The "protein of immortality" of stem cells was detected
Last reviewed: 16.10.2021
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An enzyme has been identified that facilitates a histological grasp on the stem cell genes necessary to maintain their immortality and multifunctionality.
Researchers from the University of Michigan (USA) discovered a protein responsible for immortality and the "eternal youth" of stem cells. They, as is known, can be transformed into other types of cells, and can remain undifferentiated, multiplying, but at the same time retaining the property of "omnipotence".
Obviously, in this case we are talking about the choice of one or another genetic program. And the most common way to switch genetic programs - epigenetic manipulations (histone, DNA, etc.). Histones serve to pack DNA, and those areas that are tightly packed will not be available for enzymes that synthesize mRNA, that is, these genes will remain silent. If DNA is free of histones, then its genes will be open to work with them.
Histones, in turn, can behave differently, depending on what modifications they carry. If acetyl groups are attached to the histones, they are not able to interact closely with each other, and therefore the DNA will be open to transcription factors. Accordingly, enzymes of histone acetyltransferase, which supply histones with acetyl groups, work as DNA activators.
If the cell does not want to differentiate, but wants to remain in the stem essence, it needs to maintain the activity of a certain set of genes responsible for such a state of immortality. As the researchers write in the journal Cell Stem Cell, the only enzyme that performs this work in stem cells is the protein Mof. It is worth emphasizing that scientists worked with pluripotent embryonic stem cells, which can be converted into any cell in the body. That is, Mof's histoneacetyltransferase is responsible for the most general nonspecialization of stem cells, for, so to speak, their original immortality.
Most of the research is devoted to the implementation of a particular specialization program. That is, scientists usually find out which proteins of epigenetic control are responsible for the activation of genes of epithelial, nervous or other developmental pathways. In this case, the reverse work was done: the authors suggested that the immortality of stem cells, like their differentiation, is subject to a certain program. The gene coding for Mof is extremely conservative, its sequence is the same for such different organisms as mice and Drosophila, so with a great deal of certainty it can be assumed that in humans it looks and works the same as in other animals. Perhaps the management of this gene will help in the future to create and maintain lines of induced pluripotent stem cells, which are associated with so many hopes of regenerative medicine.