'Open' stem cell chromosomes reveal new possibilities for diabetes
Thursday, April 2, 2015 - 14:00
in Biology & Nature
Cells of the intestine, liver and pancreas are difficult to produce from stem cells. Writing in Cell Stem Cell April 2, researchers at University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have discovered that chromosomes in laboratory stem cells open slowly over time, in the same sequence that occurs during embryonic development. It isn't until certain chromosomal regions have acquired the 'open' state that they are able to respond and become liver or pancreatic cells.