Characterisation and culture of neuromesodermal stem cells

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The backbone and spinal cord are made during embryo development from a group of cells called axial progenitors that are similar to stem cells. Stem cells have two essential properties: they can divide to give more copies of themselves, and they can produce specialised cell types in a process called differentiation. Axial progenitors can be made to behave like stem cells under some experimental conditions, but normally they are only present during the time that the backbone and spinal cord are being made, and then they die. We aim to understand what molecules make them divide, differentiate and die, and this knowledge will help us to design conditions to keep them alive as stem cells in culture. Unlike Embryonic Stem cells, these cells do not form malignant tumours when transplanted into adult mice, and so axial progenitors may therefore be a useful therapeutic cell type for degenerative diseases and injuries involving the spinal cord, bone and muscle.