in mice. Progenitors are similar to stem cells in their capacity to differentiate, but are limited in the number of times they can divide. The findings are published in the current issue of Nature Cell Biology.
Date: January 18, 2010
Summary:
A team of University of British Columbia researchers has identified fat-producing cells that possess “dual-personalities” and may further the development of treatments for muscle diseases such as muscular dystrophy and fibrosis. The team found a new type of fibro/adipogenic progenitors, or FAPs, that generate fatty fibrous tissues when transplanted into damaged muscles in mice. Progenitors are similar to stem cells in their capacity to differentiate, but are limited in the number of times they can divide. The findings are published in the current issue of Nature Cell Biology.
Discovery may aid transplantation and regenerative medicine
Source: The Babraham Institute
Date: 18 January 2010
Summary:
Research from the Babraham Institute, reported in the Journal of Experimental Medicine, provides new insights into how our immune system produces T cells, a type of white blood cell that is an essential part of the body's immune surveillance system for fighting infection. The findings pave the way for a new means of making purified T cells, which gets over one of many hurdles faced in the use of T cells in regenerative medicine and transplantations, and in addition will open up new avenues of research and applications in drug and toxicity testing in industry.
Date: 18 January 2010
Summary:
Research from the Babraham Institute, reported in the Journal of Experimental Medicine, provides new insights into how our immune system produces T cells, a type of white blood cell that is an essential part of the body's immune surveillance system for fighting infection. The findings pave the way for a new means of making purified T cells, which gets over one of many hurdles faced in the use of T cells in regenerative medicine and transplantations, and in addition will open up new avenues of research and applications in drug and toxicity testing in industry.
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Scientists identify molecule that inhibits stem cell differentiation
Source: Stanford University
Date: January 17, 2010
Summary:
Like as not, the recent holidays probably included some reminiscing about family history. There may even have been some remonstrations and recommendations from well-meaning elders to younger kin about their lives’ paths. It turns out stem cells have a similar need for long-term memory to help them know who they are and what they should become. Scientists at the Stanford University School of Medicine have now identified a molecule involved in keeping skin stem cells on the straight and narrow. The molecule, called DNMT1, helps the stem cells know whether to self-renew to create more stem cells, or to differentiate into specialized, non-dividing adult skin cells. It’s important because too much self-renewal can lead to cancer, and too little can inhibit wound healing.
Date: January 17, 2010
Summary:
Like as not, the recent holidays probably included some reminiscing about family history. There may even have been some remonstrations and recommendations from well-meaning elders to younger kin about their lives’ paths. It turns out stem cells have a similar need for long-term memory to help them know who they are and what they should become. Scientists at the Stanford University School of Medicine have now identified a molecule involved in keeping skin stem cells on the straight and narrow. The molecule, called DNMT1, helps the stem cells know whether to self-renew to create more stem cells, or to differentiate into specialized, non-dividing adult skin cells. It’s important because too much self-renewal can lead to cancer, and too little can inhibit wound healing.
First successful use of expanded umbilical-cord blood units to treat leukemia
Source: Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center
Date: January 17, 2010
Summary:
SEATTLE – Scientists at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center have cleared a major technical hurdle to making umbilical-cord-blood transplants a more widely-used method for treating leukemia and other blood cancers. In a study published in the Jan.17 edition of Nature Medicine, Colleen Delaney, M.D., and colleagues describe the first use of a method to vastly expand the number of stem/progenitor cells from a unit of cord blood in the laboratory that were then infused into patients resulting in successful and rapid engraftment.
Date: January 17, 2010
Summary:
SEATTLE – Scientists at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center have cleared a major technical hurdle to making umbilical-cord-blood transplants a more widely-used method for treating leukemia and other blood cancers. In a study published in the Jan.17 edition of Nature Medicine, Colleen Delaney, M.D., and colleagues describe the first use of a method to vastly expand the number of stem/progenitor cells from a unit of cord blood in the laboratory that were then infused into patients resulting in successful and rapid engraftment.
Monday, January 11, 2010
Growing Replacement Bone: Study Shows that Delivering Stem Cells Improves Repair of Major Bone Injuries
Source: Georgia Institute of Technology
Date: January 11, 2010
A study published this week reinforces the potential value of stem cells in repairing major injuries involving the loss of bone structure. Georgia Tech mechanical engineering professor Robert Guldberg displays a histological image showing cellular bone and cartilage regeneration integrated with a scaffold that was implanted into a large bone defect. The study shows that delivering stem cells on a polymer scaffold to treat large areas of missing bone leads to improved bone formation and better mechanical properties compared to treatment with the scaffold alone. This type of therapeutic treatment could be a potential alternative to bone grafting operations. Details of the research were published in the early edition of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on January 11, 2010.
Date: January 11, 2010
A study published this week reinforces the potential value of stem cells in repairing major injuries involving the loss of bone structure. Georgia Tech mechanical engineering professor Robert Guldberg displays a histological image showing cellular bone and cartilage regeneration integrated with a scaffold that was implanted into a large bone defect. The study shows that delivering stem cells on a polymer scaffold to treat large areas of missing bone leads to improved bone formation and better mechanical properties compared to treatment with the scaffold alone. This type of therapeutic treatment could be a potential alternative to bone grafting operations. Details of the research were published in the early edition of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on January 11, 2010.
Thursday, January 07, 2010
Biologists Develop Efficient Genetic Modification of Human Embryonic Stem Cells
Source: University of California - San Diego
Date: January 7, 2010
Summary:
Biologists at the University of California, San Diego have developed an efficient way to genetically modify human embryonic stem cells. Their approach, which uses bacterial artificial chromosomes to swap in defective copies of genes, will make possible the rapid development of stem cell lines that can both serve as models for human genetic diseases and as testbeds on which to screen potential treatments. The technique is described in the January 8 issue of the journal Cell Stem Cell.
