Clues on generating muscles
Harvard stem cell scientists have discovered that the same chemicals that stimulate muscle development in zebrafish can be used to differentiate human stem cells into muscle cells in the laboratory — and overcoming that historically challenging task has made muscle cell therapy a more realistic clinical possibility. The work, published in the journal Cell, began with a discovery by Children’s Hospital Boston researchers led by Leonard Zon and graduate student Cong (Tony) Xu, who tested 2,400 chemicals in cultures of zebrafish embryo cells to determine if any could increase the numbers of muscle cells formed. Using fluorescent reporter fish in which muscle cells were visible during their creation, the researchers found six chemicals that were very effective at promoting muscle formation. Zon, a professor with the Harvard Department of Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology (HSCRB), chair of the Harvard Stem Cell Institute executive committee, and director of the stem cell program at...