A major project has been launched aimed at finding ways of studying blood and immune system as it is produced within the bone marrow.
More than US$8 million has been invested in the California-based project by the US National Institutes of Health.
The project will use a technology called MEMOIR, developed at Caltech, the research university in California, USA.
MEMOIR - Memory by Engineered Mutagenesis with Optical In situ Readout - uses advanced microscopy to record the history of cells in situ. Scientists have been seeking to develop “family trees” of cells to understand the environment in which they develop. The researchers now hope to link cell to cell interactions of haematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSPCs), studying how they proliferate and differentiate.
Researcher Professor Michael Elowitz, of Caltech, said: “We’re excited to apply these new technologies to study the complex interactions of HSPCs within the context of their native environment in the bone marrow.”
Fellow researcher Dr Rong Lu, of the University of Southern California, said: “This research will provide unprecedented insights into how spatial context might determine which HSPCs are dominant in producing blood and immune cells. These insights have the potential to advance our understanding of the diseases that can develop when some HSPCs become too dominant, such as leukaemia, as well as to guide efforts to improve bone marrow transplantation.”
Source: University of Southern California
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