Advance Seen in Turning Adult Cells Into Stem Cells

Amy Norton HealthDay Reporter Posted: Wednesday, September 18, 2013, 2:00 PM

WEDNESDAY, Sept. 18 (HealthDay News) -- Scientists have figured out a way to more readily turn adult skin cells into primitive stem cells that could potentially be used to treat a variety of chronic diseases.

In a study published Sept. 18 in Nature, Israeli researchers reported that they identified the key molecule that stops adult cells from transforming into so-called induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells. Those stem cells are similar to the primitive cells found in embryos, and have the potential to generate any type of body tissue, scientists believe.

Ultimately, the hope is to use iPS cells to treat damaged tissue in a range of chronic ills -- from heart disease and diabetes, to arthritis, and spinal cord injuries and Alzheimer's disease.

That's still some years away, according to the experts, but the new findings are a step forward.

"We've already known how to create these cells, but it's an inefficient process," said Konrad Hochedlinger, a stem cell researcher at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston who was not involved in the study.

Right now, it could take weeks to months to coax human skin cells to transform into iPS cells. And even then, only a fraction of the cells are actually successfully "reprogrammed," Hochedlinger added.

In the new study, researchers reprogrammed in the space of one week nearly all of the mouse and human skin cells they studied.

They did it by identifying a molecule that normally acts as a "roadblock" to keep adult cells from reverting back to infancy.

Read the original:
Advance Seen in Turning Adult Cells Into Stem Cells