Stem Cell Reports: new cellular reprogramming mechanism discovered
Scientists at the University of Toronto have discovered a new cellular mechanism that challenges prevailing theories of nerve cell reprogramming. The results of the study are published in the journal Stem Cell Reports.
It turns out that the popular hypothesis, which states that a mature cell can be reprogrammed into another, unrelated cell type using transcription factors, turns out to be incomplete. The authors propose an alternative view: there is a rare type of stem cell that has the unique ability to reprogramme into different cell types, and it is these cells that play a key role in this process.
The scientists conducted genetic and cellular analysis of neural stem cells distributed throughout the body, which allowed them to determine their behaviour and reprogramming ability. The team found that only neural crest stem cells can efficiently turn into neurons when reprogrammed, which explains the low efficiency of similar processes for other cells.
Neural crest cells are located beneath the hair follicles of the skin and are genetically predisposed to neuronal development. This is due to their origin from the ectodermal germ layer, which also gives rise to other cell types, including neurons. This genetic predisposition allows neural stem cells to become neurons under the right conditions.
The findings demonstrate that reprogramming does not occur in any mature cells, as previously thought, but only in stem cells that also share embryonic origins with the target cells. This discovery casts doubt on the hypothesis of ‘direct’ reprogramming of mature cells between different embryonic layers and points to the need to re-evaluate this concept.
The authors note that neural crest stem cells, being widely distributed in the body, represent a unique target for research in cell therapy and transplantation. These cells could be a key resource for medical applications as they are capable of transforming into a multitude of cell types and are available for collection from, for example, the skin.
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