Royan researcher develops new method to obtain pluripotent stem cells

TEHRAN, Sep. 17 (MNA) – A Royan Institute researcher has developed a novel method to obtain pluripotent stem cells. The researcher, Seyedeh Nafiseh Hosseini is first to develop the method which she communicated its success in prestigious Stem Cell Development Journal. She detailed about the research study which is also her PhD thesis. “The project examines message transfer inside cells, during which we identified a pathway which if suppressed, the cells would move toward pluripotency; with removing a single blastomere from an embryo, it is possible to obtain a line of pluripotent cells,” explained the researcher, “we are testing the method on mice and rat where pluripotent stem cells are extracted from their tissues.” On the potentials of pluripotentiality of stem cells, Hosseini said that pluripotent stem cells could differentiate to form all types of cells. “This mechanism happens in the embryo very occasionally; however, in laboratory setting, we develop a line of undying pluripotent cells, thus providing us with a secure source to grow the required cell types,” Hosseini added. “To grow cardiac, liver and neural cells, we need a matrix where these stem cells could differentiate,” said she, who is also PhD student of Evolutionary Biology. “The method would find applications in medicine; the method also specifies the chemical agents which would differentiate the pluripotent cells to other types of cells,” she said about possible uses of the method. “Pluripotent stem cells open new important perspective in regenerative medicine,” Hosseini asserted. The research, generally, as the researcher explains, seeks to examine use of two macromolecules to find a facilitated stem cell generation. In the past, many embryos were used to obtain a line of stem cells; currently, macromolecules help obtain a line of stem cells from single embryo. The method has improved the number of mice stem cells in Royan Institute Stem Cell Bank to more than 200 lines.