Stem cells grown from skin cells show early aging and other abnormalities compared with embryonic stem cells, say U.S. scientists.
They compared 25 human embryonic stem cell lines with 8 induced stem cell lines created from skin cells, USA Today reported.
The biologists at Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine International in Worcester, Mass. found the embryonic stem cells grew about 1,000 times more readily than the induced cells. In addition, the induced stem cells "significantly increased apoptosis (cell death), severely limited growth and expansion capability, as well as a substantially decreased hematopoietic (blood cell) colony forming capability," the researchers wrote.
The study appears in the journal Stem Cell.
"The authors show that induced stem cells are not of the same 'quality' as embryonic stem cells, and that induced-derived cell types tend to age and die earlier than those derived from embryonic cells," said Maria Blasco, a biologist at the Spanish National Cancer Center in Madrid, USA Today reported. She was not part of the study.