Researchers identify mechanism regulating movement of blood-forming stem cells
The study will appear in the journal Nature, and is available online March 25th.
“By identifying the key mechanism by which these stem cells home and engraft to the bone marrow, it may be possible to pharmacologically treat the cells to activate this pathway and thus increase the effectiveness of bone marrow transplants,” says lead author Gregor Adams, Ph.D., assistant professor of cell and neurobiology at the Keck School and a researcher at the Eli and Edythe Broad Center for Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research at USC.
Hematopoietic stem cells are blood-forming cells that circulate through the body shifting back and forth between the bloodstream and bone marrow, Adams explains. When patients receive a bone marrow transplant, healthy blood stem cells are injected into their veins. Unless those stem cells can find their way into a specific site known as the stem cell niche, they cannot develop properly to replenish the white cells, red cells and platelets in the patient’s blood.
The mechanisms that guide the cells during this migration have not been well understood. However, in this study the researchers found that blood-forming stem cells that lacked a specific signaling molecule, called GalphaS, did not home to or engraft in the bone marrow of adult mice, Adams says.
“Here we show that the GalphaS pathway is a critical intracellular pathway involved in this process,” he says. “Currently, large numbers of blood-forming stem cells are required in bone marrow transplantation due to the limited efficiency of the homing process. This study opens up the possibility of treating bone marrow cells with GalphaS pathway activators as a means to increase the effectiveness of bone marrow transplants.”
Improving the efficiency with which stem cells colonize the bone marrow following transplantation could have far-reaching implications for disease treatment, says Martin Pera, Ph.D., director of the Eli and Edythe Broad Center for Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research at USC.
“For example, such a discovery might enhance the utility of umbilical cord blood, which contains only limited numbers of stem cells, for the treatment of cancer and blood disorders in children and adults,” Pera says.
The study was funded by the National Heart, Lung & Blood Institute.
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The Chronicle of Higher Education mentioned USC’s $6 billion fundraising campaign. The story noted that USC had already raised $1 billion in a “quiet phase,” including the $200 million naming gift from USC Trustee and alumnus David Dornsife and wife Dana Dornsife to the USC Dornsife College.
The Guardian (U.K.) highlighted two major gifts to USC in a list of the 10 biggest philanthropic benefactors in America. The list included the $200 million naming gift from USC Trustee and alumnus David Dornsife and wife Dana Dornsife to the USC Dornsife College, and the $110 million gift from USC Trustee and USC Viterbi School alumnus John Mork and wife Julie to create the USC Mork Family Scholars Program.
The New York Times featured the USC U.S.-China Institute documentary “Assignment: China — The Week that Changed the World.” The documentary, part of a series, examines media coverage of the 1972 Nixon trip that reshaped U.S.-China relations after a quarter century of isolation and hostility. “People look back now and take it for granted that the outcome was preordained,” said the institute’s Mike Chinoy, who produced the documentary. Voice of America also featured the story.
Los Angeles Times featured the Oscar Senti-meter, a tool developed by the USC Annenberg School, Los Angeles Times and IBM that analyzes thousands of tweets about the Academy Awards nominees. The story noted that Mexican actor Demian Bechir received an enormous boost on Twitter the day of the nominations, with a total of 6,893 tweets mentioning him, a 47-fold increase from the day before. The story noted the tool uses language-recognition technology developed in collaboration with USC Viterbi School’s Signal Analysis and Interpretation Lab.
The Times of India (India) featured a three-day medical emergency training workshop organized in association with USC. At the workshop, held at GCS Medical College in India, 50 doctors and more than 100 paramedics learned how to improve emergency support systems. William Mallon of the Keck School of USC said that discussion topics included the use of portable ultrasonic devices to scan patients. “The ultrasound applications help physicians make accurate and timely decisions,” he noted. Daily News & Analysis (India) also featured the workshop.
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