Stem Cell Memories May Hold Answer to Their Reproduction, Mount Sinai Study Finds
Blood-forming stem cells are able to count and store memories of the number of times that they divide, findings which could have major implications for disease research, scientists at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai have found. Their study appeared in the November 17 issue of Cell.
Hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) are stem cells that reside in bone marrow and are responsible for maintaining the continuous production of blood throughout life. HSCs have been used clinically for decades to treat various blood-borne illnesses ranging from leukemia to severe combined immunodeficiency syndrome. However, a major barrier to treatment is the limited availability of stem cells. Clinicians and researchers have worked to expand stem cell numbers, but have been largely unsuccessful at facilitating reproduction of these cells. This research provides clues as to why these efforts have not succeeded – because these cells count and retain a memory of their divisions, which control their potential for further reproduction.
According to the researchers, the study found that slow cycling cells contained all of the long-term HSC activity among the aging cells in the bone marrow. The data collected further shows that age-related changes to the HSCs, including HSC expansion, are dependent on the cells knowing how many times they have divided.
“What this essentially means is that these important stem cells remember how many times they have divided, and those memories control how they will self-renew in the future,” said Kateri Moore, DVM, Associate Professor of Cell, Developmental and Regenerative Biology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. “This knowledge may be able to help us find the key to expanding the numbers of these cells for therapeutic and research use.”
Both Dr. Moore and the lead author Jeffrey Bernitz, a PhD candidate at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, hope that the results of this study will provide additional clues that will help us achieve stem cell expansion in the future.
About the Mount Sinai Health System
Mount Sinai Health System is one of the nation’s leading integrated academic health systems and one of the largest in the New York metropolitan area. Its comprehensive system includes seven hospitals, more than 400 outpatient practices, over 600 research and clinical laboratories, the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, and the Mount Sinai Phillips School of Nursing. Together, the Health System comprises approximately 48,000 employees, more than 9,000 physicians, and 8,600 nurses.
As a leading learning health system, Mount Sinai combines clinical expertise with scientific discovery to improve patient care while training the next generation of health care and biomedical leaders. The Health System provides care across every stage of life, from prenatal care through geriatrics, while advancing personalized medicine through artificial intelligence, data science, and biomedical research.
Mount Sinai is consistently recognized among the nation’s leading academic health systems for patient care, research, and education. The Mount Sinai Hospital is ranked No. 1 in New York by Newsweek and No. 5 on the magazine’s World’s Best Hospitals list. The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai ranks No. 11 among U.S. medical schools and No. 1 among freestanding medical schools for National Institutes of Health funding, reflecting the strength of its scientific enterprise and leadership in biomedical research.