Hematopoietic stem cells and their niche.
Recent evidence indicates that osteoblasts are crucial components of the particular microenvironments, or niches, for hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) in adult bone marrow (BM). Stem cells persist in an immature state within the BM. The quiescence of HSCs is controlled dynamically by the signaling of receptors-ligands and cell-adhesion molecules. In this review, the characteristics of HSCs in the niche are discussed. The understanding of the relationship between normal and cancer stem cells and their niches should lead to the development of new strategies directed toward regeneration medicine and cancer therapeutics.
Department of Cell Differentiation, The Sakaguchi Laboratory of Developmental Biology, School of Medicine, Keio University, 35 Shinano-machi, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 160-8582, Japan. sudato@sc.itc.keio.ac.jp
Toshio
T
Suda
Fumio
F
Arai
Atsushi
A
Hirao
D000818:Animals; D002448:Cell Adhesion; D006412:Hematopoietic Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology* / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000276:immunology; D010006:Osteoblasts / Q000166:cytology / Q000276:immunology; D015398:Signal Transduction