Tracking nanodiamond-tagged stem cells

Main Category: Stem Cell Research
Article Date: 04 Aug 2013 - 10:00 PDT Current ratings for:
Tracking nanodiamond-tagged stem cells

A method that is used to track the fate of a single stem cell within mouse lung tissue is reported in a study published online this week in Nature Nanotechnology. The method may offer insights into the factors that determine the acceptance of transplanted stem cells, and their ability to regenerate within a host.

Stem cell therapy has the potential to repair and regenerate damaged tissues. Implanted cells might, however, be rejected, migrate or die; tracking stem cells in vivo may help to further understand what happens once these cells are inside the host.

Huan-Cheng Chang and colleagues used fluorescent nanodiamonds to tag lung stem cells and implant them in mice with damaged lungs. They found that not only did the damaged lung cells of the mice restore rapidly, but that the uptake and regeneration of stem cells could be tracked with single-cell resolution.

The authors suggest that, in the future, the technique could also be used to monitor the uptake of different kinds of stem cell, such as bone marrow stem cells.

Article adapted by Medical News Today from original press release. Click 'references' tab above for source.
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Tracking nanodiamond-tagged stem cells

Nature Nanotechnology - DOI: 10.1038/nnano.2013.147

Nature

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'Tracking nanodiamond-tagged stem cells'

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Tracking variability in a bacterial population means looking beyond averages

Main Category: Genetics
Article Date: 30 Jul 2013 - 1:00 PDT Current ratings for:
Tracking variability in a bacterial population means looking beyond averages

As a result of the variable nature of gene expression, genetically identical cells inhabiting the same environment can vary significantly in their numbers of key enzymes, which in turn results in strikingly different cellular behaviors. This cell-to-cell variability can manifest in the form of anything from differences in growth rate, to the specific biochemical pathways used and the types of metabolic byproducts produced by each cell.

Incorporating data from studies of gene regulation and protein distributions in single cells, the research group of University of Illinois chemistry professor Zaida Luthey-Schulten was able to identify several behavioral subtypes within a modeled population. The researchers' computer model predicts emissions of metabolic byproducts and pathway selection to balance energy (glycolysis pathway) and protein costs (ED pathway) as a function of growth. The research also suggests that tracking the behavior of a few genes "may be sufficient to capture most of the metabolic variability of the entire population," the authors wrote.

"Our investigations provide the first calculations linking variation in specific pathway usages to the growth rate distribution of a microbial population," Luthey-Schulten said. "By looking beyond the average growth rate of a colony, our work provides insight into the different strategies used by bacteria for survival. "

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New strategy for fiber tracking in human brain

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Article: " Diffusion tensor imaging fiber tracking with reliable tracking orientation and flexible step size" by Xufeng Yao1, 2, Manning Wang2, Xinrong Chen2, Shengdong Nie1, Zhexu Li1, Xiaoping Xu1, Xuelong Zhang1, Zhijian Song2 (1 Shanghai Medical Instrument College, School of Optical-Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, Shanghai 200091, China; 2 Digital Medical Research Center, Shanghai Medical School, Fudan University/The Key Laboratory of MICCAI of Shanghai, Shanghai 200032, China)

Yao XF, Wang MN, Chen XR, Nie SD, Li ZX, Xu XP, Zhang XL, Song ZJ. Diffusion tensor imaging fiber tracking with reliable tracking orientation and flexible step size. Neural Regen Res. 2013;8(16):1481-1490.

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Neural Regeneration Research

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Research, Neural Regeneration. "New strategy for fiber tracking in human brain." Medical News Today. MediLexicon, Intl., 25 Jul. 2013. Web.
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