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The most important task of bone marrow is to provide an environment (or so called niche) where blood stem cells can produce all blood cells. But how does this work, and why does it sometimes go wrong? Researchers Catherine Robin and want to replicate the bone marrow of a patient outside the body to study it in detail. This could also serve as a model for repairing bone marrow damage.

The researchers’ idea is to produce a model of the bone marrow outside the body, where they will try to grow stem cells from the patient’s own bone marrow. A 3D printer will build the organ environment, layer by layer, printing the cells in the process. “Our challenge is to accurately replicate the cell environment,” says Catherine Robin, who works as an associate professor at the Hubrecht Institute. “We hope to identify the conditions in which the cells survive, divide, and even start ‘talking’ to each other. This will enable to find out the most appropriate condition to obtain a functional bone marrow.”

The researchers will also look at diseases such as multiple myeloma, a form of cancer in which plasma cells (a type of white blood cell) divide uncontrollably. The tumour cells accumulate in the bone marrow, damaging it. “We want to use our model to see how these cancer cells inhibit the bone cells,” says Jacqueline Alblas, an associate professor who is employed at the Orthopaedics department of UMC Utrecht. “But we also want to see if we can repair the damage to the bone. This would improve the quality of life of patients, even after they have been cured of cancer.”

Personalised medicine

With the seed money grant, the researchers are working on isolating stem cells, printing the bone marrow model and cultivating the stem cells in it. “If this does indeed work, we will be able to produce blood-forming cells that are in need to treat patients,” says Alblas. ”We also want to use the model to develop medication to prevent bone damage occurring in cancer such as multiple myeloma.”

“The great thing about the model we are going to develop is that the bone marrow cells that grow in it come from the patients themselves. That makes it possible to test medication on them specifically, so that we know what works best for a particular patient. A form of personalised medicine, in other words.”

Major opportunity

“I am very happy with the seed money,” says Robin. “Otherwise we could not develop this project that started with a simple idea. Now, we can look at whether the principle works, and it is a fantastic opportunity.”

“The nice thing about a grant of this kind is that it also brings people from different disciplines together,” adds Alblas. “It's important to look beyond your own field.”

Catherine Robin: “Here in Utrecht, distances are very short. It is easy to go to a seminar or a talk given by another institute. And you can take your cell cultures to someone in a matter of minutes.” Alblas: “The infrastructure here is excellent. It means that you can actually talk with other researchers and have a more meaningful exchange of ideas.”

Text: Roy Keeris