Mice transplant stem cells to create new immune systems

researchers at Stanford University School of Medicine in the United States have taken an important step in theof human transplanted stem cells to create a new immune system, treat the human autoimmune system or hereditary blooddiseaseStudies have shown that transplanting new hematopoietic stem cells into mouse bone marrow can generate a new immune systemThe results of the study were published on Science 3, and the program is co-funded by the Stanford University Medical Scholarship Program, the National Cancer Institute (NCI), and the National Institutes of Health (NIH)Because the work was done in mice with low levels of similarity to the human immune system, the paper's author, DrWeissman, who heads the Institute of Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine at Stanford University, said the technology still needs to be addressed before it can be applied to humansBut he believes these difficulties can be overcome, and once they are removed, the technology will have endless benefitsAccording to the researchers, if a patient with adisease of his own immune systemsuch as multiple sclerosis, because of a defect in the immune system, causes immune cells to attack the patient's own cellsBy transplanting a new immune system, just as the liver orhearttransplant, the patient will get a new immune system, and the immune cells will no longer attack their own cellsBone marrow is the center of blood cells, and the way to get a new immune system is to transplant new hematopoietic stem cells into the bone marrowBut before transplanting new stem cells, old stem cells must be removed, and the usual method is chemotherapy or radiotherapyBut this method also destroys bone marrow cells and other tissues, causing great harm to the body, such as infertility, brain damage, and a significant increase in the risk of cancer The researchers believe the solution to this problem is to remove hematopoietic stem cells without destroying bone marrow and other tissues They found a solution when they studied it This is done by injecting a molecule that can attach to a specific protein on the surface of hematopoietic stem cells: the molecule can effectively destroy hematopoietic stem cells without harming other tissues in mice Weissman says the whole process is like surgery on hematopoietic stem cells When new hematopoietic stem cells are transplanted into the bone marrow of mice, these cells form a new immune system For patients with their own immune systems disease , the new immune system no longer attacks its own cells Similarly, for patients with genetic disorders such as sickle-shaped red blood cell anemia, the new blood system will no longer have mutations in sickle-type cells, so the disease is cured Of course, there are huge obstacles to crossing from mice to humans First, researchers don't know whether molecules of human hematopoietic stem cells can be used as targets for drugs (injection molecules) At the same time, because the study used immunodeficiency mice, it also needed to be tested in mice with a complete immune system before it could be tested in humans (Tian Yu)