Experts have discovered stem cells that can transform to liver cells or the cells that lines the liver blood vessels. The latest discovery gives a hope for the treatment of liver cancer.
Researchers at the Mount Sinai Hospital have discovered the new stem cells and they believe that the latest discovery will help doctors to understand the insights on how liver cancer develops.
The researchers explain that humans normally develop into a complex being of over 200 cells from just one type of cell. The fertilized embryo develops into each and every type of cell in a human. Stem cells proliferate and differentiate into a number of functional cells such as liver cells, bone cells, muscle cells and more.
In the early stages, embryo becomes three germ layers of the stem cells: the endoderm, ectoderm and mesoderm. Scientists believed that the endoderm forms into gut organs and liver; the mesoderm forms the heart, blood cells and muscles; while the ectoderm forms the skin and brain. Researchers have long wanted to establish the layer of the stem cells that produces each organ as these beginnings can give clues about diseases in humans and healthy function of the organs.
Valerie Gouon-Evans, Assistant Professor in the Department of Developmental and Regenerative Biology and Black Family Stem Cell Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, who is also the lead author of the study suggest that the study found a new stem cell, which can transform into a liver cell, believed to be created in the endoderm. The stem cell can also become an endothelial cell, which assists in the formation of blood vessels that originate as the mesoderm.
"Our results go against traditional germ layer theory, which holds that a stem cell can only go on to become cell types in line with the germ layer that stem cell came from. Endothelial cells may arise from both the endoderm and mesoderm," says Gouon-Evans.
The study is significant as it can give a better understanding of the progression of liver cancer in humans. The authors suggest that further research can help in the development of drugs that can be used to target cancer cells in the liver as blood vessels that helps the growth of tumors.
The researchers believe that the latest discovery is also relevant as it can help scientists understand better the regeneration process of the liver. Many labs are currently trying to understand if injecting healthy liver cells can help in the repair of damaged liver.
The study has been published in the journal Stem Cell Reports.
