Source: Medical Research Council
Date: 27 September 2010
Summary:
Scientists at the Medical Research Council (MRC) have discovered that a gene called Sox9 plays a critical role in how stem cells behave and is crucial in the development of the central nervous system. These results could potentially help researchers manipulate stem cells in the brain and develop new regenerative treatments for stroke, Alzheimer’s disease or brain tumours. This study shows for the first time in mice is that the gene Sox9 is required for the neuroepithelial cells to turn into these stem cells, and that it continues to be required throughout development and stem cells in the adult brain to retain their properties, such as the ability to self-renew and differentiate. The study is published in the journal Nature Neuroscience.
Reuters also published a news story on this study.
