They deciphered an old mystery of the blood that gives the key to cure anemia

The clockwork mechanism that sustains the life of living beings, in this case humans, added a new piece from a finding by researchers from the Weizmann Institute in Israel.

They revealed which

for motorizing the production of

in the body .

Specifically, they identified a subgroup of

, located near the cortex of the organ, specialized in creating a hormone that regulates the production of these blood cells, responsible for

to every corner of the body.

The advance, the scientists explain, may open the door to

, a disorder that reduces the number of red blood cells in the blood and, consequently, impairs tissue oxygenation.

The

are easy to distinguish, although they can sometimes be underestimated.

The main ones are fatigue, weakness, pale or yellowish skin, shortness of breath, irregular heartbeat, dizziness, cold hands and feet, and headache.

Red blood cells are one of

the body makes, in addition to white blood cells (to fight infection) and platelets (to help blood clot).

Chamutal Gur, Eyal David, and Bjort Kragesteen and Ido Amit, researchers at the Weizmann Institute, whose research was published in Nature Medicine.

Hemoglobin

, an iron-rich protein that gives blood its color, is what allows red blood cells to transport oxygen from the lungs to every corner of the body and carbon dioxide back for exhalation

Red blood cells are produced regularly in the bone marrow and the

is what orders this process.

The kidney cells release more or less EPO as the body needs more or less oxygen.

When a person suffers from anemia, that function can be altered.

To carry life-giving oxygen to every cell, the human body produces

every second.

Erythropoietin was discovered decades ago, as was the organ where it originated.

But the identity of the cells that make it

until now.

In an article published Thursday in the journal Nature Medicine,

Weizmann Institute scientists

from Israel, along with peers from Europe and the United States, identified EPO-producing kidney cells.

The researchers named them

(after the Norse mythological creatures believed to spin the threads of fate).

The discovery, say the scientists, has

for patients with anemia.

The historical difficulty in identifying these cells was due to their peculiarity of

.

In the experiment carried out in the Israeli institute with human kidneys, using laboratory techniques they managed to discover these cells "red-handed", to verify that they were indeed the

of the entire process.

Kidney tissue from a person who died from smoke inhalation (carbon monoxide poisoning) seen under a microscope.

Markers reveal the nuclei of kidney cells (blue), EPO (green), and fibroblasts (purple).

EPO became infamous for its

, most notably by cyclist Lance Armstrong, who took a synthetic version of the hormone and won seven consecutive Tour de Frances.

But beyond improving resistance, revealing the cells that produce EPO seems key to

of millions of people.

10

have chronic kidney disease that often affects EPO production which, after birth, occurs primarily in the kidneys.

The resulting anemia can, in severe cases, be fatal.

Until recently, the only way to treat people with this type of anemia was with EPO produced by recombinant DNA technology.

"The discovery of Norn cells may shed light on

and help scientists

," said Professor Ido Amit, who is leading the Weizmann work together with Chamutal Gur, Eyal David and Bjort Kragesteen. , among other researchers.

Amit added: "In recent years, several drugs have been developed to enhance the production of EPO in the body, based on discoveries related to the response of cells to lack of oxygen or hypoxia," research that was awarded the Nobel Prize

.

“The first of these drugs recently received approval from the US FDA.

However, although it proved to be effective and safe, its development and trials, as well as those of other drugs, were carried out

EPO-producing cells that they are supposed to influence”, added Amit.

The expert considered that the identification of these cells may have an

to that of the discovery of the insulin-producing beta cells of the pancreas in the 1950s. "In the future, new approaches may be developed to

in the kidneys, similar to recently developed therapies in which insulin-producing beta cells are reintroduced into the pancreas of people with diabetes," Amit said.

Barak Rosenzweig, a senior urological oncologist in the Department of Urology at Sheba Medical Center in Israel, who also participated in the study, explained that the norn cell discovery has important

, not only for patients with chronic kidney disease, but also for those suffering from other diseases.

He explained, for example, that many cancer patients receive blood transfusions to increase their red blood cell count before surgery.

However, these infusions can

, hindering patients' ability to fight cancer in the long term.

“The discovery of Norn cells presents the opportunity to develop techniques that would stimulate these cells to produce more EPO, improving

a patient's

red blood cells and oxygen

The connection between oxygen levels and red blood cells was first documented by French physician Francois Viault, who during his travels in Peru in the late 19th century noted that the thickness of his blood and that of his colleagues, along

the

of their red blood cells,

when they rose from the sea level of Lima to the mountainous area of ​​Morococha, at 4,200 meters above sea level.

In the early 20th century, two other French researchers, Paul Carnot and Clotilde-Camille Deflandre, suggested that this process

in body fluids.

In the decades that followed, this hormone was found to be produced primarily

.

In the 1970s, the American biochemist Eugene Goldwasser succeeded, after 15 years of trying,

, which allowed its synthetic production as a life-saving drug for patients with anemia (and which became a form of illegal for athletes to improve their performance).

Later, the gene encoding the EPO protein was identified, providing the basis for discoveries, made by 2019 Nobel laureates William G. Kaelin Jr., Peter J. Ratcliffe, and Gregg L. Semenza, that helped explain how cells

to the availability of oxygen.

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