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Press Release
No. 20/September 12, 2011
Press2011_Schöler
E m b a r g o e d until: Monday, September 12, 2011, 1:00 PM
Professor Schöler: Simplifying the Generation of Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells
Until recently, all four transcription factors of the quartet Oct4, Sox2, c-Myc and Klf4 were
essential to successfully reprogram adult stem cells into induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells. In
2009 the research group of Professor Hans Schöler of the Max Planck Institute (MPI) for
Molecular Biomedicine in Münster succeeded for the first time in converting adult human cells
into iPS cells using only one single gene, Oct4. "Among other advantages, this reduces the risk
of transmitting cancer progenitor cells during potential therapeutic applications in the future,"
said Professor Schöler in a statement to the press at the international conference "Stem Cells
in Development and Disease", organized by the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine
(MDC) in Berlin.
The next step was to introduce Oct4 into human neuronal stem cells and to isolate those cells in the
cultures that had converted into iPS cells. In addition to being generated by ES cells, Oct4 is only
produced by the progenitor cells of egg and sperm cells. “That is the reason,” Professor Schöler
explained, “why we could work successfully with testicular cells. In a suitable culture medium they
can develop on their own into pluripotent “all-rounder” cells."
Already twenty years ago, researchers showed that primordial germ cells (PGCs) could be induced
into pluripotency by the mere modulation of the culture conditions. Recently, Hans Schöler’s
research group succeeded in converting adult germline stem cells (GSCs) from mouse testicular cells
into pluripotent stem cells by allowing the cells sufficient time and space to develop in their culture
medium. These germline-derived pluripotent testicular cells are unipotent, that is, they only generate
cells of the same type which are not only capable of self-renewing, but also of giving rise to sperm.
In addition, the group showed that these cells can also be reprogrammed into heart or nerve cells.
Professor Schöler, who is director of the Department of Cell and Developmental Biology at the MPI
Münster, said in Berlin: "Even if the germline stem cells are 'merely' unipotent, these insights
represent a first step towards also reprogramming somatic cells, with much less effort. Thus, they
can be converted into 'all-rounders' once again."
Somatic cells accumulate mutations in the course of a lifetime. Genes that are rarely used are
particularly susceptible to mutations. Therefore, the closer the similarity between the original cell
and the iPS cell, the greater the likelihood of being able to use the iPS cells for therapy in the future,
without transmitting genetic damage.
Foundation under Public Law
Directors:
Professor Walter Rosenthal, Cornelia Lanz
Member of the
Hermann von Helmholtz Association of
National Research Centres
Hans Schöler, b. 1953 in Toronto/Canada, came to Germany to live in 1960
Studies of Biology in Heidelberg, P.D 1985, venia legendi in Molecular Biology 1994
1982 Center for Molecular Biology, Heidelberg
1991 European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), Heidelberg
1999 University of Pennsylvania
2004 Director of the Department for Cell and Developmental Biology at the Max Planck Institute for Molecular
Biomedicine, Münster
and Professor at the Universities of Münster, MHH (Hannover) and Pennsylvania
Selected research areas
Molecular biology (discoverer of Oct4)
Germ cells, nerve cells
Stem cell research, iPS cells
Memberships
The German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina
North Rhine-Westphalia Academy of Sciences
Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences
Academy of Sciences and Literature, Mainz
Member of the Central Ethics Commission for Stem Cell Research (since 2005)
2008: Robert Koch Prize
Contact:
Prof. Dr. Hans Schöler
Director
MPI for Molecular Biomedicine, Cell and Developmental Biology
Röntgenstraße 20, 48149 Münster, Germany
Phone: +49-251/70365-300
e-mail: [email protected]
www.mpi-muenster.mpg.de/research/teams/schoeler/index.html
Press contact for this conference:
MWM-Vermittlung
Kirchweg 3 B, 14129 Berlin, Germany
Phone: +49+30/803 96-86; Fax: -87
e-mail: [email protected]
www.mwm-vermittlung.de/MDC2011.html
Press contact MDC:
Barbara Bachtler
Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine
Robert-Rössle-Straße 10, 13122 Berlin, Germany
Phone: +49-30/9406-2463
e-mail: [email protected]
www.mdc-berlin.de
Foundation under Public Law
Directors:
Professor Walter Rosenthal, Cornelia Lanz
Member of the
Hermann von Helmholtz Association of
National Research Centres