Breakthrough progress in the study of induced pluripotent stem cell mechanism: A study by Chinese scientists revealed the starting mechanism of reversal of somatic cells into pluripotent stem cells, which is of guiding significance for the improvement of induced pluripotent stem cell technology and disease treatment.
Research results of Pei Duanqing and others from the Guangzhou Institute of Biomedicine and Health, Chinese Academy of Sciences were published in the international authoritative academic journal Cell Stem Cell published on June 18, Beijing time.
The journal also published a comment by Dr. Hocklinger of Harvard University, who believes that this work reveals the key role of the mesenchymal-epidermal cell conversion process in inducing the formation of pluripotent stem cells, and also shows the process of cell reprogramming, development and The cancerous process is surprisingly similar.
Experts pointed out that this discovery is not only a breakthrough milestone in the study of induced pluripotent stem cell mechanism, but also provides a theoretical basis for the continuous improvement of induced pluripotent stem cell technology.
Pluripotent stem cells can be differentiated into various cells, tissues, organs, etc., also known as "universal cells". Stem cell research is a hot field in life sciences in recent years, and it has important significance in cell therapy, tissue organ transplantation and gene therapy; it will be important in the fields of new drug development screening and drug efficacy, new gene discovery and gene function analysis, toxicity evaluation Impact.
In 1981, British scientists isolated embryonic stem cells from mice and cultured them in vitro, while the in vitro cultivation of human embryonic stem cells did not succeed until 1998. However, due to religious, cultural, and ethical reasons, there has been no major breakthrough in its research and application. In 2006, the Japanese scholar Yamanaka Yamanaka obtained for the first time in the world "induced pluripotent stem cells" (ie, IPS cells) with functions similar to embryonic stem cells from mouse adult cells, which opened a new chapter in stem cell research. Induced pluripotent stem cell technology has wide application prospects, but its unclear induction mechanism and low induction efficiency have become the bottlenecks that plague scientists in applying this technology.
The Guangzhou Institute of Biomedicine and Health, Chinese Academy of Sciences is the first to conduct research on induced pluripotent stem cells in China. In recent years, the research team led by Researcher Pei Duanqing has focused on the two core issues of induction mechanism and induction efficiency of pluripotent stem cells, and has done a lot of work and achieved a series of results.
Following the discovery last year that vitamin C can accelerate the induction of pluripotent stem cells, another research result of Pei Duanqing's team revealed the starting mechanism of the reprogramming process that induced induced pluripotent stem cells.
"We found that the four transcription factors involved in reprogramming synergistically caused the fibroblasts in the experiment to lose their original cell characteristics and 'transformed' into cells with epidermal cell characteristics. The way to stem cells. "Pei Duanqing said.
Wenzhou Vigorous Pet Products Co.,Ltd , http://www.vigorouspet.com