StemCell Therapy

Stem cells have always been known for their unlimited potential. Nowadays, the excellent qualities of them have expanded. A new study published in the journal Current Biology shows that these kinds of cells can delay their own deaths in response to physical injuries.

This research was carried out in planarians . This organism is often used as a model for studying regeneration because they have the ability to use stem cells to repair damage. The first author of the paper, Divya Shiroor of Cornell University said, "Even when facing with challenges and under stress, planarian stem cells still respond to damage by delaying death."

Researchers exposed planarians to radiation and injured half of them. They found that if planarians were not injured, then as expected, the stem cells died after radiation. However, if the planarian is injured, they will survive and gather near the wound, delaying their own death to cause a reaction.

Shiroor said that If the animal is exposed to radiation and will soon be injured, the radiation-induced stem cell death will be greatly delayed. This result may have important implications for cancer research and treatment, especially to help patients choose between chemotherapy and surgery, because the latest research found that surgical injury will promote the metastasis of dormant tumor cells.

The researchers hope to learn more about how the damage caused the planarian stem cells to withstand radiation. "We hope to identify related genes. If shared with mammals, then these genes may help to transform existing therapies." Said Shiroor.

Planarians are similar to humans in some respects, so they are often used for basic research. Like humans, planarians have stem cells, similar organs, and similar genes, but due to the large number of stem cells and the lack of a developed immune system, they are more proficient in dealing with injuries, while the human immune system makes the situation more complicated.

The researchers found that radiation will cause these cells to quickly start apoptosis, and the damage will delay the apoptosis process, while preventing the stem cells from entering the mitotic state, which is probably to achieve the repair of DNA damage. Since stem cells exist only around the wound, they concluded that the "damage signal" is highly localized and can be directly sensed by these cells.

They also found that activation of the mitogen-activated protein kinase ERK (extracellular regulatory protein kinase) drives the persistence of stem cells after injury. Since local cell death does not require ERK activity, the researchers believe that this pathway plays a role in stem cells.

There are many methods in the laboratory to understand how planarians successfully recover and regenerate, but Shiroor 's laboratory combines radiation and damage to determine that the stem cell's response is unique. They plan to conduct more in-depth stem cells research to understand how they know the damage is present and what role other cells may play in this process.

Shiroor also said that they have identified key genes that persist in stem cells after radiation and damage and plan to use it as a stepping stone for further exploration in the future.

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This entry was posted on May 23, 2020 at 3:46 pm and is filed under Death by Stem Cells. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed. |