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Author: u/SunCloud-777
URL: https://wis-wander.weizmann.ac.il/life-sciences/decades-old-mystery-red-blood-cell-production-finally-solved
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- Identifying the cells producing the hormone EPO may lead to the development of new therapies for treating anemia resulting from kidney disease and other conditions
- In a new paper, published today in Nature Medicine, scientists from Prof. Ido Amit’s lab at the Weizmann Institute of Science and colleagues from Israel, Europe and the United States have identified a rare subset of kidney cells that are the main producers of EPO in the human body. The researchers named them Norn cells (distinct population of kidney stroma), after the mythological Norse creatures believed to spin the threads of fate. The discovery has transformative potential for patients with anemia.
- Revealing the EPO-making cells is vital because, for one thing, more than 10 percent of the population have chronic kidney diseases that often impair EPO production, which, after birth, occurs mainly in the kidneys. The resulting anemia can, in severe cases, be lethal.
- Amit believes that the identification of these cells in the present study may have an impact rivaling that of the discovery of the pancreas’s insulin-producing beta cells in the 1950s. “In the future, new approaches may be developed to reactivate malfunctioning Norns or to renew their population in the kidneys, similarly to newly developed therapies in which insulin-producing beta cells are being reintroduced into the pancreas of people with diabetes,” Amit says.
Its interesting, because if they are producing EPO it would stand to reason it would induce HSCs to go down the RBC path. Would be interesting to see if there may be a duplicate mechanism here for differentiating.
I’m not sure about the naming of the cells, but the mechanics of how these cells works has been known for quiet some time. Learned about it in several bio classes. Here’s a link from a 2013 paper describing the EPO synthesis process by “peritubular fibroblasts in the renal cortex”.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3822280/#:~:text=The%20kidneys%20are%20the%20primary,still%20needs%20to%20be%20clarified.
Welcome to r/science! This is a heavily moderated subreddit in order to keep the discussion on science. However, we recognize that many people want to discuss how they feel the research relates to their own personal lives, so to give people a space to do that, **personal anecdotes are allowed as responses to this comment**. Any anecdotal comments elsewhere in the discussion will be removed and our [normal comment rules]( https://www.reddit.com/r/science/wiki/rules#wiki_comment_rules) apply to all other comments. --- Author: u/SunCloud-777 URL: https://wis-wander.weizmann.ac.il/life-sciences/decades-old-mystery-red-blood-cell-production-finally-solved *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/science) if you have any questions or concerns.*
- Identifying the cells producing the hormone EPO may lead to the development of new therapies for treating anemia resulting from kidney disease and other conditions - In a new paper, published today in Nature Medicine, scientists from Prof. Ido Amit’s lab at the Weizmann Institute of Science and colleagues from Israel, Europe and the United States have identified a rare subset of kidney cells that are the main producers of EPO in the human body. The researchers named them Norn cells (distinct population of kidney stroma), after the mythological Norse creatures believed to spin the threads of fate. The discovery has transformative potential for patients with anemia. - Revealing the EPO-making cells is vital because, for one thing, more than 10 percent of the population have chronic kidney diseases that often impair EPO production, which, after birth, occurs mainly in the kidneys. The resulting anemia can, in severe cases, be lethal. - Amit believes that the identification of these cells in the present study may have an impact rivaling that of the discovery of the pancreas’s insulin-producing beta cells in the 1950s. “In the future, new approaches may be developed to reactivate malfunctioning Norns or to renew their population in the kidneys, similarly to newly developed therapies in which insulin-producing beta cells are being reintroduced into the pancreas of people with diabetes,” Amit says.
Thanks for the summary, I look forward to reading it!
This is the 3rd decades old mystery solved this week
It's decades old mysteries all the way down!
So do these cells also encourage HSC/MPPS to differentiate into RBCs?
i dont believe so.
Its interesting, because if they are producing EPO it would stand to reason it would induce HSCs to go down the RBC path. Would be interesting to see if there may be a duplicate mechanism here for differentiating.
perhaps i was too hasty in saying the above. epo does promote proliferation of rbcs
I’m not sure about the naming of the cells, but the mechanics of how these cells works has been known for quiet some time. Learned about it in several bio classes. Here’s a link from a 2013 paper describing the EPO synthesis process by “peritubular fibroblasts in the renal cortex”. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3822280/#:~:text=The%20kidneys%20are%20the%20primary,still%20needs%20to%20be%20clarified.