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Researchers discover mechanism for multiplying adult stem cells

ar and ovarian cancer. Still, the most provocative finding was that "Oct4 causes tumors by preventing adult stem cells in these tissues from differentiating," says Hochedlinger. In other words, with Oct4 active, the stem cells could replicate themselves indefinitely, but could not produce mature tissue.

One of the main obstacles with adult stem cell research is that, in order for these cells to be therapeutically useful, researchers need to multiply them in the lab. But when adult stem cells are isolated, they immediately start growing into their designated tissue type. It would be ideal if scientists had a way to take a liver adult stem cell and multiply it in a dish without having it form mature liver tissue.

This experiment showed that when Oct4 was reactivated, the adult stem cells in those tissues continued to replicate without forming mature tissue. In a mammal's body, this type of cell behavior causes tumors. But under the right laboratory conditions, it could be a powerful tool.

"This may allow you to expand adult stem cells for therapy," observes Hochedlinger. "For instance, you could remove a person's skin tissue, put it in a dish, isolate the skin stem cells, then subject it to an environment that activates Oct4. This would cause the cells to multiply yet remain in their stem cell state. And because this process is reversible, after you have a critical mass of these cells, you can then place them back into the person where they would grow into healthy tissue."

"This could be very beneficial for burn victims," Jaenisch adds.

Researchers in his lab are also exploring whether activating Oct4 in somatic cells, such as skin cells, would make it easier for these cells to be reprogrammed when used as donors for nuclear transplantation. If so, it may help scientists more efficiently "customize" embryonic stem cells that could be used to treat diseases such as diabetes or Parkinson's.


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Source:Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research


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