By IANS
New York : Researchers in Germany have mapped over 5,000 proteins present in embryonic stem cells in a bid to understand the mechanism of their conversion into other cells.
Questions on how stem cells operate and convert into other cells have prompted researchers to take a “big picture” approach, identifying all the proteins that are expressed in stem cells.
Currently, around 1,700 proteins have been identified in stem cells that hold great potential in biology and medicine.
Now, using mass spectrometry and special “heavy” amino acids, Matthias Mann and colleagues at the Max-Planck-Institute for Biochemistry in Germany have quantified 5,111 distinct mouse stem cell proteins.
As expected, a good portion of these proteins are involved in rapid cell growth, but overall the protein map encompassed a broad range of cell functions.