The use of stem cells as a way to replace damaged cells following an injury is being pursued by laboratories across the world. But controlling the fate, or direction, of these cells is tricky. That is, how do you instruct or direct a precursor cell (a cell that still has the ability to morph into different types of cells) to become a myelin producing oligodendrocyte instead of a scar-forming astrocyte?
The answer to that question is probably very important, as Dr. Phil Horner and colleagues, using newly developed molecular tools, show for the first time in
this week's Journal of Neuroscience that a stem cell will morph into an astrocyte one day post injury, but the same type of stem cell will actually develop into an oligodendrocyte seven days post injury.
What accounts for the different fates? Scientists know that changes in the extracellular environment produce different "cues" to the stem cells, resulting in different fates for the stem cells. But the scientists are still working on understanding what the "cues" are.
Complicated? Yes, but Dr. Horner has provided another clue that ultimately should help in the development of new therapeutic tools for spinal cord injury. Controlling the environment around the cell may allow us to produce the right type of cells, at the right time, at the right place. To borrow from Yogi Bera, "When you get to a fork in the road, take it." Scientists know that stem cells will get to a fork - the challenge is to make sure they take the correct path.
Read more about Dr. Horner's lab's other discovery.
Glossary of spinal cord related terms.
Douglas S. Landsman, Ph.D.
Director, Individual Research Grants Program
Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation
