
The discovery could contribute to the development of cell therapies and more targeted treatments against cancer
A study conducted by a research team led by Michel Cayouette, Full IRCM Research Professor, Director of the Cellular Neurobiology research unit, and Adjunct Professor in the Department of Medicine (Division of Experimental Medicine) and the Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology at McGill University, in collaboration with a team led by Stéphane Angers, Associate Professor at the University of Toronto, makes the cover of the latest edition of Developmental Cell following the discovery of a mechanism enabling the production of cellular diversity in the developing nervous system.
To investigate this phenomenon, the IRCM team hypothesized that the orientation of stem cell division influences cell diversification. “To illustrate this idea, let’s suppose that we have on a table a red apple with the top part green and the bottom part red, explains Carine Monat, PhD student in Michel Cayouette’s laboratory and co-first author of the study. If the apple is cut perpendicularly to the table, we will have two identical pieces with red and green parts; but if we cut it parallel, the pieces will be different from each other, one red and one green.”