Anemia New knowledge about the development of blood cells

Understanding of the formation of blood cells extended

Behind constant tiredness and paleness can be an anemia. The reason for this is a lack of red blood cells, which are responsible for the transport of oxygen in the body. Researchers have now gained new insights into the development from the stem cell to the blood cell.

Leading the way in the treatment of certain forms of anemia

The human body makes billions of new red blood cells every day from the stem cells of the bone marrow. If this process is disrupted, a serious illness can result. Scientists from the Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin and the Harvard Medical School have now expanded their understanding of the formation of blood cells. The insights into the fundamentals of molecular biology can be groundbreaking for the treatment of certain forms of anemia. The results of the study have now been published in the journal "Cell".

Researchers have expanded the understanding of the formation of blood cells. The new insights can be groundbreaking for the treatment of certain forms of anemia. (Image: phonlamaiphoto / fotolia.com)

Scientifically not fully researched

Even in a now well-understood process, such as blood formation, there are some aspects that are not fully researched scientifically, according to a report by the Berlin Charité.

For example, it is not fully understood how the amount of production of the so-called transcription factors is regulated. These special proteins control the development of blood stem cells into the different cell lines of the blood.

A suitable model for their research is Diamond Blackfan Anemia (DBA). This rare, congenital form of anemia usually occurs in infancy or early childhood. Many patients require their entire life treatments, "it says on the portal" Kinderblutkrankheiten.de ".

In this hereditary disease, patients have a defect in the development of red blood cells, while the other blood cell lines develop normally.

Disturbed formation of red blood cells

Rajiv K. Khajuria, doctoral candidate at the Charité Berlin-Brandenburg School for Regenerative Therapies, and the group of Prof. Vijay G. Sankaran of the Boston Children's Hospital of Harvard Medical School and the Broad Institute have developed the development of the stem cell into blood cells at the molecular level examined.

The researchers were able to show that the impaired formation of red blood cells in DBA is due to a reduced number of ribosomes, the so-called protein factories of the cell.

Characteristic of the DBA are mutations in one of the proteins that make up the ribosomes themselves. Although this mutation reduces the number of protein factories, it does not reduce their composition.

In addition, it turned out that these ribosomes impair the conversion of certain genetic information into new proteins.

Affected here was important for the formation of red blood cells transcription factor GATA1 and that already at the level of blood stem cells.

The transcriptional copy of the genetic information required for the production of the transcription factor, the so-called messenger RNA, shows a structural peculiarity that may make this molecule susceptible to DBA with a reduced number of ribosomes.

The specific structure of the messenger RNA of GATA1 might explain why in DBA all other blood cell lines develop completely normally out of the stem cells.

How the development of cell lines is regulated

At the level of basic research, the study provides an answer to the fundamental question of biology how to regulate the development of cell lines after the original genetic information has been translated into messenger RNAs.

Thus, the number of ribosomes in a cell in interaction with certain structural elements of the messenger RNAs controls the direction in which a stem cell develops.

In addition, the improved understanding of the emergence of Diamond-Blackfan anemia may be the basis for developing new therapies for patients with this disease.

"Currently, the working group is developing a therapeutic method that specifically targets the transcription factor GATA1. Such a therapy would be accessible to all DBA patients, regardless of their underlying mutation, "Khajuria describes the goal of current research. (Ad)