A Demonstration of Stem Cell Versatility

Via EurekAlert!: "Scientists have reprogrammed stem cells from a key organ in the immune system in a development that could have implications for tissue regeneration. Their research shows that it is possible to convert one stem type to another without the need for genetic modification. Researchers, who used rat models, grew stem cells from the thymus - an organ important for our immune systems - in the laboratory using conditions for growing hair follicle skin stem cells. When the cells were transplanted into developing skin, they were able to maintain skin and hair for more than a year. The transplanted follicles outperformed naturally-produced hair follicle stem cells, which are only able to heal and repair skin for three weeks. Once they were transplanted, the genetic markers of the cells changed to be more similar to those of hair follicle stem cells. When an animal develops, embryos form three cellular or germ layers - ectoderm, endoderm and mesoderm – which then go on to form the body's organs and tissues. Ectoderm becomes skin and nerves, endoderm becomes the gut and organs such as the liver, pancreas and thymus, and mesoderm becomes muscle, bones and blood. Until now it was believed that germ layer boundaries could not be crossed - that cells originating in one germ layer could not develop into cells associated with one of the others."

Link: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2010-08/uoe-scv081810.php

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