Year 2

Our project goal is to develop and test a tool that will allow the identification of stem cell-specific genes and genes that are unique to cells made by stem cells. We have optimized this technique in a model of nervous system development and demonstrated that we can selectively identify neural stem cell-specific RNA. We have also made progress in developing this technique in mice, with experiments demonstrating the feasibility of RNA purification from tissues known to have resident stem cell populations. Finally, we have generated mice that will allow us to identify stem cell-specific genes from normal stem cells at early stages of development and in adults as well as abnormal proliferating cells in mouse models of cancer.