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Stowers Researcher Demonstrates the Role of BMP in Somatic Stem Cell Self-Renewal
Kansas City, Mo. (Nov. 8, 2005) – Daniel Kirilly, a graduate student at the University of Kansas Medical Center conducting dissertation research at the Stowers Institute, and his mentor, Ting Xie, Stowers Institute Associate Investigator, have demonstrated that BMP signaling directly promotes somatic stem cell self-renewal and proliferation in the fruit fly ovary. The findings were published in the Nov. 1, 2005 issue of Developmental Cell, and were the result of collaboration with colleagues at Harvard Medical School and Rutgers University. Previous research had established that BMP signaling is essential for promoting self-renewal of mouse embryonic stem cells and Drosophila germline stem cells and for repressing stem cell proliferation in the mouse intestine and skin. Until now, it was unclear whether BMP signaling could promote self-renewal of somatic stem cells in adult organisms. “These findings represent the first direct demonstration that BMP signal transduction promotes adult somatic stem cell self-renewal and proliferation,” said Robb Krumlauf, Ph.D, Scientific Director. “This information could help expand stem cells in vitro or stimulate stem cell proliferation in adult tissues.” The work of the Xie lab has implications for human stem cell transplants, which are currently used to treat diseases including leukemia. “One of the major problems faced by stem cell biologists is the difficulty of expanding adult stem cells in large quantities for therapeutic transplantation,” said Dr. Xie. “This problem is exercerbated by insufficient knowledge of growth factors needed for optimal stem cell self-renewal and proliferation. This study has identified BMP family of growth factors as stem cell growth factors for promoting stem cell expansion. The knowledge gained from this study might help expand adult stem cells in vitro in the future.” More information about Dr. Xie’s lab group can be found at http://www.stowers-institute.org/labs/XieLab.asp. About the Stowers Institute |
