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Researchers have announced a new method of accurately and rapidly cloning genetically engineered stem cells.
Clonally expanding stem cells is difficult, mainly when dealing with niche stem cell populations.
Researchers attempted to grow mouse HSCs at single-cell level in several different media.
Cells grown in 0.1% Soluplus were found to be more and expressed long-term expansion.
Injecting them into mice showed that they formed largely stable grafts without unwanted mutations.
These positive results were seen even after gene editing.
However, taking grafts from one mouse and transplanting those into other mice produced long-term stable grafts.
The transplanted HSCs seemed to be fully functional, including in areas related to the immune system.
If this approach works in people, it can promise treating immune disorders, other bone marrow related issues, as well as ageing.
It may one day be feasible to take old HSCs, use CRISPR/Cas9 to remove genetic problems, and return perfectly youthful cells.
Study led by Satoshi Yamazaki from Tsukuba University, published in Cell Stem Cell.
