Research Overview

The successful whole blood transfusion treatment performed by the British physician James Blundell in 1818 was followed by the discovery of blood groups A, B, and O in 1901 by Landsteiner and the development of blood donor systems, leading eventually to the establishment of blood component transfusion using erythrocytes and platelets. Two hundred years later, the decreasing number of young blood donors and the increasing population of elderly citizens, among whom demand is greatest, is currently recognized as a problem across developed countries. It is now crucial to find methods of securing a supply of new blood transfusion products to meet the needs of 50 years hence.

In our laboratory, we have created an environment for seamless coverage from basic research to clinical application to work with human iPS cells as a material for developing erythrocyte and platelet products. Our graduate school program, meanwhile, aims to elucidate the hematopoietic system overall, the mechanism involved in the stepwise differentiation and maturation of megakaryocytes, which are platelet-producing progenitor cells, and the mechanism of erythroblast enucleation, which is fundamental to erythrocyte production. Thus, by uncovering the underlying intricate molecular mechanisms, we are making progress toward a culture system for the efficient production of blood cells from human iPS cells and exploration of next-generation blood transfusion products (genetically engineered iPS cell-derived platelets). We have now completed a clinical study involving the world's first blood transfusion of autologous iPS cell-derived platelets to a patient with platelet transfusion refractoriness that began in 2019 and are now developing next-generation iPS cell-based platelets and erythrocytes.