Related Experiment Videos
Stromal cells in haemopoiesis.
T M Dexter1, L H Coutinho, E Spooncer
1Department of Experimental Haematology, Paterson Institute for Cancer Research, Withington, Manchester, UK.
Ciba Foundation Symposium
|January 1, 1990
Summary
Bone marrow stromal cells support blood cell development. Researchers used leukemia patients' defective cell interactions with stromal cells to isolate normal hematopoietic cells for successful autografting.
Area of Science:
- Hematology
- Cell Biology
- Oncology
Background:
- Bone marrow stromal cells are crucial for hematopoiesis, providing essential growth and differentiation factors.
- Hematopoietic cell development relies on close cell-to-cell contact and interaction with the extracellular matrix, like heparan sulfate.
- Leukemia cells often exhibit impaired interaction with stromal cells, hindering their survival in supportive marrow cultures.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the role of stromal cell interactions in hematopoiesis and leukemia.
- To leverage the defective stromal cell interaction in leukemia for therapeutic purposes.
Main Methods:
- Utilizing long-term marrow cultures to assess hematopoietic cell survival and interaction with stromal cells.
- Exploiting the inability of leukemia cells to survive in stromal cell-mediated cultures.
- Isolating normal hematopoietic cells from leukemia patients based on their interaction with stromal cells.
Main Results:
- Identified a method to separate normal hematopoietic cells from leukemia cells.
- Successfully obtained normal hematopoietic cells from patients with myeloid leukemias.
- Demonstrated the feasibility of using these isolated normal cells for autografting.
Conclusions:
- Stromal cell interactions are critical for normal hematopoietic cell development and survival.
- The defective stromal cell interaction in leukemia can be therapeutically exploited.
- This approach enables the collection of normal hematopoietic stem cells for autologous transplantation in leukemia patients.