Decades-Old Mystery of Red Blood Cell Production Finally Solved

Amazing stuff! This could be a breakthrough! 

Remember famous professional road racing cyclist Lance Armstrong winning the Tour de France seven times? Perhaps, we can all get doped soon? 😊

"To get life-giving oxygen into every cell, the human body produces two to three million oxygen-carrying red blood cells, or erythrocytes, each second – about one-quarter of all the new cells that are produced in the body at any one time. This process is controlled by the hormone erythropoietin, commonly known as EPO, which works by binding to cells in the bone marrow that are poised to become erythrocytes, promoting their proliferation. Erythropoietin was discovered decades ago, but the identity of the cells that make this hormone remained unknown – until now.
In a new paper, ... scientists ... 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, after the mythological Norse creatures believed to spin the threads of fate. The discovery has transformative potential for patients with anemia....
EPO is probably most famous – or infamous – for its illegal use as a doping agent in sports, most notably by the cyclist Lance Armstrong, who took a synthetic version of the hormone to cheat his way to seven consecutive Tour de France wins. ..."

From the abstract:

"Erythropoietin (Epo) is the master regulator of erythropoiesis and oxygen homeostasis. Despite its physiological importance, the molecular and genomic contexts of the cells responsible for renal Epo production remain unclear, limiting more-effective therapies for anemia. Here, we performed single-cell RNA and transposase-accessible chromatin (ATAC) sequencing of an Epo reporter mouse to molecularly identify Epo-producing cells under hypoxic conditions. Our data indicate that a distinct population of kidney stroma, which we term Norn cells, is the major source of endocrine Epo production in mice. We use these datasets to identify the markers, signaling pathways and transcriptional circuits characteristic of Norn cells. Using single-cell RNA sequencing and RNA in situ hybridization in human kidney tissues, we further provide evidence that this cell population is conserved in humans. These preliminary findings open new avenues to functionally dissect EPO gene regulation in health and disease and may serve as groundwork to improve erythropoiesis-stimulating therapies."

Decades-Old Mystery of Red Blood Cell Production Finally Solved - Life Sciences | Weizmann Wonder Wander - News, Features and Discoveries 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

The transcriptional and regulatory identity of erythropoietin producing cells (no public access)

Kidney tissue of a person who died of smoke inhalation (carbon monoxide poisoning), viewed under a microscope. Markers reveal the kidney cell nuclei (blue), EPO (green) and fibroblasts (purple). On the right: The combination of different markers points to EPO-producing Norn cells (white arrows) that were discovered in the study