Life Science log

Female induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells, reprogrammed from human skin cells into cells that have the embryonic-like potential to become any cell in the body, retain an inactive X chromosome, stem cell researchers at UCLA have found.The finding could have implications for studying X chromosome-linked diseases such as Rett syndrome, caused by mutations in a gene located on the X chromosome.The findings differ from those seen in mouse skin cells that are reprogrammed into iPS cells, in which the inactive X chromosome reactivates, said Kathrin Plath, senior author of the study and a scientist with the Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research at UCLA."We knew from our studies that in reprogrammed mouse cells, the X chromosome becomes active again," said Plath, an assistant professor of biological chemistry and one of the first scientists in the world to reprogram mouse and human adult cells into iPS cells. "The question we wanted to ask is what happens in femal