Scientists Achieve Major Advance in Scalableโข Artificial Bloodโข Production
KONSTANZ,โ Germany – Researchers at the University of Konstanz have made aโฃ pivotal discovery regarding the chemokine CXCL12,โข unlocking a โkey mechanism for efficiently producing human red bloodโ cells in the lab – a major stepโฃ toward scalable artificial blood production. theโ findings, publishedโข in Science Signaling,โ detail how CXCL12 orchestrates the final stages โof red blood cell advancement, including elongation,โข nuclear โpolarization, โchromatin condensation, and enucleation – โthe process of expelling the nucleus.
For years,creating functional red โblood cellsโค outside the human body has been a notable challenge. Current methodsโ yield limited quantities and often lack the characteristics of natural erythrocytes. This breakthrough addresses a critical bottleneck in the process, offering a pathway to generate large volumesโค of red blood cells for potential transfusion applications.
The research, initiated in 2019 by Dr. Miriam Gutjahr while a postdoctoralโ researcher, centers โคon the previously โคunderappreciated role of CXCL12. While known for guiding cell movement, the team discovered CXCL12โค actively โขmodifies internal cell behavior during โขerythropoiesis – the production of red blood cells. Specifically,CXCL12 โขsignaling through theโ CXCR4 receptor within the cell drives the maturation โprocess,culminating in the formation of enucleated reticulocytes,precursors to mature red blood cells.
“Weโ are now researching how to employ CXCL12โค toโค enhance the artificial production of human erythrocytes,” โขexplained Dr. Gutjahr, who now leads a research group at โthe University of Konstanz. “We hope to optimize the conditions that yield the most red blood cells and implementโ them on a โlarger โscale.”
Beyond blood production, the team’s work expands understanding of chemokine function within cells. Since most โchemokines are known to control cell movement, theirโค role in modifying internal cell behavior opens avenues for the study of novel therapies, not justโค for blood โคdisease, but also for other illnesses where cell development is crucial.
The discovery could also reshape how researchers approach immune and developmental signaling molecules. If receptors like CXCR4 can functionโค inside cells, future therapies โฃmight be designed to directly target those intracellular processes. Dr. Gutjahr โฃand her colleagues demonstrate how understanding a single step in cell development โขcan have far-reaching implications across multiple scientific domains.
Research findings are available online in the journal Science Signaling.