Microenvironmental niches in the bone marrow required for B-cell development.
B-cell development is known to occur in a complex bone-marrow microenvironment but its functional organization remains unclear. It is thought that bone-marrow stromal cells create distinct microenvironments, known as niches, that provide support for haematopoiesis and B-cell development. Although it has been more than 20 years since the development of a culture system that allows the growth of B-cell progenitors on bone-marrow-derived stromal cells in vitro, it is only recently that studies have provided a novel basis for understanding the nature of the niches for B-cell development in vivo. This article summarizes the recent advances in research on the earliest B-cell precursors, their requisite environmental factors and the cellular niches that supply these factors and maintain B cells during their development.
Department of Medical Systems Control, Institute for Frontier Medical Sciences, Kyoto University, 53 Kawahara-cho, Shogoin, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-8507, Japan. tnagasa@frontier.kyoto-u.ac.jp
Takashi
T
Nagasawa
D000818:Animals; D001402:B-Lymphocytes / Q000166:cytology* / Q000276:immunology; D001853:Bone Marrow / Q000276:immunology*; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000276:immunology*; D006412:Hematopoietic Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D018448:Models, Immunological; D017154:Stromal Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000276:immunology