New Method Transforms Stem Cells into Muscle Cells

Researchers have developed new technology to turn stem cells into mature muscle cells, an advancement that may aid disease-fighting cell replacement therapies.

Stem cells are undifferentiated cells that can differentiate into specialized body cells, such as neurons, cardiac cells and muscular cells, and for this reason stem cells hold great potential for cell replacement therapies. However, the process of differentiating stem cells into a specific cell type, which is orchestrated by proteins known as transcription factors, might be a challenging task.

A group of scientists has recently developed an artificial, gold nanoparticle-based transcription factor called ‘NanoScript’ to efficiently differentiate adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells (i.e. stem cells derived from fat tissue) into mature muscle cells. This technology might be also applicable to differentiate stem cells into other cells of the body and might be suitable for gene manipulation.