stem cells tagged posts

The images above show, from left to right, functioning stem cells, stem cells no longer functioning due to Hutchinson-Gilford Progeria syndrome (HGPS), and stem cells previously not functioning due to HGPS that were rebooted by the embryonic stem cell gene Nanog. Credit: Stelios Andreadis.

The discovery may lead to treatments for atherosclerosis, osteoporosis, Alzheimer’s and other age-related disorders. The fountain of youth may reside in an embryonic stem cell gene named Nanog. In a series of experiments at the University at Buffalo, the gene kicked into action dormant cellular processes that are key to preventing weak bones, clogged arteries and other telltale signs of growing old...

The green-labelled cells show a basal cell carcinoma in mouse tail epidermis derived from a single mutant stem cell and expanding out of the normal epidermis stained in red. Credit: Adriana Sánchez-Danés

Scientists have identified for the first time the ‘cell of origin’ – in ie the first cell from which the cancer grows – in basal cell carcinoma, the most common form of skin cancer, and followed the chain of events that lead to the growth of these invasive tumours. Our skin is kept healthy by a constant turnover. The process is maintained by ‘progenitor’ cells – the progeny of stem cells – that divide and ‘differentiate’ into fully-functional skin cells to replenish dying skin...

The gene Prkci promotes the generation of differentiated cells (red). However if Prkci activity is reduced or absent, neural stem cells (green) are promoted. Credit: In Kyoung Mah

When it comes to stem cells, too much of a good thing isn’t wonderful: producing too many new stem cells may lead to cancer; producing too few inhibits the repair and maintenance of the body. Medical researchers now describe a key gene in maintaining this critical balance between producing too many and too few stem cells.

Prkci is the gene influences whether stem cells self-renew to produce more stem cells, or differentiate into more specialized cell types, such as blood or nerves. In their experiments, the team grew mouse embryonic stem cells, which lacked Prkci, into embryo-like structures in the laboratory...