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Generation of Functional Thyroid from Embryonic Stem Cells

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Thyroid Diseases in Childhood

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Abstract

Recently, embryonic stem cells (ESCs) have been intensively used for studying the development of several lineages, tissues and organs as well as their physiology. In addition, ESCs have been considered as an alternative model system for modelling congenital diseases. Because of the difficulty to study the development of the thyroid gland, in several mammalian and non-mammalian models, pluripotent stem cells have been used to generate an alternative model to highlight and uncover morphogenetic events and new genes involved in the correct thyroid organogenesis. In this chapter, I will firstly focus on how embryonic stem cells can be used to study organogenesis of different organs and, concerning thyroid field, what the different steps are that lead to the generation of functional thyroid tissue from pluripotent stem cells. I will then propose how the ESC-based tool generated by Sabine Costagliola and colleagues would be used as model to understand new insights of thyroid development, new genes and how the generation of functional thyroid tissue from pluripotent stem cells opens a new avenue in the finding of new treatments for hypothyroidism.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Interdisciplinary Research in Molecular Human Biology (IRIBHM), Université Libre de Bruxelles, 808 route de Lennik, Brussels, 1070, Belgium

    Francesco Antonica

  2. Department of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience, University of Cambridge, Anatomy Building, Downing Street, Cambridge, CB2 3DY, UK

    Francesco Antonica

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  1. Francesco Antonica
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Correspondence to Francesco Antonica .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Novara, Italy

    Gianni Bona

  2. Messina, Italy

    Filippo De Luca

  3. Division of Pediatrics, Piedemonte Hospital, Novara, Italy

    Alice Monzani

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Antonica, F. (2015). Generation of Functional Thyroid from Embryonic Stem Cells. In: Bona, G., De Luca, F., Monzani, A. (eds) Thyroid Diseases in Childhood. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-19213-0_19

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-19213-0_19

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-19212-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-19213-0

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