Source: University of Edinburgh
Date: August 18, 2010
Summary:
Scientists from the Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne in Switzerland and the University of Edinburgh
have reprogrammed stem cells from a key organ in the immune system in a development that could have implications for tissue regeneration. Their research shows that it is possible to convert one stem type to another without the need for genetic modification.
The researchers used rat models to grow stem cells from the thymus - an organ important for our immune systems - in the laboratory using conditions for growing hair follicle skin stem cells. When the cells were transplanted into developing skin, they were able to maintain skin and hair for more than a year. The transplanted follicles outperformed naturally-produced hair follicle stem cells, which are only able to heal and repair skin for three weeks. Once they were transplanted, the genetic markers of the cells changed to be more similar to those of hair follicle stem cells. The research, published in the journal Nature, shows that triggers from the surrounding environment - in this case from the skin - can reprogramme stem cells to become tissues they are not normally able to generate.
