Human Bone Marrow Recreated inโ the Lab Offers New Hope for Blood โฃCancer research
For theโค first โtime, scientists โhave successfullyโ recreated a fully human bone marrow โฃsurroundings in the laboratory. Thisโฃ breakthrough,achieved by researchers โฃat the University of Basel and University Hospital Basel,promises to revolutionize the study of blood formation and blood cancers,and potentially reduce reliance on animal testing.
Our bone marrow, the body’s “blood factory,” is a complex network ofโ cells vital for producing healthy blood. When this process goes awry, as in blood cancers, โunderstanding the normal function of bone marrow โbecomes critical. Traditionally, research has relied on animal models or simplified cell systems, which don’t fully captureโ the intricacies of the human โคbody.
This new model โovercomes those limitations by replicating โthe endosteal niche – aโ crucialโ microenvironment within bone marrow responsible for creating new bloodโ cells and often linked to cancer’s resistance to treatment. โ The researchers built an artificial bone framework and populated it with human โฃstem cells, carefully guiding their advancementโ into theโข diverse rangeโฃ of โคcells found in โnatural bone marrow.
The resulting three-dimensional structure, measuring 8mmโ in diameter and 4mmโ thick, closely mimics the human endosteal niche and successfully supported human blood cell formation for several weeks. This larger size allows โคfor more realistic study โคconditions compared to previous models.
“We have learnedโฃ a great deal about how bone marrow works from mouse studies,” explains Professor Ivan โMartin. “However, ourโค modelโ brings usโฃ closer to theโ biology of the human organism. โขIt coudlโ serve asโ a complement to manyโ animalโฃ experiments in the study โขof blood formation in both healthy and diseased conditions.”
Whileโฃ currently โtoo large for high-throughput drug screening, the platformโข holds immenseโ potential for drug development and, crucially, for personalized medicine. Researchers envision a โขfuture whereโค patient-specific boneโข marrow models can be created to test differentโฃ therapies and identify the most effective treatment for โeach individual battling blood cancer. This study represents a significant step towards that goal.