Goro Sashida, a visiting professor at Kumamoto University , and his team discovered how Hmga2, a chromatin regulator, controls stress responses in hematopoietic stem cells and aids blood recovery. When the body faces stress from infections or drugs, blood cells drop, and bone marrow stem cells help recover. While these stem cells generally multiply and produce new blood cells under stress, the exact process must be clarified.
The team studied mice with and without Hmga2 and found that Hmga2 quickly helps stem cells recover and restore blood production during stress. The study on Hmga2’s stress response in stem cells could lead to new treatments for quickly restoring blood production in people with severe infections or after cancer treatment. The research was published in EMBO J on May 29, 2024, and supported by grants from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology.
In conclusion, this study shows that regulating chromatin helps restore the function of hematopoietic stem cells and the production of blood cells after stress . This finding highlights potential ways to improve blood cell health following exposure to stress. Journal reference:.
