Reader feedback: Blood and light, show more data
Alexey Bersenev has written in to warn for caution in extrapolating potential applications of a recent Nature paper that identified a mechanism linking circadian rhythms and the movement of blood stem cells into circulation.
You can read our summary here.
I don't think we can say "it may mean that more HSCs can be harvested from the bone marrow, by collecting at the right time of day" in terms of clinical application so far.
Because in bone marrow transplant clinic HSCs harvested after injection of drugs, mobilized of HSC (such as G-CSF). Authors didn't study how administration of this drug will affect circadian oscillations of HSCs. It's could be synergistic or could't.
It was pointed out in our blog:
http://hematopoiesis.info/2008/02/25/stem-cells-know-its-their-time-to-circulate
"The clinical implication of this study will be more convincing if it is shown that G-CSF or PTH treatment to increase HSC collection from the periphery will be enhanced if harvested at a certain time during the day"