(ORDO NEWS) — Scientists at the University of New South Wales have succeeded in obtaining blood stem cells from adult human aorta cells. The experiment was carried out on mice.
But if the discovery is confirmed, patients in need of a red bone marrow transplant, which is the main hematopoietic organ, will no longer have to wait for a transplant.
It will be possible to obtain stem cells from the patient’s own cells, which differentiate into erythrocytes, leukocytes and platelets.
In the film ” Nine Days of One Year ” (1962), the main character, a physicist, inadvertently receives a very large dose of radiation.
It seems that he is doomed, but he is offered an operation – a red bone marrow transplant, which will restore his blood.
What happened to the hero of the film and how can he be saved? Human blood consists of plasma (it is a weak solution of proteins and some inorganic elements) and shaped cells: erythrocytes, leukocytes and platelets.
These cells do not divide. They live for several months and die. All these cells are born from blood stem cells – they are called hematopoietic.
In an adult, most hematopoietic cells are located in the red bone marrow, the main hematopoietic organ.
With a high dose of radiation or, for example, with chemotherapy, hematopoietic cells die. And blood cells are no longer born. The man is doomed.
The hero of the film “Nine Days of One Year” is offered a transplant of red bone marrow to restore the work of hematopoietic cells.
A red bone marrow transplant is a painful and unreliable procedure. Tissue rejection may occur, and other complications may occur.
Therefore, scientists have been looking for the possibility of restoring hematopoietic cells without transplantation for many years.
And there seems to be hope. At least the work published by the medical staff of the University of New South Wales, Sydney was met with enthusiasm.
Scientists have discovered a compound that allows you to turn vascular cells (primarily aorta) not only in the embryo, but also in an adult into hematopoietic cells.
New blood
Hematopoietic cells are born during the development of the embryo from the cells of the inner wall of the aorta.
This has been known for a long time. It has long been known that this occurs only during a few months of the prenatal period.
Then the window closes. Red bone marrow, spleen and, to a lesser extent, other organs become hematopoietic organs.
Hematopoietic cells no longer appear ad novo – they divide intensively and constantly replenish the necessary red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets.
Australian scientists asked the question: what conditions help the first hematopoietic cells to be born? And they found the answer.
It turned out that for several months the aorta of the embryo is surrounded by special stromal cells with the PDGFRA receptor and the Mesp1 protein.
Why exactly this modification of the embryonic aorta leads to the birth of hematopoietic cells, scientists cannot yet confidently answer, but it happens. This has been confirmed by experiments on adult mice.
Scientists are not yet in a hurry to make too bold statements. We need tests on human cells, and then more long-term clinical trials. But a big step forward has been taken.
Study leader and lead author Professor John Pymanda said : “Using a patient’s own cells to obtain blood stem cells could eliminate the need for a blood transfusion or stem cell transplant.
Unlocking the mechanisms used by nature brings us closer to achieving this goal.”
For many, many patients who have been waiting years for a bone marrow transplant, these new treatments are in dire need.
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