The sea anemone Nematostella vectensis is potentially immortal. Using molecular genetic methods, developmental biologists led by Ulrich Technau from the University of Vienna have now identified possible candidates for multipotent stem cells in the sea anemone for the first time. These stem cells are regulated by evolutionary highly conserved genes, which in humans are usually only active in the formation of egg and sperm cells, but give ancient animal phyla such as cnidarians a high degree of regenerative capacity to even escape aging.
The results are currently being published in Science Advances and could also provide insights into the human ageing process in the future. "We live as long as our stem cells" is a somewhat bold but essentially accurate statement. Stem cells contribute to the constant renewal of various cells and tissues in humans, e.
g. blood cells, skin or hair. If stem cells lose this ability or their number decreases in the course of life, the body ages or develops diseases.
Stem cells are therefore of great interest for biomedical research. While humans and most vertebrates can only regenerate parts of certain organs or limbs, other animal groups have far stronger regeneration mechanisms. This ability is made possible by pluripotent or multipotent stem cells, which can form (differentiate) almost all cell types of the body.
The sea anemone Nematostella vectensis is also highly regenerative: it can reproduce asexually by budding and also shows no signs of age.