Congenital disorders

Stem cells can influence defective cells and restore their capacity to function normally.

A new study conducted by researchers at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center suggests that embryonic stem cells can influence neighbouring defective cells and restore their capacity to function normally.

The researchers injected 15 embryonic stem cells into early embryos of mice whose hearts were genetically predisposed to develop a lethal defect.

The stem cells rescued the heart from developing the disorder by not only producing normal daughter cells that were incorporated into the defective embryonic heart but also by releasing biological factors into the nearby vicinity that prevented neighbouring heart cells from developing into defective tissue.

"In other words, stem cells act like nurses, restoring 'sick' cells to health. The result was that fifty-percent of the mice fated to die in the womb were born with healthy hearts," claimed lead researcher, Robert Benezra.

"We found that stem cells are critically dependent on the Id protein for self-renewal and differentiation. A reduction of just 15-20 percent of the Id protein impairs the stem cells' ability to rescue these embryonic mouse heart cells. These cells are very powerful, but also apparently very delicate," Benezra added.