Kumamoto University researchers have made a discovery that sheds light on how the HMGA2 gene—an essential transcriptional activator involved in chromatin modification—regulates stress responses in hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs), thereby enhancing blood cell production recovery. The study is published in The EMBO Journal . Exposure to infections or treatments such as chemotherapy often leads to a rapid decline in blood cells, including red blood cells and platelets.
HSCs, which reside in the bone marrow that can develop into various types of blood cells, are crucial for recovering from these stress-induced blood disorders. Under stressed conditions, these stem cells proliferate and differentiate to produce blood cells. However, the exact mechanisms of this process have remained unclear.
The research team, led by Professor Goro Sashida from Kumamoto University's International Research Center for Medical Sciences (IRCMS), focused on HMGA2, a gene highly active in proliferating fetal hematopoietic stem cells . HMGA2 has been well known for its role in binding to DNA and modifying chromatin structure to activate gene expression . In addition, it is also critical for enhancing the stem cells' self-renewal capacity.
This significance prompted the researchers to further investigate its role in this study Using conditional knock-in (cKI) and knock-out (KO) mice, the researchers analyzed HMGA2's role in HSC function under both normal and stress conditions, such as exposure to chem.