It has been reported that we own the secret to creating stem cells. Check out the latest reports about this below.
We hold the key to creating blood stem cells
According to a recent study, the development of blood stem cells is dependent on a protein receptor called Nod1. This protein receptor is known for its function in detecting bacterial infections in the body and triggering an immune response. However, the study suggests that Nod1 also plays a crucial role in the early stages of an embryo’s vascular system development.
This discovery could lead to a breakthrough in producing blood stem cells from a person’s own blood, eliminating the need for bone marrow transplants.
According to a study led by geneticist Raquel Espin Palazon from Iowa State University, a microbial sensor plays a role in directing some vascular endothelial cells in embryos to become blood stem cells.
This finding holds significant potential for understanding how blood stem cells are formed during embryonic development and may also provide insights into growing them much later in life.
“This would eliminate the challenging task of finding compatible bone marrow transplant donors and the complications that occur after receiving a transplant, improving the lives of many leukemia, lymphoma, and anemia patients,” Espin Palazon says.
Blood stem cells, also known as hematopoietic stem cells, are responsible for producing all of the components of our blood through a process called hematopoiesis.
These cells act as the progenitors of both white and red blood cells.
Hematopoietic stem cells develop in the body before birth, originating from endothelial cells within an embryo’s aorta.
Yet while that much was already clear, there have been few details about what triggers this important process in an embryo.
“We know blood stem cells form from endothelial cells, but the factors that set up the cell to switch identity were enigmatic,” Espin Palazon says.
“We didn’t know that this receptor was needed or that it was needed this early, before blood stem cells even form.”
The researchers first homed in on Nod1 by analyzing public databases of human embryos, then studied the receptor further using zebrafish, a commonly used model organism that shares roughly 70 percent of its genome with humans.
The researchers have found that by inhibiting or boosting Nod1, there is a positive correlation with the formation of blood stem cells.
To gain a better understanding of Nod1 and blood development in humans, the study authors collaborated with the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.
The researchers at the hospital produced human-induced pluripotent stem cells, which are generated from adult body cells. These cells were then genetically reprogrammed to resemble the pluripotent stem cells found in embryos, which can produce many different cell types.
