A team supervised by the Cypriot Professor at the University of Cambridge, Dr. George Vasiliou, discovered how gene mutations affect hematopoiesis and cause leukemia.
According to a press release by Karaiskakio Foundation, a new study conducted by scientists from the Wellcome Sanger Institute, the Cambridge Stem Cell Institute, the European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI) and their collaborators has revealed how genetic mutations during production disrupt the production of blood and how these violations are related to aging and the development of leukemia, as well as other age-related diseases.
The study, published on Tuesday in Nature journal, is the first to investigate the effect of genetic mutations on the dynamics of hematological cell growth.
Professor George Vasiliou, lead author of the study, Professor of Hematology at the University of Cambridge and Senior Researcher at the Cambridge Stem Cell Institute, said that ”this interaction explains the development of different hematological malignancies at different ages. With this new understanding, we can focus on developing approaches / treatments to prevent these incurable diseases.”
As reported, all human cells acquire genetic changes in their DNA during their lifetime, with a small number of specific mutations leading the cells to proliferate. This process, called clonal hematopoiesis, is becoming more common with age and is a risk factor for developing leukemia and other age-related conditions.
The researchers monitored nearly 700 blood cell clones from 385 people over the age of 55. Participating volunteers donated blood samples regularly for many years.
The researchers found that the behaviour of clones changed dramatically with age, depending on the identity of the mutated gene.
These changes in the behaviour of different genes / clones, it is noted, reflect the frequency of occurrence of different types of leukemia, explaining for the first time why different hematological malignancies develop at different ages.
Source: Cyprus News Agency