According to the latest literature, it is more and more evident that the lipid metabolism is playing a central role in the regulation of the delicate mechanisms of stemness, asimmetric division and differentiation, tipycal of the stem cell behavior but not yet clearly elucidated.

In a key paper (Ito K. et al., Nature Medicine 2012) the authors identify a “previously unknown promyelocytic leukemia (PML)-peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor d (PPAR-d)-fatty-acid oxidation (FAO) pathway for the maintenance of hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs).”

It seems that “PML regulates the activation of fatty acid metabolism, and that this metabolic reprograming plays an essential role in cancer biology and stem cell biology through the control it exerts over stem cell fate decisions.” (Ito K. and Ito K., Frontiers in Oncology 2013).

Moreover, “lipid metabolism emerges as a bioenergetic controller of self-renewal versus differentiation […]” (Folmes CDL. Et al., Cell Metabolism 2013). Plus, as we already discussed a few months ago in this blog quoting another cutting-edge paper (Yanes O. et al., Nature Chemical Biology 2010), the membrane network and its polyunsaturated fatty acid content seem to play, in turn, a fundamental role yet to be outlined in detail.

We are introducing you some thought-provoking topics and giving you the means to discuss these revolutionary aspects of stem cell metabolism more in detail. You think, experiment and publish! It really looks like the topics worthy a Nobel prize are all there!

Happy culturing!!!

Remembrane’s team