Researchers generate functional astrocytes from stem cells
Posted: Tue May 24, 2011 5:24 am
Scientists have developed the chemically defined conditions necessary to prompt human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) and human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) to differentiate into immature astrocytes.
The University of Wisconsin-Madison team claims the immature astrocytes readily develop into mature astrocytes when implanted in the mouse brain, by forming connections with blood vessels. Writing in Nature Biotechnology, Su-Chung Zhang, Ph.D., and colleagues, report on their achievement in a paper titled “Specification of transplantable astroglial subtypes from human pluripotent stem cells.”... Read More - http://www.msrc.co.uk/index.cfm/fuseact ... ageid/1826