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New technique isolates blood-forming stem cells
Issue date: 4/17/08
In a recent publication, Saul Sharkis, a professor of oncology at the Hopkins medical school, has developed a novel method for isolating mouse hematopoietic stem cells (HSC), or blood-forming stem cells.
This new strategy will be useful in the field of stem cell biology as a way to better isolate the rare stem cell populations resident in each tissue, or compartment.
Stem cells have the remarkable capabilities of self-renewal, meaning they can regenerate themselves forever and also the ability to differentiate, or become more specialized cells.
A stem cell can be understood to be an immature cell, poised to become other cells that make up the tissues of the body. These stem cells are responsible for maintaining their specific organ or tissue throughout the lifespan of the organism.
For example, HSC can produce all the cells constituting the blood system, including red blood cells and immune cells like macrophages.
It has actually been shown that one HSC can repopulate the entire blood system of a mouse. Armed with this knowledge, researchers are working intensely to create cell-based medical therapies that will one day cure diseases.
Stem cells are a unique population of cells, not only because they maintain tissues, but also because they divide very slowly and are sparsely numbered.
It is these properties which make isolating the stem cells very difficult for researchers.
Traditionally, the isolation of stem cells has focused on specific cell-surface markers, usually proteins that help identify a cell as a particular type.
These proteins can be characteristic of a certain stem cell or can help to enrich the number of stem cells isolated.
Isolation is performed using a fluorescence-activated cell sorter (FACS) that separates individual cells based on these characteristic surface proteins.
As rewarding as this method has been, it is not without its associated problems. Most stem cell surface markers are dynamic and so isolating cells based on a fluctuating population is difficult.
This new strategy will be useful in the field of stem cell biology as a way to better isolate the rare stem cell populations resident in each tissue, or compartment.
Stem cells have the remarkable capabilities of self-renewal, meaning they can regenerate themselves forever and also the ability to differentiate, or become more specialized cells.
A stem cell can be understood to be an immature cell, poised to become other cells that make up the tissues of the body. These stem cells are responsible for maintaining their specific organ or tissue throughout the lifespan of the organism.
For example, HSC can produce all the cells constituting the blood system, including red blood cells and immune cells like macrophages.
It has actually been shown that one HSC can repopulate the entire blood system of a mouse. Armed with this knowledge, researchers are working intensely to create cell-based medical therapies that will one day cure diseases.
Stem cells are a unique population of cells, not only because they maintain tissues, but also because they divide very slowly and are sparsely numbered.
It is these properties which make isolating the stem cells very difficult for researchers.
Traditionally, the isolation of stem cells has focused on specific cell-surface markers, usually proteins that help identify a cell as a particular type.
These proteins can be characteristic of a certain stem cell or can help to enrich the number of stem cells isolated.
Isolation is performed using a fluorescence-activated cell sorter (FACS) that separates individual cells based on these characteristic surface proteins.
As rewarding as this method has been, it is not without its associated problems. Most stem cell surface markers are dynamic and so isolating cells based on a fluctuating population is difficult.
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don margolis
posted 4/19/08 @ 5:13 PM EST
This article is unique in one respect and common in another.
The common aspect is that the word ADULT stem cell (ASC) is never used, which is the rule in America when discussing a positive result of ASC research--NEVER OPENLY DISCUSS A POSITIVE RESULT OF ASC RESEARCH unless you can cover up the fact that it is ASC, since it might hurt the politically correct (but fraudulent) science fiction of embryonics. (Continued…)
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