Leacumia and lymphoma stem cell cancer
MIT researchers devise way to help blood cells regenerate after radiation therapy ▫️Patients with blood cancers such as leukemia and lymphoma are often treated by irradiating their bone marrow to destroy the diseased cells. After the treatment, patients are vulnerable to infection and fatigue until new blood cells grow back. ▫️MIT researchers have now devised a way to help blood cells regenerate faster. - Their method involves stimulating a particular type of stem cell to secrete growth factors that help precursor cells differentiate into mature blood cells. ▫️Using a technique known as mechanopriming, the researchers grew mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) on a surface whose mechanical properties are very similar to that of bone marrow. - This induced the cells to produce special factors that help hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSPCs) differentiate into red and white blood cells, as well as platelets and other blood cells. ▫️The study published in the Journal Stem Cell Research and Therapy. ▫️Usually, stem cells removed from the body are grown on a flat sheet of glass or stiff plastic. - The MIT team decided to try growing the cells on a polymer called PDMS and to vary its mechanical properties to see how that would affect the cells. They designed materials that varied in both their stiffness and their viscosity, which is a measure of how quickly the material stretches when stress is applied.