Date: January 7, 2010
Summary:
Biologists at the University of California, San Diego have developed an efficient way to genetically modify human embryonic stem cells. Their approach, which uses bacterial artificial chromosomes to swap in defective copies of genes, will make possible the rapid development of stem cell lines that can both serve as models for human genetic diseases and as testbeds on which to screen potential treatments. The technique is described in the January 8 issue of the journal Cell Stem Cell.
Wednesday, January 06, 2010
Enzyme Necessary for Healthy Immune System, Study Finds
Source; University of California - Los Angeles
Date: January 6, 2010
Summary:
Mice without the deoxycytidine kinase (dCK) enzyme have defects in their adaptive immune system, producing very low levels of both T and B lymphocytes, the major players involved in immune response, according to a study by researchers with UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center.
The finding could have ramifications in treating auto-immune disorders, in which the body attacks itself, and possibly certain cancers of the immune system. A drug could be developed to create lower levels of dCK in the body, thereby tamping down immune response. Such a drug might also be effective in transplant patients to decrease risk for rejection, said Dr. Caius Radu, an assistant professor of Molecular and Medical Pharmacology, a Jonsson Cancer Center researcher and senior author of the study.
The study, part of a long-term research project that has resulted in the development of a new probe for Positron Emission Tomography (PET) scanning and the creation of a non-invasive approach to observe chemotherapy at work in the body, appears this week in the early online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Date: January 6, 2010
Summary:
Mice without the deoxycytidine kinase (dCK) enzyme have defects in their adaptive immune system, producing very low levels of both T and B lymphocytes, the major players involved in immune response, according to a study by researchers with UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center.
The finding could have ramifications in treating auto-immune disorders, in which the body attacks itself, and possibly certain cancers of the immune system. A drug could be developed to create lower levels of dCK in the body, thereby tamping down immune response. Such a drug might also be effective in transplant patients to decrease risk for rejection, said Dr. Caius Radu, an assistant professor of Molecular and Medical Pharmacology, a Jonsson Cancer Center researcher and senior author of the study.
The study, part of a long-term research project that has resulted in the development of a new probe for Positron Emission Tomography (PET) scanning and the creation of a non-invasive approach to observe chemotherapy at work in the body, appears this week in the early online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Giving Cells a Fresh Start: Enzyme Wipes Developmental Slate Clean
Source: Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Date: January 6, 2010
Summary:
Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) researchers and their colleagues have identified an enzyme that can effectively wipe a cell’s developmental slate clean, essentially giving a fresh start. The enzyme, which is thought to help genetically reprogram fertilized eggs as part of normal development, may help scientists create stem cells and arrest the growth of cancers.
The new research, reported in an online article in the journal Nature on January 6, 2010, represents a collaborative effort of scientists from the laboratories of HHMI investigator Yi Zhang at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and Teruhiko Wakayama at the Center for Developmental Biology in Kobe, Japan. Coauthors of the article are Yuki Okada and Kwonho Hong, postdoctoral researchers in Zhang’s lab, and Kazuo Yamagata of the Wakayama lab.
Date: January 6, 2010
Summary:
Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) researchers and their colleagues have identified an enzyme that can effectively wipe a cell’s developmental slate clean, essentially giving a fresh start. The enzyme, which is thought to help genetically reprogram fertilized eggs as part of normal development, may help scientists create stem cells and arrest the growth of cancers.
The new research, reported in an online article in the journal Nature on January 6, 2010, represents a collaborative effort of scientists from the laboratories of HHMI investigator Yi Zhang at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and Teruhiko Wakayama at the Center for Developmental Biology in Kobe, Japan. Coauthors of the article are Yuki Okada and Kwonho Hong, postdoctoral researchers in Zhang’s lab, and Kazuo Yamagata of the Wakayama lab.
Study identifies a protein complex possibly crucial for triggering embryo development
Source: University of North Carolina School of Medicine
Date: January 6, 2010
Summary:
Researchers at the UNC School of Medicine have have discovered a protein complex that appears to play a significant role in erasing epigenetic instructions on sperm DNA, essentially creating a blank slate for the different cell types of a new embryo to develop. The protein complex – called elongator – could prove valuable for changing cell fate, such as converting cancer cells to normal cells, as it may be able to reactivate tumor suppressor genes by removing the epigenetic modifications that often prevent them from curbing the proliferation of cancer cells. The discovery may also have implications for stem cell research by providing a tool to quickly reprogram adult cells to possess the same attributes as embryonic stem cells, but without the ethical or safety issues of cells currently used for such studies. The results of the study appear on-line in the Jan. 6, 2010 issue of the journal Nature.
Date: January 6, 2010
Summary:
Researchers at the UNC School of Medicine have have discovered a protein complex that appears to play a significant role in erasing epigenetic instructions on sperm DNA, essentially creating a blank slate for the different cell types of a new embryo to develop. The protein complex – called elongator – could prove valuable for changing cell fate, such as converting cancer cells to normal cells, as it may be able to reactivate tumor suppressor genes by removing the epigenetic modifications that often prevent them from curbing the proliferation of cancer cells. The discovery may also have implications for stem cell research by providing a tool to quickly reprogram adult cells to possess the same attributes as embryonic stem cells, but without the ethical or safety issues of cells currently used for such studies. The results of the study appear on-line in the Jan. 6, 2010 issue of the journal Nature.
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