PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

Stem cells on the road to specialization

2014-01-07
(Press-News.org) Contact information: Joshua Brickmann
joshua.brickman@sund.ku.dk
45-51-68-04-38
University of Copenhagen
Stem cells on the road to specialization Scientists at the University of Copenhagen have gained new insight into how both early embryonic cells and embryonic stem cells are directed into becoming specialised cell types, like pancreatic and liver cells. The results have just been published in the scientific journal eLife.

This latest research from the Danish Stem Cell Center (Danstem) at the University of Copenhagen, helps identify how stem cells create so called pathways and roads supporting their own specialisation. This understanding is an important step towards stem cell-based cell therapies for conditions like diabetes and liver diseases.

"The new insight that we have gained into the impact of the physical environment on cell development is highly valuable," says Professor Joshua Brickman from DanStem, "It enables us to create the optimal physical environment in the laboratory for stem cells and progenitor cells to develop into specific, mature cells."

On the road

Developing cells constantly move and while moving around, they organise and build a physical environment very much like a small city with pathways and roads. The new research published in the scientific journal eLife shows two important things. Firstly the embryonic cells receive signals from other cells that actually instruct them in how to organise and build the road leading the cells towards early stages of pancreas and liver cells.

Professor Brickman and his team also found that they could isolate these roads from the developing stem cells and literally freeze them. The saved roads were then used in a separate experiment which showed that in the absence of an important cell signal, the road alone can be used to improve the cells' development and differentiation towards mature cells.

"Apart from gaining new important insight into cell development, our work also suggests that some of the current approaches to human embryonic stem cells specialisation towards both pancreatic and liver cells may not have been effective, because the important role of these roads, the so called extra-cellular matrix, was ignored," says Joshua Brickman.

### Read the scientific article

The Danish Stem Cell Center (DanStem) opened in the summer of 2011 and is the focal point for international basic, translational and early clinical stem cell research. Professor Joshua Brickman and his team came to DanStem from University of Edinburgh, Scotland in October 2011. In total, DanStem comprises nine internationally renowned research groups, including five recruited from Sweden, Switzerland, Scotland, England and the USA. All groups have well-established global networks and participate actively in numerous international research projects. DanStem addresses basic questions about stem cells and developmental biology in order to develop new stem-cell based treatment methods for diabetes and cancer.

The Danish Stem Cell Center is supported by two large grants from the Novo Nordisk Foundation (DKK 350 million) and The Strategic Research Council (DKK 64.8 million), respectively.

eLife is a new initiative by the Wellcome Trust, Howard Hughs Medical Institute and The Max Planck Gesellschaft. The journal is free for authors, open access, but publishes only the highest level of biological and medical science.

Contact: Professor Joshua Brickman
Phone: +45 5168 0438


ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Drugs related to cannabis have pain-relieving potential for osteoarthritis

2014-01-07
Drugs related to cannabis have pain-relieving potential for osteoarthritis Chemical compounds synthesised in the laboratory, similar to those found in cannabis, could be developed as potential drugs to reduce the pain of osteoarthritis. These compounds ...

New holographic process uses image-stabilized X-ray camera

2014-01-07
New holographic process uses image-stabilized X-ray camera This news release is available in German. The efficiency of the new method is based on a X-ray focussing optics being firmly fixed to the object to ...

First dinosaurs identified from Saudi Arabia

2014-01-07
First dinosaurs identified from Saudi Arabia Dinosaur fossils are exceptionally rare in the Arabian Peninsula. An international team of scientists from Uppsala University, Museum Victoria, Monash University, and the Saudi Geological Survey have now uncovered the ...

Scientists discover new causes of diabetes

2014-01-07
Scientists discover new causes of diabetes Research by the University of Exeter Medical School has revealed two new genetic causes of neonatal diabetes. The research provides further insights on how the insulin-producing beta cells are formed in the pancreas Research ...

