Date of Award:

5-2013

Document Type:

Thesis

Degree Name:

Master of Science (MS)

Department:

Animal, Dairy, and Veterinary Sciences

Committee Chair(s)

Lee F. Rickords

Committee

Lee F. Rickords

Committee

Thomas D. Bunch

Committee

Irina A. Polejaeva

Committee

Kenneth L. White

Abstract

Embryonic stem cells are cells which are isolated from early stage embryos and have the theoretical ability to become any adult cell type in the body. In the past few years much research has focused on the use of embryonic stem cells for clinical applications in the treatment of degenerative diseases. Consequently they are a promising tool in the treatment of diseases such as Diabetes and Parkinson’s disease, and could potentially be used in the repair of permanently damaged tissue. However, since these cells are isolated from early stage embryos their successful isolation often results in the destruction of the embryo from which they are derived. In light of these ethical concerns considerable research has recently focused on the production of embryonic stem-like cells from adult cells instead of embryos. Such cells are called induced pluripotent stem cells, and are usually produced using viruses as a means for delivering stem cell associated genes into the cell. Unfortunately, this production method precludes the use of these cells in clinical applications. One potential way to resolve this problem is to produce induced pluripotent stem cells using small molecules that target cellular pathways that are active in embryonic stem cells. This would eliminate the need for viruses as well as foreign genetic material for their production and make them available for clinical use.

This research focuses on one such small molecule, RepSox. We evaluated the effect of RepSox on gene expression of pathways relevant to stem cell maintenance in an effort to come closer to the aforementioned goal. This study, and future studies like it, will open up the possibility of using induced pluripotent stem cells for clinical purposes.

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