Source: Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute
Date: May 5, 2011
Summary:
Early in embryonic development, the neural crest - a transient group of stem cells - gives rise to parts of the nervous system and several other tissues. But little is known about what determines which cells become neurons and which become other cell types. A team led by Dr. Alexey Terskikh at Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute (Sanford-Burnham) recently found that expression of a gene called SOX2 maintains the potential for neural crest stem cells to become neurons in the peripheral nervous system, where they interface with muscles and other organs. Their results, published online May 5 by the journal Cell Stem Cell, could help better inform therapies aimed at neurocristopathies, diseases caused by defects in the neural crest or neurons, which include microphthamia and CHARGE syndrome.
