pluripotent stem cells tagged posts

Researchers have used pluripotent stem cells to make thymus organoids that support the development of patient-specific T cells, researchers report Marc...

Old human cells return to a more youthful and vigorous state after being induced to briefly express a panel of proteins involved in embryonic development, according to a new study by researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine.

The researchers also found that elderly mice regained youthful strength after their existing muscle stem cells were subjected to the rejuvenating protein treatment and transplanted back into their bodies.

The proteins, known as Yamanaka factors, are commonly used to transform an adult cell into what are known as induced pluripotent stem cells, or iPS cells...

OSKM-Induced XEN Cells Arise during Reprogramming

The stem cell discovery could also offer new ways to study birth defects and other reproductive problems. Tony Parenti, MSU cell and molecular biology graduate student, unearthed the new cells – induced XEN cells, or iXEN – in a cellular trash pile, of sorts. “Other scientists may have seen these cells before, but they were considered to be defective, or cancer-like,” said Parenti. “Rather than ignore these cells that have been mislabeled as waste byproducts, we found gold in the garbage.”

A great deal of stem cell research focuses on new ways to make and use pluripotent stem cells. Pluripotent stem cells can be created by reactivating embryonic genes to “reprogram” mature adult cells...

Mitosis, stage four (stock image). At the start of an individual’s life there is a single fertilized egg cell. One day after fertilization there are two cells, after two days four, after three days eight and so on, until there are billions of cells at birth. The order in which our genes are activated after fertilization has remained one of the last uncharted territories of human development. Credit: © Tatiana Shepeleva / Fotolia

The fertilized egg gene mapping provides an in-depth understanding of early embryonic development in humans – and scientists now hope that the results will help finding for example new therapies against infertility and genetic disease. There are ~23,000 human genes in total...