Human Bone Marrow Model Created Using hiPSCs

Bone marrow, which functions as the body’s blood-producing tissue, is composed of bone cells, blood vessels, nerves, and other supporting cell types. Researchers from the University of Basel and University Hospital Basel have successfully recreated this complex environment using only human cells. Their work, published in Cell Stem Cell and led by Professor Ivan Martin and Dr. Andrés García García, introduces a laboratory-grown bone marrow system that may help reduce reliance on animal models and improve research on blood formation and disease.

Although the bone marrow operates largely unseen, it becomes crucial when disorders such as blood cancers disrupt its function. Understanding the mechanisms of healthy and diseased blood production has long depended on animal models or overly simplified cell cultures, both of which fail to capture the full biological complexity of human bone marrow.

The Basel research team developed a three-dimensional construct that reproduces the structure and cell diversity of the bone marrow, specifically mimicking the endosteal niche—one of the tissue’s key microenvironments responsible for blood formation and linked to cancer therapy resistance. This niche contains bone cells, blood vessels, nerves, and immune cells. Until now, no human-based model had incorporated all these elements in one system.

The scientists created the model using an artificial bone scaffold made from hydroxyapatite, the mineral naturally found in bones and teeth. Human induced pluripotent stem cells were incorporated into the scaffold and guided to develop into various bone marrow cell types. Through controlled differentiation, the resulting tissue closely resembled the human endosteal niche. The construct measured about eight millimeters in diameter and four millimeters in thickness, and it supported human blood formation in the laboratory for several weeks.

“We have learned a great deal about how bone marrow works from mouse studies,” says Ivan Martin. “However, our model brings us closer to the biology of the human organism. It could serve as a complement to many animal experiments in the study of blood formation in both healthy and diseased conditions.”