Study Probes Difference Between Embryonic, Adult Stem Cells
Wednesday, October 10, 2007; 12:00 AM
WEDNESDAY, Oct. 10 (HealthDay News) -- Adult stem cells lack a
protein called Oct4, which helps maintain embryonic stem cells in an
undifferentiated state, U.S. researchers report.
The findings suggest that the ability of stem cells to change into
any kind of cell is regulated differently in adult and embryonic stem
cells, the researchers said. The study also challenges findings from
more than 50 studies that concluded that Oct4waspresent in adult stem
cells.
Using three independent detection methods to analyze six types of
tissue in which Oct4-positive adult stem cells have been reported,
the authors of the new study concluded that Oct4 was not present, or
was present at only statistically insignificant levels, in these
tissues.
The researchers at the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research in
Cambridge, Mass., also found that Oct4 is not required to maintain
mouse adult stem cells in their undifferentiated state and that adult
tissues functioned normally when theOct4gene was deleted.
The study was published online Oct. 10 in the journalCell Stem Cells.
Earlier studies may have misapplied analytical techniques or worked
with cell cultures that had spent too much time in an incubator, said
author Christopher Lengner, a postdoctoral fellow at the Whitehead
Institute.
He and his team are now studying the mechanisms used by adult stem
cells to change into any kind of cell.
"Is there a common pathway that governs stemness in adult stem cells,
or does each stem cell have its own pathway? We don't know yet,"
Lengner said in a prepared statement.
More information
The U.S. National Institutes of Health has more about stem cells.
SOURCE: Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research, news release,
Oct. 10, 2007
http://www.washingt
dyn/content/
«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
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
__,_._,___
