Source: University of California - Santa Cruz
Date: January 6, 2011
Summary:
Researchers at the University of California, Santa Cruz, have identified a key molecule for establishing blood stem cells in their niche within the bone marrow. The findings, reported in the January issue of Cell Stem Cell, may lead to improvements in the safety and efficiency of bone marrow transplants.
Bone marrow transplants are a type of stem cell therapy used to treat cancers such as lymphoma and leukemia and other blood-related diseases. In a bone marrow transplant, the "active ingredients" are hematopoietic stem cells, which live in the bone marrow and give rise to all the different kinds of mature blood cells. The new study shows that hematopoietic stem cells use a molecule called Robo4 to anchor themselves in the bone marrow.
The discovery that the cells need Robo4 to stay in the bone marrow has potential therapeutic implications. An increasingly common alternative to traditional bone marrow transplants (which require anesthesia for the bone marrow extraction) involves harvesting hematopoietic stem cells from the blood. Repeated injections of drugs are needed to get the stem cells to leave the bone marrow and enter the bloodstream so that they can be collected with a blood draw. A drug that blocks Robo4 could be a safer and more effective way to do this.
