Stem Cells from Testes Produce Range of Tissues

Transplant News,  Oct, 2007  

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Researchers at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York announced they have successfully reprogrammed adult stem cells from the testes of male mice into a wide variety of cell types, including functional blood vessels, contractile cardiac tissue, and brain cells, according to a report from HealthDay News. The scientists note if the same can be done with stem cells from human testes, they may offer a source of new therapies to treat men with health problems such as heart disease, vascular diseases, diabetes, stroke, Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, and cancer.

The work was published in the Sept. 20 issue of the journal Nature. For male patients, this "could someday mean a readily available source of stem cells that gets around ethical issues linked to embryonic stem cells. It also avoids issues linked to tissue transplant rejection, since these autologous cells come from the patient's own body," study author Shahin Rafii said in a prepared statement. Link:

www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/19/AR2007091901470.html.

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