Erythrocytes "from a test tube": like real ones, only more expensive
Blood from stem cells was successfully transfused in FranceCopper news
Artificial blood grown from stem cells has been successfully tested in France, writes New Scientist (Lab-grown blood given to volunteer for the first time).
Such an experiment was conducted for the first time in world practice.
After successful animal experiments, researchers from the Pierre and Marie Curie University in Paris took bone marrow samples from volunteers and isolated hematopoietic stem cells from them. Using a set of signaling molecules (growth factors) that guide differentiation, scientists have grown red blood cells from stem cells.
Then the resulting cells were labeled with molecular markers and injected into the participants of the experiment. Each of them received 10 billion red blood cells, which is equivalent to about two milliliters of blood.
Tracking the circulation of injected cells by markers, the researchers found that five days after the injection, 94 to 100 percent remained in the bloodstream, and after 26 days – from 41 to 63 percent of the grown red blood cells, and they actively participated in the transport of oxygen. Such levels of survival of blood cells are comparable with similar indicators of "natural" red blood cells.
"The results show that the creation of an unlimited blood reserve for transfusion is just around the corner," concluded the head of the study, Luc Douay.
However, for this, the technology of artificial blood cultivation needs to be refined in order to increase the speed and reduce the cost of obtaining a sufficient number of cells. Scientists expect to achieve this goal within the next few years.
The study report (Giarratana et al., Proof of principle for transfusion of in vitro–generated red blood cells) is published in the journal Blood.
Previously, experiments on growing blood from stem cells were conducted in the UK, Canada and the USA, but clinical trials of the products obtained in humans have not yet been conducted.
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14.11.2011