Cells from Mouse Tails Repair Damaged Livers
May 13, 2011| |
Scientists successfully reprogrammed cells from mouse tails to produce mature liver cells. The objective of this research conducted by cell biologist Lijian Hui and his team from Shanghai Institute for Biological Sciences in China was to use the same strategy to human cell and reduce the need for liver transplants in patients with end-stage liver disease.
Though it is too early to assume compatibility with humans, the technique transdifferentiation or the reprogramming of cells without going through the stem cell stage, was the first reported successful case in fixing a damaged organ. The researchers searched for proteins that have been known to activate liver cells, and suppressed another protein to make the fibroblasts from mouse tails to behave like liver cells.
Read more information at http://www.nature.com/news/2011/110511/full/news.2011.283.html.
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