Scientists Create 'Switch' That Turns Stem Cells into Muscle

American scientists have created a "switch" that allows mutations or light signals to be turned on in muscle stem cells to monitor muscle regeneration in a living mammal.

The research team, including 2007 Nobel Prize winner Mario R. Capecchi, say that their breakthrough may lead to a genetic switch, or drugs, that allows people to grow new muscle cells to replace those that are damaged, worn out, or non-functional.

Researchers Identifies Skeletal Muscle Stem Cells That Repair Injured Muscles
A University of Colorado at Boulder research team has identified a type of skeletal muscle stem cell that contributes to the repair of damaged muscles in mice...

The researchers also say that their work provides a new tool for studying muscle cancers, which are very difficult to treat.

"We hope that the genetically-engineered mouse models we developed will help scientists and clinicians better understand how to make muscle stem cells regenerate muscle tissue," said Dr. Charles Keller, assistant professor at the University of Texas Health Science Center and a senior researcher involved in the work.

"For our own work on childhood muscle cancers, we also hope to understand how tumours start and progress, and to develop therapies that are less toxic than chemotherapy," he added.

Damaged Heart Muscle Repaired With Skeletal Muscle Stem Cells
Using a novel population of stem cells, researchers at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC have successfully repaired damaged heart muscle in an animal model.

The researchers have revealed that they made this advance by breeding mice with a specific gene called "Cre", which, when activated, can trigger mutations in muscle stem cells.

They point out that this Cre trigger is restricted to muscle stem cells and requires a special drug for it to be activated.

Single Stem Cell Transplantation Cured Tissue Damage In "Nude" Mice
Adult muscle stem cell tranplantation in mice showed to restore muscle damage in a research at Stanford University

During the study, the researchers used fluorescent techniques that allowed them to visualize stem cells and their derivatives, in order to pinpoint exactly where muscle tissue was being made.

The team say that, in one part of the study, they were also able to activate tumour-causing mutations in muscle stem cells, providing valuable insights into the origins of muscle tumours, which have been previously elusive.

Muscle Derived Stem Cell Can Repair Damaged Cartilage
It is now possible to harvest muscle derieved stem cells and genetically engineer the same to induce expression of a therapeutic protein (BMP-4)to induce cartilage repair.

A report on the groundbreaking work has been published online in The FASEB Journal.

"This is basic science at its best. This study in mice has not only shown us how stem cells turn into muscle in the living body, but brought us closer to the day when we can use stem cells to repair wounded flesh or a maimed physique," said Dr. Gerald Weissmann, Editor-in-Chief of the journal.

Source-ANI
SRM