Bone Marrow ‘Map’ Opens Path to Organoid-like Blood Stem Cell Production

Published February 2021 | Nature

Imagine a day when clinicians treating people with leukemia or multiple myeloma can ask laboratories to custom-produce specific types of blood cells to replace those affected by the disease.

That day became one step closer to reality with this study led by senior author Daniel Lucas, PhD, and first authors Jizhou Zhang, MD, and Qingqing Wu, PhD, from the Division of Experimental Hematology and Cancer Biology.

“We finally have the tools to directly observe bone marrow cell differentiation,” Lucas says.

The team used a combination of cell-by-cell analysis techniques to build the first “atlas” of bone marrow tissue. The findings shed new light on how tiny blood vessels organize the bone marrow and regulate blood production.

Making the bone marrow atlas required developing novel methods. Until now, tracing cell lineages through stages of development required destroying the tissue. In this project, the team achieved unprecedented imaging resolution and a method to trace unique progenitors within the larger mass of bone marrow cells without destroying the tissue structure.

One potential goal for further study would be supporting future development of blood “organoids” that could produce blood cell populations with specific genetic variations. Scientists could use such organoids to study disease, and perhaps as a form of treatment.

“This certainly has implications for generating blood organoids,” Lucas says. “The groups working on blood organoids have been trying to produce organoids that can maintain or expand stem cell production. Our data indicates that additional structures are needed to produce mature blood cells in a balanced manner.”