LIF-dependent survival of embryonic stem cells is regulated by a novel palmitoylated Gab1 signalling protein.

The cytokine leukaemia inhibitory factor (LIF) promotes self-renewal of mouse embryonic stem cells (ESCs) through activation of the transcription factor Stat3. However, the contribution of other ancillary pathways stimulated by LIF in ESCs, such as the MAPK and PI3K pathways, is less well understood. We show here that naive-type mouse ESCs express high levels of a novel effector of the MAPK and PI3K pathways.

Stem cells and veterinary medicine: tools to understand diseases and enable tissue regeneration and drug discovery.

New sophisticated laboratory techniques, as well as established interactions between basic science, researchers and veterinarians, have led to an exponential increase in our understanding of the animal body in health and disease. The advent of animal cloning, the identification and characterization of stem cells, and publication of the various mammalian genomes has afforded the opportunity to exploit these technologies to better understand disease and develop new therapies. In human medicine, these medical advances are already being translated into clinical practice, the promise being that previously untreatable or incurable chronic diseases will become a thing of the past.