Source: Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
Date: August 5, 2008
Summary:
New research sheds light on the biological events by which stem cells in the bone marrow develop into the broad variety of cells that circulate in the blood. The findings may help improve the success of bone marrow transplants and develop better treatments for life-threatening blood diseases. In a study conducted in mice, researchers at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia focused on a protein called Lnk that helps control HSC expansion. When a growth factor in the blood called thrombopoietin (TPO) acts on its cell receptor, it triggers signals along a pathway that includes another protein, JAK2. JAK2, in turn, causes stem cells to increase their numbers.
