ABOVE: This image shows tissue derived from a single human skeletal stem cell. Bone is in yellow, blue indicates cartilage, and marrow is pictured in red.
CHAN AND LONGAKER ET AL.
Three years after its discovery of skeletal stem cells in mice, the same research team has identified the human version of this precursor to bone, cartilage, and stroma, the bone marrow’s support cells. In a study published today (September 20) in Cell, the authors show that these skeletal stem cells are both self-renewing and multipotent.
“For many years there’s been this debate about a true human skeletal stem cell. This study unequivocally demonstrates that it’s there and that it is self-renewing,” says Richard Oreffo, a stem cell biologist at the University of Southampton in the UK who did not participate in the work. “There’s still a lot to do, but this is a tremendous step forward for the field.”
Michael ...
