IU School of Medicine lands $3.2M grant for stem cell research
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INDIANAPOLIS - Indiana University School of Medicine scientists have been awarded a $3.2 million federal grant for research that could expand stem cell therapies and lead to new treatments for leukemia and other blood disorders.
The scientists will explore how to boost hematopoietic stem cells, whose ability to self-renew and regenerate damaged cells makes them invaluable for treating blood diseases through transplantation. But acquiring and expanding these types of cells is challenging, IU said in a news release announcing the grant
“The rarity of hematopoietic stem cells and the difficulty of expanding them can be a limitation for their applications,” said Ji Zhang, an associate professor of pediatrics at the IU School of Medicine and a co-leader of the research team. “Understanding the optimal environments in which these cells regenerate and thrive is key to improving life-saving therapies like stem cell transplants, especially for patients with limited stem cell donor options.”
The research will build on the team’s earlier findings that low-oxygen environments enhance hematopoietic stem cell function. The scientists will explore how to manipulate such processes in higher, more common oxygen-level conditions.
“By uncovering ways to recreate the benefits of hematopoietic stem cells outside of the body, we hope to develop strategies that enhance their clinical potential, whether for transplantation, CAR-T therapy or other gene editing procedures,” said Reuben Kapur, the other leader of the research team and director of the medical school’s Wells Center for Pediatric Research.
Research results could lead to new strategies for treating a range of blood disorders, including leukemia, anemia and genetic conditions, IU said in the news release.
The four-year grant was provided by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, a division of the National Institutes of Health.