April 1, 2009 06:56 PM

These new insights represent an important contribution to future clinical therapeutic approaches. The study was published in the prestigious science journal Nature and will be a central topic of the international symposium on the molecular mechanisms of hematopoiesis, which will take place in Munich from April 2nd to 4th

The findings on the molecular mechanisms of blood formation (hematopoiesis) will be presented in Munich at the international symposium "Molecular Mechanisms of Normal and Malignant Hematopoiesis" from April 2nd to 4th. A question that has puzzled researchers for decades could now be solved: How are the first blood cells generated in the embryo? In particular, Dr. Timm Schroeder, research group leader at the Institute of Stem Cell Research of Helmholtz Zentrum Muenchen and his team found out that a special type of endothelial cells exists that can transform themselves into blood cells. Endothelial cells line the interior surface of blood vessels

Full article