Stem Cell Maturity Test
Article Date: 07 May 2008 - 3:00 PDT
Stem cells can differentiate into 220 different types of body cell.
The development of these cells can now be systematically observed and
investigated with the aid of two new machines that imitate the
conditions in the human body with unprecedented accuracy.
Stem cells are extremely versatile: They can develop in 220 different
ways, transforming themselves into a correspondingly diverse range of
specialized body cells. Biologists and medical scientists plan to
make use of this differentiation ability to selectively harvest
cardiac, skin or nerve cells for the treatment of different diseases.
However, the stem cell culture techniques practiced today are not
very efficient. What proportion of a mass of stem cells is
transformed into which body cells? And in what conditions? "We need
devices that keep doing the same thing and thus deliver statistically
reliable data," says Professor Günter Fuhr, director of the
Fraunhofer Institute for Biomedical Engineering IBMT in St. Ingbert.
Two prototypes of laboratory devices for stem cell differentiation
enable the complex careers of stem cells to be systematically
examined for the first time ever. These devices are the result of the
international project 'CellPROM' - 'Cell Programming by Nanoscaled
Devices' - which was funded by the European Union to the tune of 16.7
million euros and coordinated by the IBMT. "The type of cell culture
used until now is too far removed from the natural situation," says
CellPROM project coordinator Daniel Schmitt - for in the body, the
stem cells come into contact with solute nutrients, messenger RNAs
and a large number of different cells. Millions of proteins rest in
or on the cell membranes and excite the stem cells to transform
themselves into specialized cells. "We want to provide the stem cells
in the laboratory with a surface that is as similar as possible to
the cell membranes," explains Daniel Schmitt. "To this end, the
consortium developed a variety of methods by which different
biomolecules can be efficiently applied to cell-compatible surfaces."
In the two machines - MagnaLab and NazcaLab - the stem cells are
brought into contact with the signal factors in a pre-defined manner.
In MagnaLab, several hundred cells grow on culture substrates that
are coated with biomolecules. In NazcaLab, large numbers of
individual cells, washed around by a nutrient solution, float along
parallel channels where they encounter micro-particles that are
charged with signal factors. "We use a microscope and a camera to
document in fast motion how individual cells divide and
differentiate,
20 different cell models that the multi-talents can be stimulated by
surface signals to transform themselves into specialized cells.
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Article adapted by Medical News Today from original press release.
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Source: Daniel Schmitt
Fraunhofer-Gesellsc
http://www.medicaln
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StemCells subscribers may also be interested in these sites:
Children's Neurobiological Solutions
http://www.CNSfoundation.org/
Cord Blood Registry
http://www.CordBlood.com/at.cgi?a=150123
The CNS Healing Group
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CNS_Healing
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