Study Showing Stem Cells Destroying Their Own DNA
All cells contain DNA made of 46 chromosomes which break into pieces when exposed to ultraviolet light and some chemicals. The process has been traditionally considered harmful, and to be the cause of cell death and series of diseases such as cancer if the damage was not repaired in a short period of time. However, the new research that was conducted by Dr. Lynn Megeney and his team at the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute and the University of Ottawa turned the widely accepted theory on its head. The study that was published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Science recently will probably dramatically change the view of the scientists on tissue formation, role of stem cells and development of diseases such as cancer.
Megeney and his group were researching the role of stem cells in the process of muscle fiber formation in 2002 when they discovered that formation of new muscles was closely tied to cell death. They proved the connection by removing or blocking the caspase 3, a protein which promotes cell death. Absence of the protein resulted in cessation of production of muscle fibers by the stem cells. The results of the 2002 study were very controversial when published but many researchers reported about the link between cell death and formation of new muscle fibers since then. However, the ability of proteins responsible for cell death to induce muscle fiber formation remained a mystery.
Dr. Megeney and his group said they have managed to solve the mysterious role of proteins that promote cell death in the process of formation of new muscle fibers. They have shown that caspase 3 activates a protein responsible for cutting of DNA which in turn stimulates the gene that is crucial for the formation of new muscle fibers. Thus the results of the study have shown that the stem cells actually destroy their own DNA in order to induce production of new tissues.
Subscribe to the comments for this post