New Brunswick, NJ - Want to restore hearing by injecting stem cells into the inner ear? Well, that can be a double-edged sword. Inner ear stem cells can be converted to auditory neurons that could reverse deafness, but the process can also make those cells divide too quickly, posing a cancer risk, according to a study led by Rutgers University–New Brunswick scientists. The encouraging news is that turning stem cells into auditory neurons can be controlled – at least in a Petri dish, said Kelvin Y. Kwan, senior author of the study and an assistant professor in the Department of Cell Biology and Neuroscience in the School of Arts and Sciences.
The Rutgers-led study was published in Stem Cell Reports and led by Zhichao Song, a doctoral student in Kwan’s lab. Co-author Azadeh Jadali is a post-doctoral associate in the lab.
“But since that leads to increased cell division and NEUROG1 is used in other stem cells to make other types of neurons, scientists in other fields should be aware that when using this factor, they’ll probably also increase cell proliferation,” Kwan said.
The Rutgers scientists also discovered that chromatin – DNA studded with histone proteins – influences how NEUROG1 functions. Changes in chromatin may help reduce unwanted stem cell proliferation and can be achieved by adding drugs to experimental cultures in Petri dishes, Kwan said.
“Ideally, we would change the chromatin state before we start overexpressing NEUROG1 and prevent unwanted stem cell proliferation,” he said.