Navigation Links
Many paths, few destinations: How stem cells decide what they'll be
Date:5/21/2008

experience inherent fluctuations in gene activity and protein production that can sometimes be enough to tip the balance and cause them to fall into other attractor states namely, red or white blood cell progenitors. Specific growth factors can tip the balance, but these factors are part of an overall landscape that guides cells toward different destinies. A marble going downhill will eventually end up in a valley, but which valley it falls into depends on the shape of the landscape.

Growth or differentiation factors merely increases the probability that a cell will grow or differentiate, says Donald Ingber, MD, PhD, a co-author on the paper who, with Huang, served as Changs mentor on the project. Cell differentiation is an ensemble property, a collective behavior, inherent in the systems architecture and set of regulatory interactions.

A previous study by Huang established, for the first time, that a given cell can exhibit a very different pattern of gene activity from its neighbor, taking a very different path through the landscape, yet end up in the same valley. He and his colleagues exposed precursor cells to two completely different drugs (DMSO and retinoic acid) and closely monitored the cells gene expression. Both groups of cells eventually differentiated to become neutrophils (a type of white blood cell), but the molecular paths they took and their patterns of gene expression were completely different until day seven, when they finally converged.

The landscape analogy and collective decision-making are concepts unfamiliar to biologists, who have tended to focus on single genes acting in linear pathways. This made the work initially difficult to publish, notes Huang. Its hard for biologists to move from thinking about single pathways to thinking about a landscape, which is the mathematical manifestation of the entirety of all the possible pathways, he says. A single pathway is not a good way to understand a whole process. Our goal
'/>"/>

Contact: Bess Andrews
elizabeth.andrews@childrens.harvard.edu
617-919-3110
Children's Hospital Boston
Source:Eurekalert  

0

GOOD

Page: 1 2 3 4 5

Related biology technology :

