This web page was produced as an assignment for Genetics 677, and undergraduate course at UW-Madison.
In the News
Patient-Specific Induced Pluripotent Stem-Cell Models for Long-QT Syndrome
Alessandra Moretti, Ph.D et al. [1]
N Engl J Med. 2010 Oct 7;363(15):1397-409. Epub 2010 Jul 21.
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The problem facing many scientists today is that they want to study a certain pathway within the human but cannot do so because of the ethical problems surrounding testing on humans. Because of that scientists have been forced to use “closely related” mammalian species such as the mouse and the rat that show many close similarities in their anatomy as well as gene and protein sequences. Unfortunately, using these model organisms can only get science so far as there are complications when researches try to extrapolate their findings into the human population. With this paper this problem may be a thing of the past.
KCNQ1 is a protein that is very closely related to the mouse model and can so a mouse can be used to experiment different aspects of the protein but a group of researches lead by Dr. Moretti have found another way to look at how KCNQ1 works in humans. They found that using stem cells can give them a better look as to how KCNQ1 works within human cells as the stem cells are human and they can differentiate the cells into heart cells as KCNQ1 is predominately in heart cells. Through this new technique they were able to find many interesting things such as how other proteins interact with KCNQ1 and have open the door for new research to be done using this new process that allows us to see the reactions within the human and not have to worry about whether a mouse or rat will be equivalent to the human model.
KCNQ1 is a protein that is very closely related to the mouse model and can so a mouse can be used to experiment different aspects of the protein but a group of researches lead by Dr. Moretti have found another way to look at how KCNQ1 works in humans. They found that using stem cells can give them a better look as to how KCNQ1 works within human cells as the stem cells are human and they can differentiate the cells into heart cells as KCNQ1 is predominately in heart cells. Through this new technique they were able to find many interesting things such as how other proteins interact with KCNQ1 and have open the door for new research to be done using this new process that allows us to see the reactions within the human and not have to worry about whether a mouse or rat will be equivalent to the human model.
References
[1] Moretti, Alessandra Ph.D. et al. Patient-Specific Induced Pluripotent Stem-Cell Models for Long-QT Syndrome. N Engl J Med. 2010 Oct 7;363(15):1397-409. Epub 2010 Jul 21. (PubMed)
[2] Picture
[1] Moretti, Alessandra Ph.D. et al. Patient-Specific Induced Pluripotent Stem-Cell Models for Long-QT Syndrome. N Engl J Med. 2010 Oct 7;363(15):1397-409. Epub 2010 Jul 21. (PubMed)
[2] Picture