Drugs improve blood-forming cell function in sickle cell mice
Experiments starting in two-month-old mice found that drugs targeting senescence improved bone marrow cells’ ability to produce blood cells after transplantation.
Limit: Blood cell production was measured after transplantation; sickle cell symptoms and survival were not
Stake: An author works for Cellarity and holds shares in it.
Edited by Boris Djordjevic · AgingResearch.News
Townes mice with sickle cell disease and bone marrow cells from children and young adults with the disease showed cellular stress and signs of senescence, a state in which cells stop dividing. The observational human comparison included 15 people aged 6–23 with sickle cell disease and 11 people aged 2–21 without it.
The researchers also tested drugs in mice and cells grown in the lab. In mice, navitoclax restored marrow cells’ ability to rebuild blood cell production after transplantation to levels comparable to non-sickle-cell controls. Mice received 50 milligrams per kilogram daily in two one-week courses, separated by a two-week break. Dasatinib plus quercetin also improved mouse marrow cell function. In human marrow cells grown in the lab, navitoclax at a concentration of 50 nanomolar for 24 hours improved their ability to form colonies of blood cells.
Why it matters
The work addresses whether an aging-associated cell state could undermine blood-forming cells used in sickle cell gene therapies. The authors suggest targeting senescence could improve cell quality and potentially enhance these therapies’ safety.
Caveats
The human drug results came from cells grown in the lab, not from treating people. The human samples came from children and young adults, so the findings do not establish effects in older people.
The paper
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
Science Translational Medicine, Jul 22, 2026
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