Key Discovery Can Lead to Improved Bone Marrow Transplants

Submitted by LymphomaInfo Staff Sat 01/08/2011

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Researchers discover a key molecule that can improve the way bone marrow transplants are done:

"Researchers at the University of California, Santa Cruz, have identified a key molecule for establishing blood stem cells in their niche within the bone marrow. The findings, reported in the January issue of Cell Stem Cell, may lead to improvements in the safety and efficiency of bone marrow transplants.

Bone marrow transplants are a type of stem cell therapy used to treat cancers such as lymphoma and leukemia and other blood-related diseases. In a bone marrow transplant, the "active ingredients" are hematopoietic stem cells, which live in the bone marrow and give rise to all the different kinds of mature blood cells. The new study shows that hematopoietic stem cells use a molecule called Robo4 to anchor themselves in the bone marrow. "

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