(Press-News.org) Investigators at the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) Center for Regenerative Medicine and the Harvard Stem Cell Institute (HSCI) have found that Sox2 – one of the transcription factors used in the conversion of adult stem cells into induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) – is expressed in many adult tissues where it had not been previously observed. They also confirmed that Sox2-expressing cells found in the stomach, testes, cervix and other structures are true adult stem cells that can give rise to all mature cell types in those tissues. The study appears in the October issue of Cell Stem Cell.
"We have known that Sox2 is essential for maintaining pluripotency in embryonic stem cells and neural stem cells and, with three other embryonic genes, is sufficient to convert adult cells into iPSCs," says Konrad Hochedlinger, PhD, of the MGH Center for Regenerative Medicine and HSCI, who led the study. "Our study shows that Sox2 is a much more widespread marker of adult stem cells and suggests these cells may share common genetic programs to maintain stem cell fate, findings that could be exploited to amplify or modify these cells for applications in regenerative medicine."
Hochedlinger's team set out to investigate whether genes known to be important to pluripotent stem cells – cells that can give rise to several different types of tissue – also play a role in adult stem cells, which maintain populations of particular types of tissue. Sox2 is one of four embryonic genes that are required to be expressed for the generation of iPSCs – which have many of the characteristics of embryonic stem cells – but the other three genes are not expressed in adult stem cells. Sox2 is known to be expressed at the very earliest stages of embryonic development and to play a role in development of several types of fetal tissue. But prior to this study, its expression had been observed in only a few types of adult tissues.
In a series of experiments with mice, the researchers first showed that Sox2 continues to be expressed in specific populations of adult cells of the stomach, esophagus, testes, cervix, anus and the lens of the eye. These Sox2-expressing cells were proven to be able both to replenish their population and to give rise to the fully differentiated cells found within the particular tissue, confirming their status as adult stem cells.
Additional findings revealed that fetal tissues expressing Sox2, which are at a stage before the appearance of true stem cells, will develop into tissues that include Sox2-expressing adult stem cells and that Sox2 appears to be the only transcription factor expressed in stem cells at all stages of development – embryonic, fetal and adult. However, Sox2 expression has never been found in muscle or connective tissue, blood cells, or in organs such as the heart or kidney, indicating that other factors must play a similar role in those tissues.
"Adult stem cells are difficult to isolate and manipulate, so the fact that Sox2 appears to be a marker for many adult stem cells may allow researchers to isolate them more easily and study them in more detail," Hochedlinger explains. "Manipulation of Sox2 expression could help us push embryonic stem cells into particular types of adult stem cells and, when combined with certain growth factors, induce differentiation into desired types of tissue. All of these possibilities need to be investigated." Hochedlinger is an associate professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Early Career Scientist.
INFORMATION:
Additional authors of the Cell Stem Cell paper are lead author Katrin Arnold, PhD, Abby Sarkar, Mary Anna Yram, Jose Polo, PhD, and Neils Geijsen, PhD, all of the MGH Center for Regenerative Medicine and the Harvard Stem Cell Institute; Rod Bronson, DVM, Harvard Medical School; and Sumitra Sengupta and Marco Seandel, MD, PhD, Weill Cornell Medical College. The study was supported by the Harvard Stem Cell Institute, a National Institute of Health Director's New Innovator Award, and the Kimmel and V Foundations for Cancer Research.
Celebrating the 200th anniversary of its founding in 1811, Massachusetts General Hospital (http://www.massgeneral.org) is the original and largest teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School. The MGH conducts the largest hospital-based research program in the United States, with an annual research budget of nearly $700 million and major research centers in AIDS, cardiovascular research, cancer, computational and integrative biology, cutaneous biology, human genetics, medical imaging, neurodegenerative disorders, regenerative medicine, systems biology, transplantation biology and photomedicine.
END
During the month of October 2011 Terry Taylor of Expedia CruiseShip Centers will join thousands of cruise-selling travel agents for National Cruise Vacation Week, an exciting event designed to showcase the incredible choice, diversity and value of cruise vacations. Travel agencies across North America will team up with 26 member companies of Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) to provide consumers with exceptional offers and information on cruise vacations in every part of the world.
National Cruise Vacation Week is the successor to World's Largest Cruise Night, ...
