Hello, bone marrow! Take an order for leukocytes!
Immune cells control stem cells during infection
Leukocytes grow at the expense of blood stem cells; in addition, during infection, stem cells increase the number of red blood cells and platelets.
Blood stem cells are located in the bone marrow, in a rather specific cellular environment, and in case of infection they should immediately find out which cells the body needs most right now. They themselves cannot leave their deployment, so there must be someone who will inform them about it.
According to research by specialists from the University of Bern (Switzerland), immune T-killer cells serve as messengers of infection for stem cells in the bone marrow.
When a virus enters the body, T-killers must destroy cells infected with the virus. However, at the same time, T cells secrete a certain substance that acts on the cells that form the microenvironment of stem cells in the bone marrow. And already those directly control the transformation of stem cells into one type or another.
Diagram from an article in Cell Stem Cell – VM
According to the authors of the work, in some cases this mechanism may malfunction, and then misunderstood – or incorrectly sent – signals from immune cells to stem cells can trigger uncontrolled division of stem cells and leukemia.
In short, further research into the mechanisms of communication between immune and stem cells should help to optimize antiviral drugs and find a cure for leukemia – at least for some of its variants.
The results of the study are published in Cell Stem Cell (Schurch et al., Cytotoxic CD8+ T Cells Stimulate Hematopoietic Progenitors by Promoting Cytokine Release from Bone Marrow Mesenchymal Stromal Cells).
Prepared according to the materials Phys.Org : Immune cells regulate blood stem cells.
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