Mouse Hair Follicle Stem Cells Help Nerves

Mouse Hair Follicle Stem Cells Help Nerves

According to a story on the NBC affiliate KSDK in St. Louis, researchers at the University of California San Diego have injected stem cells from hair follicles into mice with severed nerves in their legs. New nerves grew. Prior studies had discovered that hair follicle stem cells can express the protein nestin, which is similar to one expressed by brain stem cells, and that the hair follicle stem cells could be directed to grow into neurons.

The story says that the research is reported on the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, but I could find nothing there or on the websites for either UCSD or its research partner in the study, AntiCancer, Inc, so I don’t have any further details yet.

UPDATE: An article on New Kerala (an Indian on-line paper) says that the stem cells were differentiated into a kind of glial cell called Schwann cells, which then produced myelin sheaths that surrounded the nerve axons.

India Steps Up Research

India Steps Up Research

India is seeking to become a major player in stem cell research, and the government is funding a new facility. The Department of Biotechnology of the Union Ministry of Science and Technology is investing in a stem cell research center at the Christian Medical College in Vellore. The Center will "focus on the use and manipulation of bone-marrow and cord blood derived adult stem cells for clinical purposes," according to an article in the Business Standard. The research focus is expected to be stem cells in cardiac disease. The President of India, Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, will lay the cornerstone on December 1, according to Chennai Online. Kalam is a scientist with a background in aerotechnical engineering.