https://www.jst.go.jp/pr/announce/20250107/index.html

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-08352-6

A research team from Nagoya University and Harvard University has discovered that hematopoietic stem cells with high nitric oxide (NO) expression (NOhiHSC) maintain dormancy under steady-state conditions, avoid attack from immune cells, and show robust long-term regenerative ability when transplanted.

Three-dimensional bone marrow imaging technology revealed that NOhiHSC are abundant in the bone distal region. Vascular endothelium, abundant in the bone distal region, maintained NO expression and stemness of hematopoietic stem cells through the immune regulatory molecule CD200, which is induced by blood flow shear stress.

Thus blood vessels are not simply “paths” through which blood flows, but “doors” to tissues that control stem cells and inflammatory cells, suggesting the possibility of new therapeutic applications for regeneration, immunosuppression, and inflammation control.