Here is the full article, really curious to get your feedback on this.
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ire ... 50771.html
RESEARCHERS WORKING at the forefront of stem cell technology may also unexpectedly have come up with a cure for baldness.
They almost miraculously changed one cell type into a completely different one, but in the process ended up with skin cells complete with working hair follicles.
A treatment for baldness was not the goal when they started tinkering with cells from the thymus, a small but critical organ that helps run the body’s immune system to fight disease.
Rather, they wanted to see how stem cells from the thymus would perform if transplanted into growing skin as a way to help burns victims.
The research teams from Switzerland and Scotland were more than surprised when they transplanted thymus cells into the skin of lab rats. They discovered that the cells forgot they were from the thymus and began performing just like healthy skin cells.
“These cells really change track, expressing different genes and becoming more potent,†said lead researcher Prof Yann Barrandon, head of the stem cell lab at the University of Lausanne and the local Polytechnique. Details of the team’s findings are published this morning in the journal Nature.
Being able to grow viable skin is a long-sought goal for doctors trying to treat burns patients, whether they come with hair follicles or not. Scientists have tried growing skin stem cells for transplantation, but the resultant tissues only last for a few weeks.
This new approach of changing one cell type into a completely different one seems to perform much better, with this new skin including follicles surviving for as long as a year.
The transformation of thymus cells into working skin cells is a startling result that has huge implications, suggests Prof Barrandon and his colleagues.
Importantly, this conversion process takes place without the need for genetic modification. The thymus stem cells seem to respond to the “local†environment, performing like skin cells because of their transplantation into the skin.
Their assumption is that these cells will readily change into other cell types in response to the environment into which they are placed.
“This operation could have theoretically been reproduced with other organs,†Prof Barrandon said. It works well with skin, but could also be used to produce other cell types, in the process contributing to the fields of organ transplantation and regeneration.
The findings will also force a rethink of our assumptions about biological processes. Before now researchers would have rejected the possibility that one cell type could transform into another.
Edit:
Here is the Nature journal publication and a quote...
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v4 ... 09269.html
The thymus develops from the third pharyngeal pouch of the anterior gut and provides the necessary environment for thymopoiesis (the process by which thymocytes differentiate into mature T lymphocytes) and the establishment and maintenance of self-tolerance1, 2, 3. It contains thymic epithelial cells (TECs) that form a complex three-dimensional network organized in cortical and medullary compartments, the organization of which is notably different from simple or stratified epithelia4. TECs have an essential role in the generation of self-tolerant thymocytes through expression of the autoimmune regulator Aire5, 6, but the mechanisms involved in the specification and maintenance of TECs remain unclear7, 8, 9. Despite the different embryological origins of thymus and skin (endodermal and ectodermal, respectively), some cells of the thymic medulla express stratified-epithelium markers10, 11, 12, interpreted as promiscuous gene expression. Here we show that the thymus of the rat contains a population of clonogenic TECs that can be extensively cultured while conserving the capacity to integrate in a thymic epithelial network and to express major histocompatibility complex class II (MHC II) molecules and Aire. These cells can irreversibly adopt the fate of hair follicle multipotent stem cells when exposed to an inductive skin microenvironment; this change in fate is correlated with robust changes in gene expression. Hence, microenvironmental cues are sufficient here to re-direct epithelial cell fate, allowing crossing of primitive germ layer boundaries and an increase in potency13.
The thymus serves a variety of functions in the adaptive immune system, including, through the thymic epithelial cells, the production of the self-tolerant thymocytes that develop into T lymphocytes. It has been widely assumed that the thymus contains only progenitor epithelial cells, with a limited repertoire of cell types. But work on rat thymic epithelial cells in cultures shows that, if exposed to the skin microenvironment, they can be reprogrammed to adopt the fate of hair-follicle multipotent stem cells. These cells can be cloned and extensively cultured, properties that are relevant to the possible growth of human thymic epithelial cells and potential clinical applications.