It is widely believed that being born is about the most stressful thing that can happen to anybody. But being weaned cannot be too far behind it in the list of traumatic experiences. Most humans come to terms with it eventually and the situation in animals is probably no different. How weaning takes place, however, can have a dramatic effect on the length of time required to overcome the shock. That this is so, at least for horses, comes from the latest work of the team of Christine Aurich at the University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna. Weaning is least stressful ...
Early detection and diagnosis of open angle glaucoma important so that treatment can be used in the early stages of the disease developing to prevent or avoid further vision loss. Writing in a forthcoming issue of the International Journal of Medical Engineering and Informatics, researchers in the US have analyzed and ranked the various risk factors for open angle glaucoma so that patients can be screened at an earlier stage if they are more likely to develop the condition.
Glaucoma is one of the main leading causes of blindness; it is a progressive and irreversible disease. ...
Corky Kouture Glamour Galore gift presentation bags will now be featured at GlamPartyz.com events. The collaboration is a natural fit, with both companies providing elegance and beauty in the lives of many women across the country.
GlamPartyz.com is a home-based business where party planners arrange spa-style parties and more for women to enjoy. Every party is different. They range from the very formal to the completely casual. Each of the Glam Partyz events has a distinct party theme. Now Corky Kouture gift bags will be incorporated into that theme.
Corky Kouture ...
The fossil beetle discovered in the 16-23 million years old sediments of the Irtysh River in southern Siberia belongs to the modern species Helophorus sibiricus, a member of the water scavenger beetles (Hydrophiloidea), which is at present widely distributed in Eurasia and reaches even North America. The species was originally described in 1860 by the Russian entomologist Victor Motschulsky based on specimens collected at Lake Baikal. It is aquatic and inhabits various kinds of standing waters, predominantly the grassy temporary pools. Larvae are unknown so far, but are ...
The Elite Ayrshire Business Circle in conjunction with South Ayrshire Council has held a special meeting entitled "Encouraging Trade and Business between Ayrshire and China".
The meeting was attended by Chinese Consul-General in Edinburgh Mr Li Ruiyou, Consul Mr Wan Degang, and Deputy Consul Miss Zhu Hongying.
Main speakers included Wendy Liu, manager of the China-Britain Business Council's Glasgow office, Bill Ure and Kellie Zdanowicz of JB Management, and Kirsteen Higgins, Smart Exporter Operations Manager, Scottish Enterprise.
The meeting in the Robertson ...
BioStream, an integrated security solution manufacturing company, has opened its regional headquarters in Dubai to support its partners in the region.
Its a sister company of AxxonSoft, which is world leader in video management system with best user-friendly user interface and features to manage large, medium and small scale security installations.
"We initially formed Dubai office in 2009 for the UAE, but now it will serve as a regional headquarters for the Middle East North Africa (MENA), South Asia and CIS countries," BioStream Chief Executive Officer ...
Scientists have uncovered specific facial characteristics which make MPs look like they belong to one of the two major political parties in Britain.
Labour MPs have broader smiles, dimples and a rounder, softer face than their Conservative counterparts, according to research from Queen Mary, University of London and UCL (University College London) published this week.
The study* involved a small group of people rating images of 90 male backbench MPs on whether they thought they were Labour or Conservative on a scale of one to six; one being definitely Labour and six ...
Atherosclerosis is a major contributor to worldwide mortality and is characterized by narrowing of the arteries due to a thickening of the vessel wall. This restricts blood supply to the tissues and can lead to heart attack or stroke. In many cases, implantation of a stent can successfully be used for revascularization of the obstructed or stenosed arteries to improve blood flow. However, when a regrowth of cells occurs in the inner vessel wall (the intima) or healing of the endothelial cell lining in the vessel lumen is incomplete, the result can be a restenosis, i.e. ...
Intelestream, Inc., a leading provider in CRM consulting and CRM software as a service, today announced the company has implemented a centralized online CRM solution for FirstService Residential, North America's largest residential property management company.
"FirstService Residential has demonstrated a true commitment to Customer Service Management through its implementation of a single CRM system in the cloud accessible by its multiple companies across the country, elimination of information silos and focus on user adoption," commented Ray Stoeckicht, VP ...