The hematopoietic stem cell niche: What's so special about bone?

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Combining Intravital Fluorescent Microscopy (IVFM) with Genetic Models to Study Engraftment Dynamics of Hematopoietic Cells to Bone Marrow Niches
11:06

Combining Intravital Fluorescent Microscopy (IVFM) with Genetic Models to Study Engraftment Dynamics of Hematopoietic Cells to Bone Marrow Niches

Published on: March 21, 2017

Benjamin J Frisch1

  • 1Department of Medicine Hematology/Oncology Division, University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, Rochester, NY, USA; Wilmot Cancer Institute, University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, Rochester, NY, USA; Center for Musculoskeletal Research, University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, Rochester, NY, USA.

Bone
|May 21, 2018
PubMed

Hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) require a supportive microenvironment to regulate their function and produce sufficient hematopoietic cells over the lifetime of an individual. With the exception of fish, all vertebrates, including mammals, maintain HSCs in a complex niche within the bone marrow. Several bone specific cellular populations have been implicated as components of the HSC niche and are part of a complex network that regulates HSC functions. However, the full extent of interactions within the HSC niche, and the role of individual cell populations remain to be fully elucidated. Further, it is not clear why fish are the exception, and what advantage is gained by housing HSCs in the bone marrow. To gain a better understanding of hematopoiesis and the mechanisms that drive hematopoietic disease processes a clearer picture of the complex HSC regulatory interactions in the bone marrow microenvironment is required.

Keywords:
HSCHematopoiesisNiche

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