Research
Selectins are involved in projects to treat osteoporosis, a disease that occurs when bone-creating cells called osteoblasts become too scarce. Osteoblasts develop from stem cells, and scientists hope to eventually be able to treat osteoporosis by adding stem cells to a patient’s bone marrow. Researchers have developed a way to use selectins to direct stem cells introduced into the vascular system to the bone marrow. E-selectins are constitutively expressed in the bone marrow, and researchers have shown that tagging stem cells with a certain glycoprotein causes these cells to migrate to the bone marrow. Thus, selectins may someday be essential to a regenerative therapy for osteoporosis.
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