Scientists grow complete prostate from single stem cell

Scientists from a US research group, Genentech have found adult stem cells in the prostate capable of regenerating a new prostate gland.

In mice, the researchers were able to make individual prostate stem cells grow into new prostates. The same kind of cells can be found in humans, report Wei-Qiang Gao, PhD, and colleagues at Genentech Inc., South San Francisco, Calif.

The research was aimed at understanding how solid organs develop and what goes awry in cancer, but the result could lead to organs being grown from scratch to replace lost ones.

The prostate, grown in mice, is the second organ to be produced this way. The first was a breast grown from a stemcell in mice in 2006 by a team of Australian researchers of the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute in Melbourne.

In humans, the researchers found adult prostate stem cells carrying the same CD117 marker seen in the mouse stem cells.

"CD117 prostate stem cells can generate functional, secretion-producing prostates when transplanted," Gao and colleagues report.

The findings were published in the Oct. 22 online issue of the journal Nature.

For further information:

http://www.webmd.com/prostate-cancer/news/20081022/prostate-grown-from-adult-stem-cell

http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/vaop/ncurrent/index.html

Other News

Next Article