WPI, CellThera Researchers Turn On Stem Cells
A team of researchers at Worcester Polytechnic Institute's Life Sciences and Bioengineering Center at Gateway Park in Worcester has found a way to turn on stem cell genes in human skin cells without inserting extra genes or using viruses.
The team responsible for the discovery is made up of WPI faculty and investigators at CellThera, a private company located at the life sciences center.
According to the team, the discovery may be beneficial to the development of patient-specific cell therapy.
Also, using skin cells means that tissue can be regenerated without some of the problems associate with using embryonic stem cells to do so, including ethical concerns, the potential for embryonic stem cells to be rejected by a patient's immune system or to grow out of control and cause tumors.
The team turned on stem cell genes already present in skin cells by lowering the amount of oxygen the cells were exposed to and adding a naturally occurring protein necessary for maintaining stem cells.
The team said its research also suggests that there is a natural mechanism at work, yet unknown, in skin cells that regulates stem cell gene expression.
The work was funded by WPI, a grant from the National Institutes of Health and funding to CellThera from the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and the Army Research Office.
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