1. New efficiency record for solar cells
2. Neuralstem Responds to New StemCells, Inc. Lawsuit
3. Neuralstem Sues StemCells, Inc. Over New Patent
4. Oncolytics Biotech Inc. Announces Journal of Immunology Publication on Reovirus Activation of Dendritic Cells
5. REVISED: BrainCells Inc. Expands Series B Financing to $50 Million
6. BrainCells Inc. Expands Series B Financing to $50 Million
7. Stem Cells From Menstrual Blood Show Therapeutic Potential
8. Method to deliver molecules within embryonic stem cells improves differentiation
9. BrainCells Inc. Completes $30 Million Initial Closing of Series B Financing
10. NeoStem Featured in WCBS-TV Health Watch Segment on Adult Stem Cells
11. NeoStems Denis Rodgerson, Ph.D. to Lecture on Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine at University of Nevada Las Vegas Campus
Post Your Comments:
*Name:
*Comment:
*Email:
Related Image:
Many paths, few destinations: How stem cells decide what they'll be
Many paths, few destinations: How stem cells decide what they'll be
(Date:12/15/2009)... DIEGO, Dec. 15 Aethlon Medical, Inc. ... Dr. Jeff Schorey and Dr. Wayne Comper ... Exosome Sciences, Inc. (ESI). Both Dr. Schorey and ... field. ESI, a wholly owned subsidiary of Aethlon ... that the Hemopurifier®, a medical device being advanced ...
(Date:12/15/2009)... -- The Center for Business Intelligence (CBI), ... to announce the full agenda for the ... Congress . The forum will take place ... 2010. ,, Over 1,500 senior-level Finance, Accounting, ... premier event since its inception, and this ...
(Date:12/14/2009)... and THOUSAND OAKS, Calif., Dec. 14 ... Amgen Inc.(Nasdaq: AMGN ) today announced that ... worldwide rights to Array,s small-molecule glucokinase activator program, ... 1 clinical trial in patients with Type 2 ... the agreement, Array will receive an upfront payment ...
(Date:12/14/2009)... Scientific Corporation (NYSE: BSX ) today announced ... aggregate principal amount of its senior notes under the ... of $850 million of 4.50 percent notes due January ... 2020 and $300 million of 7.375 percent notes due ... net proceeds for general corporate purposes, including prepaying its ...
Breaking Biology Technology:Aethlon Medical Appoints Jeff Schorey and Wayne Comper to Exosome Sciences Advisory Board 2Aethlon Medical Appoints Jeff Schorey and Wayne Comper to Exosome Sciences Advisory Board 3Aethlon Medical Appoints Jeff Schorey and Wayne Comper to Exosome Sciences Advisory Board 4Aethlon Medical Appoints Jeff Schorey and Wayne Comper to Exosome Sciences Advisory Board 5CBI Announces the Agenda for Their 6th Annual Pharmaceutical/Biotech Accounting and Reporting Congress 2Array BioPharma and Amgen Partner in Type 2 Diabetes 2Array BioPharma and Amgen Partner in Type 2 Diabetes 3Array BioPharma and Amgen Partner in Type 2 Diabetes 4Array BioPharma and Amgen Partner in Type 2 Diabetes 5Array BioPharma and Amgen Partner in Type 2 Diabetes 6Array BioPharma and Amgen Partner in Type 2 Diabetes 7Boston Scientific Announces Completion of $2 Billion Senior Notes Offering 2Boston Scientific Announces Completion of $2 Billion Senior Notes Offering 3
... and KENILWORTH, N.J., Nov. 6 Centocor,Inc., ... today that an estimated one million patients ... leading anti-tumor necrosis,factor (TNF)-alpha therapy worldwide. In ... patients worldwide than all other anti-TNF-alpha agents,combined. ...
... and VALAIS, Switzerland, Nov. 5 ,Lantibio, Inc. and TRB ... a subsidiary of Alcon, Inc. (NYSE: ACL ) ... Eye Syndrome product. The,product consists of a TRB patented ... the US under an IND by a,subsidiary of Lantibio. ...
... to 3Q06 to $43.5 Million in 3Q07 -,- 3Q07 Net Income Increased 58% ... ... - Company Provides Financial Outlook for 2007 and ... AOB ), a leading manufacturer and distributor of,plant-based pharmaceutical and nutraceutical products, today ...
Other Biology Technology:REMICADE(R) Becomes First Anti-TNF Biologic Therapy to Treat One Million Patients Worldwide 2REMICADE(R) Becomes First Anti-TNF Biologic Therapy to Treat One Million Patients Worldwide 3REMICADE(R) Becomes First Anti-TNF Biologic Therapy to Treat One Million Patients Worldwide 4REMICADE(R) Becomes First Anti-TNF Biologic Therapy to Treat One Million Patients Worldwide 5REMICADE(R) Becomes First Anti-TNF Biologic Therapy to Treat One Million Patients Worldwide 6REMICADE(R) Becomes First Anti-TNF Biologic Therapy to Treat One Million Patients Worldwide 7REMICADE(R) Becomes First Anti-TNF Biologic Therapy to Treat One Million Patients Worldwide 8REMICADE(R) Becomes First Anti-TNF Biologic Therapy to Treat One Million Patients Worldwide 9REMICADE(R) Becomes First Anti-TNF Biologic Therapy to Treat One Million Patients Worldwide 10REMICADE(R) Becomes First Anti-TNF Biologic Therapy to Treat One Million Patients Worldwide 11REMICADE(R) Becomes First Anti-TNF Biologic Therapy to Treat One Million Patients Worldwide 12Lantibio and TRB Chemedica Announce Licensing Agreement with Alcon for US Development and Marketing of Dry Eye Drug 2Lantibio and TRB Chemedica Announce Licensing Agreement with Alcon for US Development and Marketing of Dry Eye Drug 3Lantibio and TRB Chemedica Announce Licensing Agreement with Alcon for US Development and Marketing of Dry Eye Drug 4American Oriental Bioengineering Reports Third Quarter 2007 Financial Results 2American Oriental Bioengineering Reports Third Quarter 2007 Financial Results 3American Oriental Bioengineering Reports Third Quarter 2007 Financial Results 4American Oriental Bioengineering Reports Third Quarter 2007 Financial Results 5American Oriental Bioengineering Reports Third Quarter 2007 Financial Results 6American Oriental Bioengineering Reports Third Quarter 2007 Financial Results 7American Oriental Bioengineering Reports Third Quarter 2007 Financial Results 8
(Date:12/15/2009)... 2009 Economics, environmental impacts, social dynamics, and ... the overall success of an agroecosystem. Positive or ... forcing individuals and social groups to continuously adapt ... , Experiential learning theory suggests that knowledge ... experiences. Such lessons are especially valuable for environmental ...
(Date:12/15/2009)... at VIB and Ghent University in Flanders, Belgium have ... shock, the major cause of death in intensive care ... gas in mice with septic shock, researchers Anje Cauwels ... much less damage, while their chances of survival increased ... generally assumed that nitric oxide is responsible for the ...
(Date:12/15/2009)... German ., Despite the fact that physical ... vary as to how space is encoded in their ... such as ,left, right, front, back, to talk about ... east, west, at all times for all scales: "The ... an snake by your Northern leg". Whether not only ...
Breaking Biology News(10 mins):Experiential learning teaches change and adaptation 2Septic shock: Nitric oxide beneficial after all 2More than a jump to the left 2Sinus Buster Paves the Way for Natural OTC Products and Mainstream Success 59428 1Sinus Buster Paves the Way for Natural OTC Products and Mainstream Success 59428 2STEMCELL Technologies Inc Announces Release of Defined Animal Protein Free Maintenance Medium for hESCs and hiPSCs 59424 1STEMCELL Technologies Inc Announces Release of Defined Animal Protein Free Maintenance Medium for hESCs and hiPSCs 59424 2One Day Management Training Program to be Offered November 18 in Boston Area 59420 1One Day Management Training Program to be Offered November 18 in Boston Area 59420 2One Day Management Training Program to be Offered November 18 in Boston Area 59420 3One Day Management Training Program to be Offered November 18 in Boston Area 59420 4One Day Management Training Program to be Offered November 18 in Boston Area 59420 5
... found that fresh water systems from across the northeastern United ... and the White Mountains of New Hampshire are becoming saltier ... Not only are there more roads, but the amount of ... fresh water systems reports Sujay Kaushal and colleagues in ...
... mild to moderate depression, say researchers in this week's ... which shows how human health and wellbeing are dependent ... study was carried out in Honduras and involved 30 ... assigned to the experimental group and half to the ...
... a wound in certain plants like roses and grapevines develop ... common soil bacterium that is able to "smell" the wound ... Steve Winans says that the pathogen Agrobacterium tumefaciens ... infection, which can slip into the plant's cells and their ...
Other Biology News:Fresh water affected by salt from deicing roads 2Swimming with dolphins can alleviate depression 2Plant wounds trigger bacteria 2