The first life is developed from a single stem cell. According to recent research, stem cells exist not only in the fetal period, but also in various organs of adults, and there are "organ-specific stem cells" that can regenerate the organs. These cells have the ability to proliferate indefinitely, but are often "dormant" due to severe restrictions; In the case of damage to organs, proliferation and differentiation occur as needed. Stem cells only "dormant" in a special environment, called a "niche".
In our blood, there are "hematopoietic stem cells" that make various types of blood cells such as red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets, and hematopoietic stem cells are mainly found in the bone hips. It has been known that mesenchyma stem cells, which are the source of bone formation, are the "niches", but the specific mechanism is not clear.
For the first time in the world, a joint research team from the Graduate School of Kyushu University in Japan and the Albert Einstein Medical University in the United States has discovered that mesenchylobe stem cells can also be classified according to genes and protein expression, and they can also form various cytovidins (substances that maintain the hematopoietic function of stem cells). This discovery opens a gap for understanding the complex mechanism of maintaining stem cell function in living organisms, and may contribute to the research and formation of new methods for efficient proliferation of hematopoietic stem cells, and even accelerate the development of regenerative medicine.
The results were published in the electronic edition of Nature Cell Biology on February 20, 2017.
Source: Ministry of Science and Technology