Platelets are small, disc-shaped cell fragments in the blood that are essential to stop bleeding and to initiate blood clotting after injury. Platelet transfusions in patients with severe trauma or medical conditions, including bone marrow disease, leukemia, or sepsis, can be lifesaving. Despite being a standard clinical practice, platelet transfusions face issues related to the availability of blood donations from which platelets are isolated, the relatively short shelf life of purified platelets, and the risk of an immune response in patients receiving platelets from unmatched donors.

Type 1 diabetes is caused by an insufficient production of the hormone insulin by cells in the pancreas called beta cells and estimated to affect 9.5 million people worldwide. Low insulin levels allow glucose levels to remain elevated, which in the long term can damage organs such as the kidneys, the eyes, and the cardiovascular system. People with diabetes require lifelong monitoring of blood sugar levels coupled with insulin injections to keep blood sugar levels at a stable, healthy level.

A potential new treatment option for those patients is the replacement of lost or dysfunctional pancreatic beta cells, either by cell transplantation, or by the generation of new beta cells from existing cells within the body. This latter strategy was pursued by the team of Xiaofeng Huang from Weill Cornell Medicine, USA and Qing Xia from Peking University, China who previously discovered that cells in the mouse stomach can be transformed into pancreatic beta cells by genetic engineering.

Stroke is a leading cause of death and disability, affecting 1 in 4 people during their lifetime. Stroke happens when blood vessels in the brain get clogged or damaged, impairing blood flow and oxygen supply to the brain, which leads to death of neurons and other brain cells. Although brain damage can be limited by interventions to restore blood flow, most stroke survivors experience some lifelong impairments of e.g. speech, movement, or cognitive function.  

Despite the existence of immature stem cells in the brain, their role in repair is uncertain and the brain’s ability to recover from stroke remains limited. Takakuni Maki, Ken Yasuda, Kazuto Tsukita, and colleagues from Kyoto University, Japan, have now demonstrated that oligodendrocyte progenitor cells (OPCs)—a well-known immature glial cell type in the brain—can promote new blood vessel formation after stroke under hypoxic conditions. The research was published today in Stem Cell Reports.