title: The complex cartography of stem cell commitment.
abstract: In this issue of Cell, a study by Adolfsson and coworkers (Adolfsson et al., 2005) provides insight into the early lineage commitment events of multipotent hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs). These studies demonstrate the importance of the Flt3 receptor tyrosine kinase as the earliest marker of hematopoietic cell fate commitment in that erythrocyte and megakaryocyte potentials are lost first as HSCs differentiate to lymphocyte progenitors.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cancer Immunology and AIDS, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA.
authors.forename: Koichi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Akashi
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Traver
authors.forename: Leonard I
authors.initials: LI
authors.lastname: Zon
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000502:physiology; D019070:Cell Lineage; D006412:Hematopoietic Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology* / Q000502:physiology*