Stanford researchers identify granddaddy of human blood cells
STANFORD, Calif. - Researchers at the Stanford University School of
Medicine have isolated a human blood cell that represents the great-
grandparent of all the cells of the blood, a finding that could lead
to new treatments for blood cancers and other blood diseases.
This cell, called the multipotent progenitor, is the first offspring
of the much-studied blood-forming stem cell that resides in the bone
marrow and gives rise to all cells of the blood. It's also the cell
that's thought to give rise to acute myelogenous leukemia when
mutated.
Isolating this cell, which is well known in mice but had yet to be
isolated in human blood, fills in an important gap in the human blood
cell family tree. The work will be published in the Dec. 13 issue of
the journal Cell Stem Cell.
Irving Weissman, MD, director of Stanford's Institute for Stem Cell
Biology and Regenerative Medicine, spent his early career identifying
each cell in the mouse blood family tree. The progression went from
the stem cell through the progenitor cell through progressively more
specialized cells, ending up with the red blood cells, platelets and
immune cells that make up the bulk of the blood.
This detailed information has helped researchers understand the
origins of blood diseases and cancers and has led to advances in bone
marrow transplantation. But studies in mice are never a perfect
substitute for understanding those same cells in humans, said
Ravindra Majeti, MD, PhD, an instructor in hematology and co-lead
author of the paper.
Majeti isolated the human progenitor cell by grouping human blood
cells according to proteins on their cell surface. He and co-lead
author Christopher Park, MD, PhD, an instructor in pathology, then
looked for a pool of cells that could form all the final cells of the
blood, but lacked the ability to constantly renew their own supplies -
a trait that is unique to the stem cell. Those characteristics are
what distinguish the mouse progenitor cell, and, they thought, would
likely be shared by the human equivalent.
One pool of cells fulfilled those requirements. Knowing the proteins
on the surface of that cell, researchers can now reliably identify,
isolate and study the cell in the lab.
Being able to isolate and study this cell has many implications for
human disease, according to Majeti. First, this progenitor cell is
also thought to be the cell that, after a number of mutations,
eventually becomes the acute myelogenous leukemia stem cell. That's
the cell that lies at the heart of the leukemia and that must be
destroyed in order to cure the disease.
"We can compare the leukemic stem cell to this progenitor cell and
from that find out what makes the leukemic stem cell different,"
Weissman said. That difference could very well be a target for
leukemia treatments.
Another use for this cell could be in bone marrow transplantation,
according to Majeti. Having the human progenitor cell means
researchers can then produce all the cells of the blood in a lab
dish. They can then take their pick of which cells would be most
beneficial for possible transplantation.
###
The work was funded by the Walter and Idun Y. Berry Foundation and by
the National Institutes of Health.
Stanford University Medical Center integrates research, medical
education and patient care at its three institutions - Stanford
University School of Medicine, Stanford Hospital & Clinics and Lucile
Packard Children's Hospital at Stanford. For more information, please
visit the Web site of the medical center's Office of Communication &
Public Affairs at http://mednews.
PRINT MEDIA CONTACT: Amy Adams at (650) 723-3900
(amyadams@stanford.
BROADCAST MEDIA CONTACT: M.A. Malone at (650) 723-6912
(mamalone@stanford.
Public release date: 12-Dec-2007
Contact: Amy Adams
amyadams@stanford.
650-723-3900
Stanford University Medical Center
http://www.eurekale
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StemCells subscribers may also be interested in these sites:
Children's Neurobiological Solutions
http://www.CNSfoundation.org/
Cord Blood Registry
http://www.CordBlood.com/at.cgi?a=150123
The CNS Healing Group
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CNS_Healing
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