2014/08/12

A switch in Wnt signaling mediates early differentiation of human neural stem cells.

A new study from the Cell Biology and Stem Cells Unit focuses on secreted proteins called Wnts, which are particularly important for tissue development and morphogenesis. Purified proteins and small molecules that regulate Wnt signaling are increasingly used to control stem cell amplification and differentiation into other cell types, such as neurons. As stem cells differentiate, however, their response to these agents can change. A deeper understanding of this change will be important for advancing stem cell-based cell replacement therapies, which require a stable population of differentiated cells. The results in this study highlight the roles of Wnt-3a and the transcription factor ATF2 in the early neuronal differentiation of human embryonic- and induced pluripotent (iPS)-derived neural stem cells.

The study has been published in the journal Stem Cells and can be found at http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/stem.1807/abstract