Team sheds light on stem cells
Map data ©2007 Tele Atlas -
- Like a Swiss Army knife with its blades open, stem cells can form a
variety of tissues, but keeping the blades from closing and limiting
their capability bedevils stem cell researchers.
Before most stem cell therapies can be practical, science must find
an answer to that conundrum. This week, researchers at Johns Hopkins
University came one step closer, identifying one of the first
switches that limits adult neural stem cells.
"Right now our understanding of that process in terms of being able
to direct that process, is really very limited," said Nicholas
Gaiano, assistant professor at Johns Hopkins Institute for Cell
Engineering.
Gaiano reported on a genetic switch that transforms base neural stem
cells into more restricted "progenitor" cells in this week's journal
Nature. Scientists so far have been limited to allowing stem cells to
divide, and separating needed tissue types from the dross, he said.
People who read this also read:
Dickey: Warriors can't let Nelson get away
Garcia: Mayoral race an only-in-S.F. circus
Gonzales resigns, Democrats vow to continue probes
Vick Submits Guilty Plea to Judge
Stocks Head for Lower Opening
Working with embryonic mouse brains, Gaiano's team showed that a
specific protein may prevent neural stem cells from taking their
first step toward becoming neurons.
Like permanently closing one of the blades on the knife, they found
eliminating a protein called DBF1 affected a well-known protein
reaction called Notch — which is involved in stem cell
differentiation. They could not coax the cell back into a stem cell
state, Gaiano's team reported.
The discovery is one step along the way to making stem cell research
more predictable — and the vision of stem-cell therapy one step
closer to reality, Gaiano said. "The difference between trial and
error and really understanding what can happen is like hitting pay
dirt in terms of being able to do useful things with those cells."
It's a question affecting more than $250 million in research money
from the federal government, according to the White House.
The Notch reaction is common to other stem cell types, including
blood stem cells, he said, as well as many cancer tissues. Better
understanding the effects of DBF1 could lead to breakthroughs in many
fields.
khille@baltimoreexa
http://www.examiner
«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
StemCells subscribers may also be interested in these sites:
Children's Neurobiological Solutions
http://www.CNSfoundation.org/
Cord Blood Registry
http://www.CordBlood.com/at.cgi?a=150123
The CNS Healing Group
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CNS_Healing
____________________________________________
«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
Change settings via the Web (Yahoo! ID required)
Change settings via email: Switch delivery to Daily Digest | Switch format to Traditional
Visit Your Group | Yahoo! Groups Terms of Use | Unsubscribe
__,_._,___
