New method to boost supply of life-saving stem cells

Researchers at the Center for Genomic Regulation (CRG) in Barcelona and Columbia University in New York City have identified a protein that is critical for the expansion of typically scarce, life-saving blood stem cells.

The discovery may lead to new methods for growing a large quantity of these stem cells, both inside and outside the human body, currently one of the greatest limitations for their use in a variety of medical procedures, from treatment of blood cancers to inherited blood disorders that require a bone marrow transplantation.

The authors of the study used an algorithm called VIPER to identify proteins capable of reprograming other blood stem cells. Out of eight potential candidates identified by the algorithm, just one – a gene known as BAZ2B – was able to significantly expand the number of HSCs in blood from the umbilical cord.

BAZ2B was able to reprogram blood stem cells to an HSC-like state by rearranging their chromatin, opening up unique regions in the genome that were previously inaccessible. The resulting cells successfully transplanted into the bone marrow of immunocompromised mice, renewing the growth of the tissue.

"The scarcity of hematopoietic stem cells is one of the biggest barriers to the development of new and improved treatments. Our findings are exciting because we have found a way of boosting their numbers after activating just one factor" says ICREA Research Professor Pia Cosma, Group Leader at the CRG and one of the authors of the study. "Yielding more of these live-saving stem cells will benefit a variety of different patients in the long-term."