Study tracks protein’s role in stem cell function
Reporting last month in the journal Stem Cell Reports, Vanderbilt University researchers found that a form of MCL-1 maintains stem cell pluripotency through its role in the inner matrix of mitochondria, the cell’s energy producing “power plants.” When this MCL-1 is depleted by an inhibitor, stem cells differentiate. MCL-1 depletion also changes the shape of mitochondria, which are very dynamic organelles, said the paper’s corresponding author, Vivian Gama, PhD, assistant professor of Cell and Developmental Biology in the School of Medicine. “These are cells in the tumor that are capable of propagating the tumor,” Gama explained. “If by blocking MCL-1, you can induce them to differentiate, this would be another way to stop them from dividing.” Megan Rasmussen, a graduate student in Gama’s lab, is the paper’s first author. The research was supported in part by National Institutes of Health grant CA178190 and the American Brain Tumor Association.