University of Washington investigators have found a way to grow blood-producing stem cells in the laboratory.
The finding has opened the door to "helping cancer patients overcome major side effects of treatment and creating greater possibilities for genetic cures of illness," the university said in a statement.
Until now, blood stem cells could not be multiplied outside the body and usually died after being outside the body for a month. However, using the growth hormone thrombopoietin, Mayumi Yagi, PhD, and colleagues generated large quantities of mouse blood stem cells in the laboratory and maintained them for up to four months. The cells were then transplanted into lethally irradiated mice and subsequently saved the lives of the mice by providing a new blood cell system, according to the university.
"It's now almost a year later, and these animals are walking around as healthy as they can possibly be. We can't find anything wrong with them. The implications of this are huge," said coauthor Stephen Bartelmez, PhD.
The researchers next plan to study the technique in baboons, and human culture studies are underway. Trials in humans could follow. A potential application in people would be to remove blood stem cells from a patient and multiply them while the patient is receiving chemotherapy.
Another coauthor, Gerald J. Roth, MD, predicted that using the technique in humans "could revolutionize gene therapy for blood cell disorders and have a major impact on bone marrow transplantation." The findings were published July 6 in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (1999;96:8126-8131).
For Your Information:
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences abstract
http://www.pnas.org/cgi/content/abstract/96/14/8126
Subscribers to the publication can also read the entire text online.University of Washington news release
http://www.washington.edu/medical/amc_admin/amc_releases/ncr19990706.htmlAastrom Biosciences news release
http://www.aastrom.com/html/98rel/Jul8-99.htm
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