title: Progressive maturation toward hematopoietic stem cells in the mouse embryo aorta.
abstract: Clusters of cells attached to the endothelium of the main embryonic arteries were first observed a century ago. Present in most vertebrate species, such clusters, or intraaortic hematopoietic clusters (IAHCs), derive from specialized hemogenic endothelial cells and contain the first few hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) generated during embryonic development. However, some discrepancies remained concerning the spatio-temporal appearance and the numbers of IAHCs and HSCs. Therefore, the exact cell composition and function of IAHCs remain unclear to date. We show here that IAHCs contain pre-HSCs (or HSC precursors) that can mature into HSCs in vivo (as shown by the successful long-term multilineage reconstitution of primary neonates and secondary adult recipients). Such IAHC pre-HSCs could contribute to the HSC pool increase observed at midgestation. The novel insights in pre-HSC to HSC transition represent an important step toward generating transplantable HSCs in vitro that are needed for autologous HSC transplantation therapies.
authors.affiliation: Hubrecht Institute-Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences & University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands; Department of Cell Biology and.
authors.forename: Jean-Charles
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Boisset
authors.affiliation: Hubrecht Institute-Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences & University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands; Department of Cell Biology and.
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Clapes
authors.affiliation: Hubrecht Institute-Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences & University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands; Department of Cell Biology and.
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Klaus
authors.affiliation: Department of Hematology, Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands;
authors.forename: Natalie
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Papazian
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Cell Biology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands; and.
authors.forename: Jos
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Onderwater
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Cell Biology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands; and.
authors.forename: Mieke
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mommaas-Kienhuis
authors.affiliation: Department of Hematology, Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands;
authors.forename: Tom
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Cupedo
authors.affiliation: Hubrecht Institute-Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences & University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands; Department of Cell Biology and Department of Cell Biology, University Medical Center, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Catherine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Robin
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001011:Aorta / Q000196:embryology*; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D005260:Female; D006412:Hematopoietic Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology*; D051379:Mice; D009924:Organ Culture Techniques