Breakthrough in blood research: Artificial blood could soon become a reality!

Breakthrough in blood research: Artificial blood could soon become a reality!

The artificial production of blood is a long-standing goal in medical research. In Germany, around 15,000 blood units are needed every day, which usually come from voluntary donors. However, due to demographic changes, the number of blood donors is decreasing, increasing pressure on transfusion medicine. Researchers at the University of Konstanz and Queen Mary University of London have now made significant advances that have the potential to alleviate the shortage of donor blood.

Dr. Julia Gutjahr, biologist at the Institute for Cellular Biology and Immunology Thurgau at the University of Konstanz, has been leading research on this topic since 2023. She and her team have decoded a crucial intermediate step in blood production: the chemokine CXCL12 and its receptor CXCR4. These molecules are crucial for nuclear expulsion in developing red blood cells, a process that is crucial for erythroblast adaptation.

The role of CXCL12

Natural blood production occurs in the bone marrow, where stem cells develop into erythroblasts. These in turn eject their cell nucleus to make room for hemoglobin, which is necessary for oxygen transport. Adding CXCL12 at the right time can artificially trigger this nuclear ejection. The researchers have shown that CXCL12 not only acts on the cell surface, but is also transported into the nucleus of erythroblasts to accelerate their maturation.

The most efficient way to produce artificial blood is currently via stem cells, with the success rate for cell nucleus output being around 80%. However, stem cells are available in limited quantities and usually come from umbilical cord blood or stem cell donations. Although body cells can also be reprogrammed into stem cells, the success rate is only around 40%.

The discovery of the function of CXCL12 could significantly increase the efficiency of blood production in the future. Dr. Gutjahr is investigating how industry can benefit from this knowledge to make the production of human erythrocytes more efficient and accessible. Successful production in larger quantities could not only bridge bottlenecks in blood donations, but also enable the targeted production of rare blood groups and personalized treatments.

Historical context and current challenges

There have been various approaches to artificial blood production in the past. In the 1960s, initial attempts were made to replace oxygen transport with perfluorocarbons (PFCs), but these proved impractical. The use of free hemoglobin also turned out to be problematic because it is toxic when injected outside the red blood cells.

Current research focuses, among other things, on the stabilization and non-toxic packaging of hemoglobin as well as on the cultivation of red blood cells from stem cells. Experts like Prof. Dr. med. Torsten Tonn and Dr. Romy Kronstein-Wiedemann in Dresden are working on the cultivation of human erythrocytes in order to improve the medical care structure.

The original publication of the research results is published in “Science Signaling”. Advances in artificial blood production could not only revolutionize medical care, but also open up important perspectives for cell biology. The developments will be reported on uni-konstanz.de reported in a comprehensive manner while lab-news.de provides further information. More about the general challenges in the area of ​​blood donation can be found here blooddonation.de to find.