This article talks about a research that focuses on how blood flow, nitric oxide boost production of stem cells. Researchers from the independent groups at Children's Hospital Boston, tested the ability of blood flow to turn cells into blood stem cells, also known as hematopoietic stem cells. In the research led by George Daley, mouse embryonic stem cells were placed in a centrifuge-like device that is similar to shear stress, which is the frictional force blood creates when it flows over cells in a mouse's aorta. Embryonic stem cells that are exposed to the same shear stress as found in the mouse aorta, produced blood stem cells, but cells that were exposed to different level of shear stress did not. The researchers then gave a drug called the nitric oxide blocker to the pregnant mice, and found out that the embryos had problems making blood stem cells. Similar experiments was done on mutant zebrafish embryos with nitric oxide, and found out that the mutant embryos, which do not have a heartbeat because of a defect in a heart muscle protein that prevents the making of hematopoietic stem cells in their tails, produced blood stem cells.
Although it is unclear on how the cells sense shear stress, researchers are trying to unravel the myth behind all this in order to manipulate the process of making blood stem cells for bone marrow transplants.
Picture from:
http://repairstemcell.files.wordpress.com/2009/02/red-blood-cells1.jpg
Article from:
http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/43761/title/For_blood_stem_cells%2C_the_force_is_strong
No comments:
Post a Comment