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.
