Regenerative medicine may have just found a shortcut

sea-maid submitted, created time 1 month 2 weeks (www.nature.com)

Moving from one differentiated cell type from another may not always require a stopover in an undifferentiated state. This paper shows an alternative route to a differentiated state, which may have serious applications in regenerative medicine and provide real-world applications for human embryonic stem cells.

1 comment | Blog It | Email It | Keywords: pluripotency cell differentiation embryonic stem cells stem cells regenerative medicine cell replacement therapy

Newly discovered molecular switch helps decide cell type in early embryo development

sea-maid submitted, created time 3 months 1 week (www.eurekalert.org)

Researchers have discovered a central molecular switch in fruit fly embryos that opens new avenues for studying the causes of birth defects and cancer in humans. Writing about their study in the Aug. 12 Developmental Cell, scientists at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center determined the switch to be a main tuning mechanism for instructing cells whether to form sensory nerves or blood cells in different parts of the body.

1 comment | Blog It | Email It | Keywords: stem cells cell differentiation differentiation birth defects developmental biology embryos fruit fly embryos

Notch controls bone formation and strength

jane2007 submitted, created time 8 months 3 weeks (www.bcm.edu)

Notch, a protein known to govern the determination of cell differentiation into different kinds of tissues in embryos, plays a critical role in bone formation and strength later in life. These findings may provide a basis for understanding osteoporosis and diseases in which there is too much bone.

Submit comment | Blog It | Email It | Keywords: bone strength osteoblastic cells bones cell differentiation bone formation osteoporosis Notch bone

Physical plasticity of the nucleus in stem cell differentiation

zibba submitted, created time 1 year 1 month (www.pnas.org)

Cell differentiation in embryogenesis involves extensive changes in gene expression structural reorganization within the nucleus, including chromatin condensation and nucleoprotein immobilization. We hypothesized that nuclei in naive stem cells would therefore prove to be physically plastic and also more pliable than nuclei in differentiated cells.

Submit comment | Blog It | Email It | Keywords: cell differentiation chromatin condensation nucleoprotein immobilization

Inhibition of medulloblastoma tumorigenesis by the antiproliferative and pro-differentiative gene PC3

Captnimbus submitted, created time 1 year 5 months (www.fasebj.org)

Medulloblastoma, the most common brain tumor in childhood, appears to originate from cerebellar granule cell precursors (GCPs), located in the external granular layer (EGL) of the cerebellum. The antiproliferative gene PC3 (Tis21/BTG2) promotes cerebellar neurogenesis by inducing GCPs to shift from proliferation to differentiation

Submit comment | Blog It | Email It | Keywords: medulloblastoma Cell cycle regulation Cell Differentiation tumor suppressor Shh antagonist

Regulation of Hepatic Stellate Cell Differentiation by the Neurotrophin Receptor p75NTR

daphne submitted, created time 1 year 7 months (www.sciencemag.org)

Differentiation of hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) to extracellular matrix– and growth factor–producing cells supports liver regeneration through promotion of hepatocyte proliferation. We show that the neurotrophin receptor p75NTR, a tumor necrosis factor receptor superfamily member expressed in HSCs after fibrotic and cirrhotic liver injury in humans, is a regulator of liver repair. In mice, depletion of p75NTR exacerbated liver pathology and inhibited hepatocyte proliferation in vivo. p75NTR–/– HSCs failed to differentiate to myofibroblasts and did not support hepatocyte proliferation

Submit comment | Blog It | Email It | Keywords: Cell Differentiation Neurotrophin Receptor Hepatic Stellate Cell

Expression of Tyk2 in dendritic cells is required for IL-12, IL-23, and IFN-{gamma} production and the induction of Th1 cell differentiation

dovechocolate submitted, created time 1 year 7 months (bloodjournal.hematologylibrary.org)

It is well documented that dendritic cells (DCs), representative antigen-presenting cells, are important sources of Th1-promoting cytokines and are actively involved in the regulation of T helper cell differentiation. However, the intracellular event that regulates this process is still largely unknown. In this study, we examined the role of Tyk2, a JAK kinase that is involved in the signaling pathway under IL-12 and IL-23, in DC functions

Submit comment | Blog It | Email It | Keywords: dendritic cells (DCs) interleukin cell differentiation

Cytokinins Determine Arabidopsis Root-Meristem Size by Controlling Cell Differentiation

channel submitted, created time 1 year 8 months (www.current-biology.com)

“Plant postembryonic development takes place in the meristems, where stem cells self-renew and produce daughter cells that differentiate and give rise to different organ structures. For the maintenance of meristems, the rate of differentiation of daughter cells must equal the generation of new cells: How this is achieved is a central question in plant development. In the Arabidopsis root meristem, stem cells surround a small group of organizing cells, the quiescent center

1 comment | Blog It | Email It | Keywords: Cytokinins meristems Cell Differentiation