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Study: Embryonic Stem Cells Like Shaking

Posted on: Monday, 10 September 2007, 15:00 CDT

U.S. scientists have discovered embryonic stem cells like to be gently shaken or sloshed, much in the same way they are in a mother's womb.

Georgia Institute of Technology and Emory University researchers said such shaking significantly improves embryonic stem cell development and might some day even be used to control what type of cell they eventually become.

Student researcher Rich Carpenedo discovered placing embryonic stem cells in vitro on the lab's shaker plate created healthier and more uniform clusters of differentiating cells. The researchers subsequently found cell development could be controlled with different types of sloshing movement.

Embryonic stem cells develop under unique conditions in the womb, and no one has ever been able to study the effect that movement has on that development process, said Georgia Tech and Emory Assistant Professor Todd McDevitt, who led the project. While labs typically add all sorts of things to their cultures to influence cell direction, we were able to control the levels of differentiation and size of cell clusters by simply providing some fluid motion.

The research appears in the September issue of the journal Stem Cells.

Source: United Press International

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