Source: University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Health Sciences
Date: September 2, 2012
Summary:
UCLA researchers have discovered a type of cell that is the "missing link" between bone marrow stem cells and all the cells of the human immune system, a finding that will lead to a greater understanding of how a healthy immune system is produced and how disease can lead to poor immune function. The studies were done using human bone marrow, which contains all the stem cells that produce blood during postnatal life.
Understanding the process of normal blood formation in human adults is a crucial step in shedding light on what goes wrong during the process that results in leukemias, or cancers of the blood. The study appears Sept. 2 in the early online edition of Nature Immunology.
