Stem cells: Identifying self renewing cells

Large numbers of adult stem cells can be efficiently obtained from testis, thanks to a newly identified molecule on the cell surface that will allow researchers to tell them apart from non-self-renewing cell types.

Shahin Rafii and colleagues report that a newly discovered marker, GPR125, flags rapidly multiplying adult spermatogonial progenitor cells and does not appear on differentiated germ-cell counterparts. They developed a system whereby they can use this marker to generate large numbers of stem cells from mouse testicles. These stem-cell populations formed functioning blood vessels in mice, and it has been demonstrated that they convert to cardiac tissue in culture.
CONTACT

Shahin Rafii (Weill Medical College of Cornell University, New York, NY, USA)
Tel: +1 212 746 2070; E-mail: srafii@med.cornell.edu



Marco Seandel (Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Howard Hughes Medical Institute & Weill Cornell Medical Center, New York, NY, USA) Co-author

Tel: +1 212 746 2017; E-mail: SeandelM@MSKCC.ORG



Jonathan Weil (Director of Research Communications, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, NY, USA)

Tel: +1 212 821 0566; E-mail: jweil@med.cornell.edu