- (PRWEB) -- Researcher Dr. John Stingl
from StemCell Technologies and Dr. Connie Eaves of the Terry Fox Laboratory
at the British Columbia Cancer Research Center collaborated with the Michael
Smith Genome Sciences Center and the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of
Medical Research to publish these findings in the article "Purification
and unique properties of mammary epithelial stem cells" in the February
23, 2006 issue of Nature.
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- This article was first published on-line
January 5, 2006 simultaneously with a related study entitled "Generation
of a functional mammary gland from a single stem cell" by Dr. Jane
Visvader and coworkers from the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical
Research, in collaboration with John Stingl from StemCell Technologies.
Both manuscripts confirm many of each other's findings.
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- The results of the Vancouver study are
highly relevant to the cancer research community as the concept of cancer
stem cells suggests that stem cells, or cells with stem cell-like properties,
are frequently the targets of malignant transforming changes. The ability
to isolate these rare stem cells to high purity now permits the determination
of the gene expression profile of these cells, an important step in understanding
the basic mechanisms that regulate normal stem cell behavior. These same
mechanisms may also regulate the behavior of cells that propagate breast
tumours. Elucidation of these mechanisms may therefore be key to the rational
development of new therapies for the treatment of breast cancer and possibly
other tumour types.
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- The publication of these experiments
is a result of StemCell Technologies' ongoing efforts as a leader in basic
stem cell biology research, as well as in the development and commercialization
of specialty cell culture media, cell separation products and ancillary
reagents for stem cell research.
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- The work in Vancouver was supported by
grants from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada,
the Canadian Stem Cell Network, Genome BC/Canada, the Canadian Breast Cancer
Foundation (BC/Yukon Chapter), the British Columbia Cancer Foundation and
the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia.
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- About StemCell Technologies:
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- StemCell Technologies is a privately
owned, market-driven biotechnology company located in Vancouver, British
Columbia. StemCell Technologies is committed to supporting stem cell and
many other areas of life science research worldwide by providing enabling
research tools that are innovative, timely and of consistently high quality.
StemCell's specialized media and cell separation products are available
for a wide range of research applications such as cancer, hematology, immunology,
cell transplantation and gene therapy, and are complemented by a diverse
array of cytokines, antibodies, tissue culture reagents, as well as services
including contract assays, proficiency testing, and training.
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- More Information:
http://www.prweb.com/releases/2006/2/prweb349209.htm
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