Regulatory signaling pathways in hematopoietic stem cell development

The blood system provides the body with oxygen and nutrients, maintains the homeostasis of the internal environment through material exchange, and keeps the body with immune defense and protection. Hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs), which are pluripotent adult stem cells with self-renewal and differentiation potential, are the origin of mature blood cells in the body. The production, development and maturation processes of HSCs and their derivatives are the so-called 'hematopoiesis', which begins in the early embryonic development and throughout the life course; any abnormality during these processes can cause the occurrence of hematological diseases. Therefore, a deeper understanding of hematopoietic development and its regulation is important to the diagnosis and treatment of blood diseases. In recent years, a series of advances have been made in studying hematopoietic development using mice and zebrafish as animal models. It has been shown that BMP, Notch and Wnt signaling pathways play an important role in the fate determination and generation of HSCs. In this review, we systematically summarize the regulatory roles of these signaling pathways in the hematopoietic process of mice and zebrafish embryos, to improve our understanding on the underlying regulatory network of hematopoietic development and provide guidance for clinical application.