Source: Stanford University School of Medicine
Date: February 22, 2012
Summary:
A tiny piece of RNA plays a key role in determining when muscle stem cells from mice activate and start to divide, according to researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine. The finding may help scientists learn how to prepare human muscle stem cells for use in therapies for conditions such as muscular dystrophy and aging by controlling their activation state.
It’s the first time that a small regulatory RNA, called a microRNA, has been implicated in the maintenance of the adult stem cell resting, or quiescent, state. The research is published Feb. 23 in Nature. Postdoctoral scholar Tom Cheung, PhD, is the first author of the study.
