Researchers used a zebrafish model to show that epidermal growth factor receptor, or EGFR, is a third and crucial molecule needed to generate blood stem cells in the laboratory—a process once thought of as only involving two molecules.
According to the study, EGFR participates in a process known as endocytosis in which substances are brought into the cell thanks to a signaling complex of Wnt and Frizzled receptor proteins. Once inside the cell, EGFR interacts with Frizzled to trigger a host of cellular events needed to turn a stem cell into a blood cell.
Researchers noted that identifying EGFR could lead new approaches to study and treat blood diseases like cancer without the need of patient-matched blood stem cells. The study appeared in Nature Cell Biology. It was supported by NHLBI, the National Institute of General Medical Sciences, and the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases.