Researchers have finally figured out how to study the biological process protein synthesis in stem cells.
The study shows that protein synthesis is essential in cell regulation and regeneration, a UT Southwestern Medical Center news release reported.
"We unveiled new areas of cellular biology that no one has seen before," Doctor Sean Morrison , Director of the Children's Research Institute, Professor of Pediatrics, and the Mary McDermott Cook Chair in Pediatric Genetics at UT Southwestern Medical Center, said in the news release. "No one has ever studied protein synthesis in somatic stem cells. This finding not only tells us something new about stem cell regulation, but opens up the ability to study differences in protein synthesis between many kinds of cells in the body. We believe there is an undiscovered world of biology that allows different kinds of cells to synthesize protein at different rates and in different ways, and that those differences are important for cellular survival."
The team modified antibiotic puromycin which allowed them to look at the amount of protein each cell within the body synthesized. This substance could be modified to measure protein synthesis in stem cells and other cells.
The researchers determined that different types of blood cells produced significantly different amounts of protein per hour, with stem cells being the least protein-synthesizing.
"This result suggests that blood-forming stem cells require a lower rate of protein synthesis as compared to other blood-forming cells," said Dr. Morrison, the paper's senior author.
The researchers applied the findings to a mouse model that had a genetic mutation in a component of protein-making ribosomes that caused the rate of protein production in stem cells to drop by 30 percent. The team also increased the rate of protein production by eliminating the tumor suppressor gene Pten. In both of these cases stem cell function was significantly impaired.
These two observations show stem cells require a "highly regulated rate of protein synthesis" in order to function properly.
Protein synthesis abnormalities could be key factors in degenerative diseases and certain cancers.
"Many people think of protein synthesis as a housekeeping function, in that it happens behind the scenes in all cells," Doctor Robert A.J. Signer, a postdoctoral research fellow, said in the news release. "The reality is that a lot of housekeeping functions are highly regulated; they have just not been studied enough to recognize the difference among cells. I think what we are seeing with this study is just the tip of the iceberg, where the process of protein production is probably quite different in distinct cell types."
