UCLA Scientists ID Cell, Signaling Pathway That Regulate Blood Stem Cells in Placenta
UCLA stem-cell researchers have identified a certain type of cell and a signaling pathway in the placental niche that play a key role in stopping blood stem cells from differentiating into mature blood cells in the placenta. Preventing this premature differentiation is critical to ensuring a proper blood supply for an individual’s lifetime.
The placental niche is considered a stem cell “safe zone,” which supports the creation and expansion of blood stem cells without promoting their differentiation into mature cells. This allows for the establishment of a pool of precursor cells that will later provide blood cells for fetal and post-natal life, said the study’s senior author, Dr. Hanna Mikkola, an associate professor of molecular cell and developmental biology at UCLA and a researcher at UCLA’s Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research. (more…)