Lab Stem Cell Breakthrough
Researchers at the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute (MCRI) in Australia have made a significant breakthrough in bone marrow transplants by developing a new method to convert personalized stem cells into hematopoietic stem cells, which are crucial for treating various blood and bone marrow diseases like leukemia.
Currently, bone marrow transplants are the main treatment for these diseases, but they carry serious risks, including graft-versus-host disease, where donor cells attack the recipient’s body. To address this issue, the MCRI team reprogrammed cells obtained from hair, skin, and nails into pluripotent stem cells, which can transform into any cell type. While creating pluripotent stem cells has been successful for over a decade, converting them into hematopoietic stem cells has proven difficult.
The researchers believe that standardizing this conversion process could greatly improve transplant outcomes, especially for children with leukemia. Lead author Elizabeth Ng emphasized the potential of generating patient-specific blood stem cells, which could reduce complications from donor mismatches. The team successfully transformed pluripotent stem cells into hematopoietic stem cells and tested them in immune-deficient mice after freezing, showing results comparable to standard transplants using umbilical cord blood. MCRI Professor Ed Stanley noted that refining these techniques could lead to personalized treatments for various blood disorders, addressing donor shortages and issues with mismatched transplants. Dr. Andrew Elefanty, another researcher, mentioned that these patient-specific stem cells could also be used for genome editing to correct genetic defects.
The study highlighted the case of an 11-year-old girl named Riya, who endured a long recovery after receiving a bone marrow transplant from her mother. This research aims to improve outcomes for patients like her, showcasing the promising future of personalized medicine in treating blood diseases.