Breakthrough BME study could lead to new treatments for sickle cell disease
With sickle cell disease, hemoglobin molecules form into fibers that act like stiff rods within the red blood cells that cause blockages in blood vessels. BME researchers performed the highest-ever resolution measurements of single sickle hemoglobin fiber assembly using microscopes and cameras that can measure the molecules at the nanoscale. Credit: Wood, Odde, and Castle; University of Minnesota
March 28, 2019 — A Department of Biomedical Engineering research team has revealed that the building blocks of sickle cell disease are much less efficient at organizing than previously thought.
The findings open the door to new treatments, including new medicines that could be prescribed at lower doses, for the approximately 20 million people worldwide who suffer from the lifelong disease.
Science Advances published the study, which includes the most precise measurements ever of the disease at the molecular level.
BME Prof. David Wood, Prof. David Odde, and post-doctoral researcher Brian Castle collaborated on the study.