Granddaddy of All Blood Cells Identified
December 17th, 2007 Posted by: Dr. Cox
(Ivanhoe Newswire) â The great-grandparent of all human blood cells has been identified. And if could lead to new treatments for blood cancers and other blood diseases.
Researchers from Stanford University School of Medicine isolated the cell - called the multipotent progenitor â which fills an important gap in the human blood cell family tree. It is the first offspring of the bone marrow stem cell.
The scientists isolated the human progenitor cell by grouping blood cells according to proteins on their surface. They then looked for a pool of cells that could form all the final cells of the blood but could not keep renewing their own supplies â a unique trait of stem cells. They found it and can now identify, isolate and study it in the lab.
Researchers say being able to isolate and study the cell could lead to new and better treatments for blood diseases. For example, after many mutations this progenitor cell is thought to be the cell that eventually becomes the acute myelogenous leukemia stem cell â the cell at the heart of leukemia that needs to be destroyed to cure the disease.
It could also be used for bone marrow transplants. Because researchers would have the human progenitor cell they could produce all the cells of the blood in a lab dish and pick the best ones for a possible transplant.
This article was reported by Ivanhoe.com, which offers Medical Alerts by e-mail every day of the week. To subscribe, click on: http://www.ivanhoe.com/newsalert/.
SOURCE: Cell Stem Cell, 2007