New phone alerts for extreme weather may prevent casualties in India

2014-01-07
New phone alerts for extreme weather may prevent casualties in India When Cyclone Phailin hit India in late 2013 it became the largest storm to batter the subcontinent in over a decade. The storm, officially classified as a Category 5 tropical cyclone, affected more than 12 ...

How common is aggression in UK dogs?

2014-01-07
How common is aggression in UK dogs? Aggressive dogs represent a serious risk to human health, tragically causing fatalities in rare cases. The development of aggression can also impact on a dog's welfare, because of a breakdown of the human-pet bond, euthanasia ...

Temperature found to be most significant driver of the world's tallest trees

2014-01-07
Temperature found to be most significant driver of the world's tallest trees Understanding forest biodiversity and how carbon dioxide is stored within trees is an important area of ecological research. The bigger the tree, the more carbon it stores and a study in New Phytologist ...

MRSA drug dosage calculations found to be inaccurate for children over 10

2014-01-07
MRSA drug dosage calculations found to be inaccurate for children over 10 The emergence of MRSA (Staphylococcus aureus), dubbed a 'superbug' due to its resistance to many antibiotic drugs, has resulted in the glycopeptide antibiotic Vancomycin being commonly prescribed for patients ...

New global stroke repository offers regional comparative statistics

2014-01-07
New global stroke repository offers regional comparative statistics In many countries strokes are seen as a lower priority when compared to other diseases despite their public health impact. This is partly due to a lack of readily accessible data to make the case for the development ...

Vikings & superheroes: How interconnected characters may reveal the reality behind the stories

2014-01-07
Vikings & superheroes: How interconnected characters may reveal the reality behind the stories The Icelandic sagas of the Norse people are thousand-year-old chronicles of brave deeds and timeless romances, but how true to Viking life were they? Writing in Significance, Pádraig ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Corpse flowers are threatened by spotty recordkeeping

Riding the AI wave toward rapid, precise ocean simulations

Are lifetimes of big appliances really shrinking?

Pink skies

Monkeys are world’s best yodellers - new research

Key differences between visual- and memory-led Alzheimer’s discovered

% weight loss targets in obesity management – is this the wrong objective?

An app can change how you see yourself at work

NYC speed cameras take six months to change driver behavior, effects vary by neighborhood, new study reveals

New research shows that propaganda is on the rise in China

Even the richest Americans face shorter lifespans than their European counterparts, study finds

Novel genes linked to rare childhood diarrhea

New computer model reveals how Bronze Age Scandinavians could have crossed the sea

Novel point-of-care technology delivers accurate HIV results in minutes

Researchers reveal key brain differences to explain why Ritalin helps improve focus in some more than others

Study finds nearly five-fold increase in hospitalizations for common cause of stroke

Study reveals how alcohol abuse damages cognition

Medicinal cannabis is linked to long-term benefits in health-related quality of life

Microplastics detected in cat placentas and fetuses during early pregnancy

Ancient amphibians as big as alligators died in mass mortality event in Triassic Wyoming

Scientists uncover the first clear evidence of air sacs in the fossilized bones of alvarezsaurian dinosaurs: the "hollow bones" which help modern day birds to fly

Alcohol makes male flies sexy

TB patients globally often incur "catastrophic costs" of up to $11,329 USD, despite many countries offering free treatment, with predominant drivers of cost being hospitalization and loss of income

Study links teen girls’ screen time to sleep disruptions and depression

Scientists unveil starfish-inspired wearable tech for heart monitoring

Footprints reveal prehistoric Scottish lagoons were stomping grounds for giant Jurassic dinosaurs

AI effectively predicts dementia risk in American Indian/Alaska Native elders

First guideline on newborn screening for cystic fibrosis calls for changes in practice to improve outcomes

Existing international law can help secure peace and security in outer space, study shows

Pinning down the process of West Nile virus transmission

[Press-News.org] Stem cells on the road to specialization