Imaging The Process of How Blood Stem Cells Take Root

Scientists at Stem Cell Research Program of the Boston Children's Hospital has successfully imaged the process on how blood stem cells work inside the body to generate blood.

Using see-through zebrafish and genetic tagging, the scientists got a direct visualization of how the stem cells take root in the body to generate blood.

Owen Tamplin, PhD, the paper's co-first author says, "Stem cell and bone marrow transplants are still very much a black box--cells are introduced into a patient and later on we can measure recovery of their blood system, but what happens in between can't be seen. Now we have a system where we can actually watch that middle step.

The steps are detailed in the video below.

This discovery can lead to new therapies and processes that can improve bone marrow transplants in patients that require it.

Stem cells are special cells in the body that can differentiate into a higher form of cells such as cell tissues and organs. There are different types of stem cells that are associated with a biological system such as heart stem cells. Pluripotent stem cells are cells that can differentiate into any type of cell regardless of origin.

Hematopoietic stem cells are stem cells that comes from the bone marrow ,umbilical cord blood, embryo, or in peripheral blood of the human body. These are the type of stem cells used to treat blood based diseases such as lymphoma and leukemia.

Major Advances in Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation Presented At Annual ASH Meeting

Major advances in transplant techniques, strategies, and technologies involving Hematopoietic Stem Cells (HSC) were presented at the 55th American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting and Exposition in New Orleans.

Stem cells are special cells in the body that can differentiate into a higher form of cells such as cell tissues and organs. There are different types of stem cells that are associated with a biological system such as heart stem cells. Pluripotent stem cells are cells that can differentiate into any type of cell regardless of origin.

Hematopoietic stem cells are stem cells that comes from the bone marrow and in infants, in the umbilical cord blood, in an embryo or in peripheral blood in the human body. These stem cells can differentiate into many different types of blood cells such as erythrocytes, basophils, neutrophils and B-lymphocytes. Hematopoietic stem cells can also stop proliferating when it is unneeded.

HSCs (Hematopoietic Stem Cells) are used in treating blood based diseases such as lymphoma and leukemia. HSCs are transplanted to a patient after radiation therapy or chemotherapy to help the patient in recovering from the treatment. These cells either come from a matching donor ,a bone marrow transplant or harvesting the cells from the patient before the treatment

The studies presented advances in Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation (HSCT) has addressed risks involving the procedure such as donor blood rejection and regression.

Presentations during the annual meeting include:

• Encouraging Outcomes in Older Patients (Pts) Following Nonmyeloablative (NMA) Haploidentical Blood or Marrow Transplantation (haploBMT) With High-Dose Posttransplantation Cyclophosphamide (PT/Cy)
• Equality of Access to Transplant for Ethnic Minority Patients Through Use of Cord Blood and Haploidentical Transplants
• Full-Intensity Transplantation and Short Telomeres Increase the Risk of Cognitive Impairment After Allogeneic Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation (HSCT) – Results of a Prospective Longitudinal Study
• Donor-Derived Anti-CD19 Chimeric-Antigen-Receptor-Expressing T Cells Cause Regression of Malignancy Persisting After Allogeneic Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation

These are summarized below. Links to the individual presentations can be found in the Related Links section.

Slowing Down Aging Process Through Hematopoietic Stem Cells and Molecular Protein Wnt5a

Human Stem Cell

Scientists are studying a signalling pathway that links hematopoietic stem cells and the Wnt5A protein that can slow or even reverse aging. They noted that the WNT pathway that signals the production of Wnt5a leads to the activation of another protein called Cdc42 which results in stem cell aging. By suppressing the pathway, stem cells are rejuvenated and functionally acts younger.

Stem cells are cells in the body that can transform into other higher types of cells, tissue, or even organs. The stem cell observed in this study are hematopoietic stem cells (HSC). HSCs can be found in the bone marrow and also in the umbilical cord blood, embryo or peripheral blood in the human body. They can transform into many different types of blood cells such as erythrocytes, basophils, neutrophils and B-lymphocytes.

By suppressing the Cdc42 protein through the molecular signalling pathway, HSC starts to function younger which can lead to therapies that will boost their immune systems, fight illnesses and enhance overall vitality especially for the elderly.

Study Finds Hardening of Arteries and Related Vascular Diseases Are Caused by Multipotent Vascular Stem Cells

Within the walls of blood vessels are smooth muscle cells and newly discovered vascular stem cells. The stem cells are multipotent and are not only able to differentiate into smooth muscle cells, but also into fat, cartilage and bone cells. UC Berkeley researchers provide evidence that the stem cells are contributing to clogged and hardened arteries.
Credit: Song Li illustration

The network of blood vessels in the body is known as the vascular system. It is comprised of arteries, veins and capillaries that transport and move blood to and from the heart.

Arteries carry blood away from the heart while veins transports blood to it. These run throughout the body with a network of capillaries, embedded in tissue, connecting them. The arteries pass their oxygen-rich blood to the capillaries which allow the exchange of gases within the tissue. The capillaries then pass their waste-rich blood to the veins for transport back to the heart.

Vascular diseases are diseases that affect the vascular system such as the atherosclerosis. This happens when arteries start to harden and become thick and stiff. When the arteries harden, blood clots can occur and clog the blood vessels which blocks the blood flow to the heart or brain. This can trigger a heart attack or a stroke.

Weakened blood vessels can also burst causing internal bleeding or an aneurysm.

The real culprit behind hardened arteries? Stem cells, says landmark study

One of the top suspects behind killer vascular diseases is the victim of mistaken identity, according to researchers from the University of California, Berkeley, who used genetic tracing to help hunt down the real culprit.

The guilty party is not the smooth muscle cells within blood vessel walls, which for decades was thought to combine with cholesterol and fat that can clog arteries. Blocked vessels can eventually lead to heart attacks and strokes, which account for one in three deaths in the United States.

Instead, a previously unknown type of stem cell — a multipotent vascular stem cell — is to blame, and it should now be the focus in the search for new treatments, the scientists report in a new study appearing June 6 in the journal Nature Communications.

Use of Gene Modified Blood Stem Cells Counteracts Toxic Effects of Chemotherapy

Blood stem cells can be found in the bone marrow, the soft, spongy interior of bones. Blood stem cells are also called hematopoietic stem cells and are responsible for resupplying blood cells. The blood cells are the red blood cells called the erythrocytes, the platelets which help in blood-clotting, and the leukocytes which are the white blood cells of the immune system.

The process where the body replaces these blood cells is called hematopoiesis. The stem cells in the bone marrow matures and starts to transform to either of the three types of blood cells. This process goes on constantly in the human body. The body also reacts to certain conditions and starts producing more of the blood cells such as movement to a high altitude and serious bleeding. These types of conditions require more blood into the blood stream to compensate for the changes encountered by the human body.

Gene-modified stem cell transplant protects patients from toxic side effects of chemotherapy

For the first time, scientists at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center have transplanted brain cancer patients' own gene-modified blood stem cells in order to protect their bone marrow against the toxic side effects of chemotherapy. Initial results of the ongoing, small clinical trial of three patients with glioblastoma showed that two patients survived longer than predicted if they had not been given the transplants, and a third patient remains alive with no disease progression almost three years after treatment.

"We found that patients were able to tolerate the chemotherapy better and without negative side effects after transplantation of the gene-modified stem cells than patients in previous studies who received the same type of chemotherapy without a transplant of gene-modified stem cells," said Hans-Peter Kiem, M.D., senior and corresponding author of the study published in the May 9 issue of Science Translational Medicine.