Stem Cell Differentiation Is Triggered By A Key Protein

Featured Article Academic Journal Main Category: Stem Cell Research Also Included In: Biology / Biochemistry Article Date: 07 Feb 2013 - 12:00 PST

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The team, from the Medical Research Council Centre for Regenerative Medicine at the University of Edinburgh in the UK, describe their findinds in the 7 February issue of Cell Reports.

Senior author Sally Lowell, who leads the Embryonic Stem Cell Differentiation group at the Centre, says in a statement that their finding "gives us better insight into the crucially important first step stem cells take to differentiate into other cell types."

"Understanding how and when this happens could help to improve the way in which we are able to control this process," she adds.

In degenerative conditions such as Parkinson's disease, liver disease, multiple sclerosis and motor neurone disease, specialized cells become useless or die off.

Stem cells are cells that have not yet become specialized, they have the potential to become any cell of the body. One goal of stem cell research is to find ways of using stem cells to create new cells to replace those wasted in degenerative diseases.

However, one area that is not well understood is the events surrounding the point when the stem cells begin to differentiate into specialized cells.

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Stem Cell Differentiation Is Triggered By A Key Protein