UCLA researchers turn stem cells into somites, precursors to skeletal muscle, cartilage and bone
Adding just the right mixture of signaling molecules — proteins involved in development — to human stem cells can coax them to resemble somites, which are groups of cells that give rise to skeletal muscles, bones, and cartilage in developing embryos. The somites-in-a-dish then have the potential to generate these cell types in the lab, according to new research led by senior author April Pyle at the Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research at UCLA.