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SUMMARY:An Unbiased Look at the Bone Marrow Stromal System: Stem Cells\, N
 iches\, Lineages
DTSTART:20150330T121500
DTSTAMP:20260406T064303Z
UID:4583c548151d6824d2e392fd9093b9f5e58b515b91f528d263b2ff02
CATEGORIES:Conferences - Seminars
DESCRIPTION:Prof. Paolo Bianco\, University of Rome "La Sapienza"\, Rome (
 I)\nDISTINGUISHED LECTURE IN BIOLOGICAL ENGINEERINGAbstract:\nStudies on t
 he bone marrow stromal system (the system of skeletal lineages emanating f
 rom the skeletal stem cell) have been blessed by ever growing attention fo
 r their relevance to appealing issues in biomedical science (stem cells\, 
 niches\, regenerative medicine). Nonetheless\, the field has suffered from
  a number of biases. These emanate from a wide range of origins\, includin
 g commercial interests\, misconceptions\, improper definitions and assays\
 , and even the use of established experimental paradigms and cutting edge 
 technologies to a specific system\, which is unique among stem cell-ruled 
 systems. The need to remove the biases in turn comes in part from mere con
 ceptual consideration\, and in part from direct experimental evidence. For
  example\, mere conceptual considerations discourage and invalidate the no
 tion of a system fueling steady state\, real time turnover of a multiplici
 ty of skeletal tissues (the bone\, cartilage\, fat according to about 27\,
 000 published papers)\, while direct experimental evidence suggests the vi
 ew of discrete and segregated lineages. Perhaps the hierarchical model to 
 describe other systems\, such as hematopoiesis\, may simply not apply to t
 he stromal system\, which may be dominated by an unsuspected reversibility
  of differentiation states. Interestingly\, observations pointing in this 
 direction merge directly and at times surprisingly on the one hand\, with 
 the understanding of human diseases (e.g.\, the GNAS mutation-caused Fibro
 us Dysplasia of bone) and on the other\, with models of complex systems fe
 aturing emergent behaviors. Decades after its first conceptualization reve
 aling that the bone marrow could be home to two stem cells\, hematopoietic
  and mesenchymal\, the system continues to challenge comforting paradigms\
 , and thus retains a unique flavor (to me\, at least).Bio:\nPaolo Bianco\,
  MD\, is currently a Professor of Anatomic Pathology\; Chief\, Stem Cell L
 ab\; and Director\, Anatomic Pathology\, at Sapienza University of Rome an
 d Umberto I University Hospital. He is known worldwide for his work in ste
 m cells\, skeletal physiology and bone diseases. Has published >160 peer-r
 eviewed articles\, and 38 chapters\, which have received >15\,000 citation
 s in the world literature as of August\, 2013\, making him currently the m
 ost highly cited scholar in the 3 Medical Schools at Sapienza.\nDr. Bianco
  works on skeletal diseases and on non-hematopoietic stem cells found in t
 he bone marrow stroma. His research focuses among other things on the cruc
 ial role of stem cell in genetic diseases of the skeleton\, in particular 
 fibrous dysplasia (FD\, OMIM#17480). His more recent work has been directe
 d at identifying and characterizing postnatal progenitors in the human bon
 e marrow as subendothelial cells\, and to the definition of tissue-specifi
 c progenitors in microvascular niches in different tissues\, moving the un
 derstanding of the topic beyond the paradigm of so-called “mesenchymal s
 tem cells”. A specific facet of this issue is represented by the role of
  skeletal stem cells in providing a niche for hematopoietic and cancer cel
 ls homing to bone.
LOCATION:SV1717a http://map.epfl.ch/?room=sv1717a
STATUS:CONFIRMED
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