And, one more source (slightly more in depth):
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/20 ... 131605.htm
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ire ... 50771.html
RESEARCHERS WORKING at the forefront of stem cell technology may also unexpectedly have come up with a cure for baldness.
They almost miraculously changed one cell type into a completely different one, but in the process ended up with skin cells complete with working hair follicles.
A treatment for baldness was not the goal when they started tinkering with cells from the thymus, a small but critical organ that helps run the body’s immune system to fight disease.
Rather, they wanted to see how stem cells from the thymus would perform if transplanted into growing skin as a way to help burns victims.
The research teams from Switzerland and Scotland were more than surprised when they transplanted thymus cells into the skin of lab rats. They discovered that the cells forgot they were from the thymus and began performing just like healthy skin cells.
“These cells really change track, expressing different genes and becoming more potent,†said lead researcher Prof Yann Barrandon, head of the stem cell lab at the University of Lausanne and the local Polytechnique. Details of the team’s findings are published this morning in the journal Nature.
Being able to grow viable skin is a long-sought goal for doctors trying to treat burns patients, whether they come with hair follicles or not. Scientists have tried growing skin stem cells for transplantation, but the resultant tissues only last for a few weeks.
This new approach of changing one cell type into a completely different one seems to perform much better, with this new skin including follicles surviving for as long as a year.
The transformation of thymus cells into working skin cells is a startling result that has huge implications, suggests Prof Barrandon and his colleagues.
Importantly, this conversion process takes place without the need for genetic modification. The thymus stem cells seem to respond to the “local†environment, performing like skin cells because of their transplantation into the skin.
Their assumption is that these cells will readily change into other cell types in response to the environment into which they are placed.
“This operation could have theoretically been reproduced with other organs,†Prof Barrandon said. It works well with skin, but could also be used to produce other cell types, in the process contributing to the fields of organ transplantation and regeneration.
The findings will also force a rethink of our assumptions about biological processes. Before now researchers would have rejected the possibility that one cell type could transform into another.
Edit:
Here is the Nature journal publication and a quote...
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v4 ... 09269.html
The thymus develops from the third pharyngeal pouch of the anterior gut and provides the necessary environment for thymopoiesis (the process by which thymocytes differentiate into mature T lymphocytes) and the establishment and maintenance of self-tolerance1, 2, 3. It contains thymic epithelial cells (TECs) that form a complex three-dimensional network organized in cortical and medullary compartments, the organization of which is notably different from simple or stratified epithelia4. TECs have an essential role in the generation of self-tolerant thymocytes through expression of the autoimmune regulator Aire5, 6, but the mechanisms involved in the specification and maintenance of TECs remain unclear7, 8, 9. Despite the different embryological origins of thymus and skin (endodermal and ectodermal, respectively), some cells of the thymic medulla express stratified-epithelium markers10, 11, 12, interpreted as promiscuous gene expression. Here we show that the thymus of the rat contains a population of clonogenic TECs that can be extensively cultured while conserving the capacity to integrate in a thymic epithelial network and to express major histocompatibility complex class II (MHC II) molecules and Aire. These cells can irreversibly adopt the fate of hair follicle multipotent stem cells when exposed to an inductive skin microenvironment; this change in fate is correlated with robust changes in gene expression. Hence, microenvironmental cues are sufficient here to re-direct epithelial cell fate, allowing crossing of primitive germ layer boundaries and an increase in potency13.
The thymus serves a variety of functions in the adaptive immune system, including, through the thymic epithelial cells, the production of the self-tolerant thymocytes that develop into T lymphocytes. It has been widely assumed that the thymus contains only progenitor epithelial cells, with a limited repertoire of cell types. But work on rat thymic epithelial cells in cultures shows that, if exposed to the skin microenvironment, they can be reprogrammed to adopt the fate of hair-follicle multipotent stem cells. These cells can be cloned and extensively cultured, properties that are relevant to the possible growth of human thymic epithelial cells and potential clinical applications.
And, one more source (slightly more in depth):
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/20 ... 131605.htm
