Pluripotent Stem Cell Differentiation Toward Hematopoietic Stem Cells Takes Step Forward

Published 2020-01-27

In a recent study in the journal Stem Cell Reports, researchers from the University of Colorado, led by Patricia Ernst, Ph.D. published their findings of converting induced Pluripotent Stem Cells (iPSCs) into Hematopoietic Stem Cells (HSCs). Dr. Ernst's laboratory utilized a gene augmentation method of the MLL gene for the successful differentiation process of iPSCs to HSCs in mice. Previously, efforts to generate patient-specific HSCs for bone marrow reconstitution following chemotherapy had been unsuccessful. This new method may in the future provide the ability to reconstitute a patient's bone marrow with their own HSCs without the need for donor matched HSCs.