USC stem cell study sheds new light on cell mechanism
“Our study suggests that what we believe about how embryonic stem cell self-renewal is controlled is wrong,” says Qi-Long Ying, Ph.D., assistant professor of Cell and Neurobiology at the Keck School of Medicine of USC, researcher at the Eli and Edythe Broad Center for Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research at USC, and lead author of the paper. “Our findings will likely change the research direction of many stem cell laboratories.”
Contrary to the current understanding of stem cell self-renewal and differentiation, the findings suggest that embryonic stem cells will remain undifferentiated if they are shielded from differentiation signals. By applying small molecules that block the chemicals from activating the differentiation process, the natural default of the cell is to self-renew, or multiply, as generic stem cells.
“This study presents a completely new paradigm for understanding how to grow embryonic stem cells in the laboratory,” says Martin Pera, Ph.D., director of the Eli and Edythe Broad Center for Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research at USC. “The discovery has major implications for large scale production of specialized cells, such as brain, heart muscle and insulin producing cells, for future therapeutic use.”
Embryonic stem cells have only been derived from a very small number of species.
“We believe the process we discovered in mice may facilitate the derivation of embryonic stem cells from species like pigs, cows or other large animals, which have not been done before,” continues Ying. “If deriving embryonic stem cells from cows, for instance, is possible, then perhaps in the future cows might be able to produce milk containing medicines.”
With better understanding of the multiplication process of embryonic stem cells, researchers have additional insight on tumor cell growth as these cells share similar qualities. “Our study reveals part of the little known process of how embryonic stem cells multiplication is regulated. This is important for us in understanding how to control tumor cell growth moving forward in cancer research,” says Ying.
More information on the Eli and Edythe Broad Center for Stem Cell Research and Regenerative Medicine at USC can be found at stemcell.usc.edu.
This research was funded by the Medical Research Council and the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council of the UK, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, and by the European Commission Framework VI project EuroStemCell. Philip Cohen is a Royal Society Research Professor and Austin Smith is a Medical Research Council Professor.
Latest stories
- Most Low-Income Children Keep Health Insurance Despite Premium Hike February 10, 2012 11:43 AM
- Ray Irani, Michael Waterman Elected to NAE February 10, 2012 10:35 AM
- MSW@USC Student to Compete in 2012 Paralympics February 10, 2012 9:22 AM
-
For Journalists »
-
USC in the News
for 2/8/2012 »-
The Chronicle of Higher Education mentioned USC’s $6 billion fundraising campaign. The story noted that USC had already raised $1 billion in a “quiet phase,” including the $200 million naming gift from USC Trustee and alumnus David Dornsife and wife Dana Dornsife to the USC Dornsife College.
The Guardian (U.K.) highlighted two major gifts to USC in a list of the 10 biggest philanthropic benefactors in America. The list included the $200 million naming gift from USC Trustee and alumnus David Dornsife and wife Dana Dornsife to the USC Dornsife College, and the $110 million gift from USC Trustee and USC Viterbi School alumnus John Mork and wife Julie to create the USC Mork Family Scholars Program.
The New York Times featured the USC U.S.-China Institute documentary “Assignment: China — The Week that Changed the World.” The documentary, part of a series, examines media coverage of the 1972 Nixon trip that reshaped U.S.-China relations after a quarter century of isolation and hostility. “People look back now and take it for granted that the outcome was preordained,” said the institute’s Mike Chinoy, who produced the documentary. Voice of America also featured the story.
Los Angeles Times featured the Oscar Senti-meter, a tool developed by the USC Annenberg School, Los Angeles Times and IBM that analyzes thousands of tweets about the Academy Awards nominees. The story noted that Mexican actor Demian Bechir received an enormous boost on Twitter the day of the nominations, with a total of 6,893 tweets mentioning him, a 47-fold increase from the day before. The story noted the tool uses language-recognition technology developed in collaboration with USC Viterbi School’s Signal Analysis and Interpretation Lab.
The Times of India (India) featured a three-day medical emergency training workshop organized in association with USC. At the workshop, held at GCS Medical College in India, 50 doctors and more than 100 paramedics learned how to improve emergency support systems. William Mallon of the Keck School of USC said that discussion topics included the use of portable ultrasonic devices to scan patients. “The ultrasound applications help physicians make accurate and timely decisions,” he noted. Daily News & Analysis (India) also featured the workshop.
-
-
Campus News
- Capital Connections
- USC faculty, staff and alumni in Washington, D.C., and Sacramento
- In Print
- New and recent books written or edited by USC faculty and staff
- Family Matters
- Achievements and awards
- Obituaries