Stem cells with the Musashi-2 protein (in green)
Stem cells from umbilical cord blood can be used to help treat adult blood cancers, but few individual cord blood samples contain enough of the cells for a transplant. Now new research provides strategies for controlling and enhancing the growth of these stem cells, which means that more donated samples can be used for transplants, according to Kristin Hope, principal investigator at the Stem Cell and Cancer Research Institute and assistant professor at McMaster University’s Department of Biochemistry and Biomedical Sciences. Hope says “providing enhanced numbers of stem cells for transplantation could alleviate some of the current post-transplantation complications and allow for faster recoveries, in turn reducing overall health care costs and wait times for newly diagnosed patients seeking treatment.”
Authors:
Stefan Rentas, Nicholas T. Holzapfel, Muluken S. Belew, Gabriel A. Pratt, Veronique Voisin, Brian T. Wilhelm, Gary D. Bader, Gene W. Yeo & Kristin J. Hope
Corresponding authors:
Gene W. Yeo and Kristin J. Hope
Canadian contributor:
Kristin Hope, Department of Biochemistry and Biomedical Sciences, Stem Cell and Cancer Research Institute, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario
Original paper, published on April 27, 2016, in Nature.
Associated news article from McMaster University.
