Induced adult stem cells can differentiate into any cell type but they do it so more quickly if they differ in the type of cell to which they belonged before induction. This is due to epigenetic memory. With this argument, the scientific director of the IVI Foundation and the Institute Prince Felipe de Valencia, Dr. Carlos Simon, has confirmed the need for epigenetic in the field of stem cell research which he has been working the last decade. He has done in the framework of the cycle IDIBELL seminars on January 21st.
Simon has explained the characteristics of stem cell types used in the investigation of cell differentiation: embryonic stem cells, adult stem cells and induced stem cells. He has detailed that, in reproductive medicine, “you know the process from the genetic side, and in that sense we are able to differentiate an embryonic cell into a spermatozoon. However, we are unable to get the mouse embryo resulting succeed. It is therefore important to look into how epigenetic is involved in cell differentiation. ”
For several years, Dr. Carlos Simon, has been working with endometrial cells, “two thirds of this tissue are destroyed each month and regenerate themselves. Endometrial cells are adult stem cells with many research possibilities. They may help us to understand and prevent endometriosis, a disease that affects 20% of women”.
About Carlos Simon
Dr. Carlos Simon is professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Valencia, Scientific Director of the IVI Foundation and Scientific Director of the Prince Felipe Center, Valencia. His work focuses on embryo implantation, uterine receptivity, and stem cells, embryonic and adult. During the nineties his research contributed to the advancement of reproductive medicine, specifically in the understanding of human endometrial receptivity, embryo viability, embryo implantation and endometriosis. And since 2001, Simon has expanded his research to the field of stem cells with achievements such as the derivation of the first two human embryonic stem cells in Spain or the procurement of stem cells without destroying human embryos. Finally, he reported the identification and characterization of human endometrial stem cells.