Discovery of how stem cell niche guides differentiation into functional cells is a significant step towards therapies

 

Discovery of how stem cell niche guides differentiation into functional cells is a significant step towards therapies

Researchers at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) have found how stem cells' surrounding environment controls them to differentiate into functional cells, a breakthrough critical for using stem cells to treat various human diseases in the future.

Stem cells play a crucial role in supporting normal development and maintaining tissue homeostasis in adults. Their unique ability to replicate and differentiate into specialized cells holds great promise in treating diseases like Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease and type I diabetes by replacing damaged or diseased cells with healthy ones.

Despite their potential therapeutic benefits, one of the major challenges for cell therapies lies in efficiently differentiating stem cells into functional cells to replace damaged cells in degenerative tissue. This task is particularly difficult due to the limited understanding of the underlying molecular mechanism by which the tissues around stem cells, known as the stem cell niche, guide stem cell progeny to differentiate into proper functional cell types.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Tulane featured in New York Times Magazine article about declining male college enrollment

  The event starts at 1PM ET / 10AM PT, and you’ll be able to follow along with the latest here. We’ve got an embed of Apple’s YouTube stream , and our own team is on the ground reporting live with photos and videos. Apple’s in-person presentation usually runs slightly ahead of the streamed one, so you can follow along below to get the details as they’re happening. Tulane featured in New York Times Magazine article about declining male college enrollment A New York Times Magazine article detailing the decline of male enrollment at colleges nationwide focused on a gender imbalance at Tulane University, where roughly two-thirds of the school's incoming freshman class are women. The story, published Friday, looked at the complexities of a shrinking male population on campuses throughout the U.S. and the trend's multifaceted effects, from difficulties dating to controversial college recruiting efforts geared toward men. 
Read more