顶级科学家Nature发表干细胞筛选技术

　　

生物通报道：来自美国斯克利普斯研究院（The Scripps Research Institute），德国Schleswig Holstein大学医院（University Hospital Schleswig Holstein），以色列特拉维夫（Tel Aviv University）等处的研究人员报道了一个能分辩许多种培养的人类干细胞——包括全能干细胞，多能干细胞和分化的细胞类型的一个全基因表达谱数据库，并对其中的数据进行了分析。这对于干细胞研究而言是一项重要的突破。这一研究成果公布在本期（9月18日）《Nature》杂志上。

领导这一研究的是斯克利普斯研究院再生中心的主任Jeanne F. Loring博士，这位杰出的女科学家主要研究兴趣在于解析胚胎干细胞的分子网络。2006年其实验室与其它研究团队合作，发现胚胎干细胞DNA甲基化具有特异性，从而科学家们可以利用这种特殊的化学修饰模式将人类胚胎干细胞与正常成人细胞、细胞系以及癌细胞系区别开来。

干细胞是一类具有自我更新与增殖分化能力的细胞，是机体的起源细胞，在一定条件下，可以分化成多种功能细胞或组织器官，医学界称其为“万用细胞”，存在于早期胚胎、胎盘及其附属物、骨髓、外周血和成年组织中，因此也就有了许多不同的干细胞系。目前越来越多的干细胞来源被发现，而且由于这种细胞在再生医学方面的重要作用，因为国际上许多重要实验室都在开展这方面的研究。

但是对于这么多种干细胞系，需要一种具有通用性的方法来分辩这些细胞，在这篇文章中，研究人员报道了一个能分辩许多种培养的人类干细胞——包括全能干细胞，多能干细胞和分化的细胞类型的一个全基因表达谱数据库，并对其中的数据进行了分析。

研究人员通过一种称为光微珠阵列技术（Illumina’s BeadArray technology）的方法对150多个细胞样品进行分类分析，创建一个全球基因表达分布的数据库，来统一人类干细胞的定性和分类。生物信息分析显示，多能干细胞系有很多共性，它们都有一个典型的蛋白-蛋白网络，称之为“PluriNe”。其他细胞类型，包括来自大脑的神经干细胞系，要多样化得多。这些结果为对干细胞进行分类提供了一个新策略，并且支持这样一个观点：多能性和自我更新能力受特定分子网络的严格控制。

原文摘要：

Nature 455, 401-405 (18 September 2008) | doi:10.1038/nature07213;
Regulatory networks define phenotypic classes of human stem cell lines

附：

JEANNE F. LORING, PH.D.
Adjunct Associate Professor
Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine
Jeanne Loring is Director of the Center for Regenerative Medicine at The Scripps Research Institute. She studies the secret life of embryonic stem cells: the molecular networks that control their fate. She has also become a stem cell advocate, dedicated to resolving the scientific, ethical, political and legal issues that she believes hinder the progress of human embryonic stem cell research.

研究兴趣
Dr. Loring's current research focuses on the molecular basis of pluripotence and differentiation of human embryonic stem (ES) cells. A major focus of her research is establishment of standard techniques for culture and analysis of human ES cells, to enable fruitful collaborations among researchers with diverse knowledge in molecular biology, physiology, and medicine. Her laboratory studies human ES cells using gene expression profiling, SNP genotyping, DNA methylation and other high information content approaches to understand how pluripotence is maintained, and how to direct differentiation along specific pathways. In addition to investigating the fundamental biology of ES cells, Dr. Loring is developing practical applications for human ES cells for drug discovery, drug delivery and cell therapy. A major interest of her laboratory is to use stem cells to discover novel therapies for Alzheimer’s disease.

In addition to her basic and applied research projects, Dr. Loring is devoted to resolving the scientific, ethical, and legal issues that hinder the progress of human ES cell research worldwide. She founded the privately supported Stem Cell Community, a website for sharing information about human ES cells, and co-founded the Stem Cell Resource to allow IVF patients to donate their excess embryos to human ES cell research.

学习经历
Dr. Jeanne Loring has a B.S. in Molecular Biology and a Ph.D. in Developmental Neurobiology. She was on the faculty of the University of California at Davis, and has held research and management positions at biotechnology companies including Hana Biologics, GenPharm International, Incyte Genomics, and Arcos BioScience. She joined the faculty of the Burnham Institute for Medical Research as a principal investigator in January 2004 and serves as Director of the Human Stem Cell Resource and the NIH Human Embryonic Stem Cell Training Course and Co-Director of the institute's NIH Exploratory Center for Human Embryonic Stem Cell Research.