title: The hematopoietic stem-cell niche in health and leukemia.
abstract: Research in the last decade has shown that hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) interact with and are modulated by a complex multicellular microenvironment in the bone marrow, which includes both the HSC progeny and multiple non-hematopoietic cell types. Intense work is gradually throwing light on the composition of the HSC niche and the molecular cues exchanged between its components, which has implications for HSC production, maintenance and expansion. In addition, it has become apparent that bidirectional interactions between leukemic cells and their niche play a previously unrecognized role in the initiation and development of hematological malignancies. Consequently, targeting of the malignant niche holds considerable promise for more specific antileukemic therapies. Here we summarize the latest insights into HSC niche biology and recent work showing multiple connections between hematological malignancy and alterations in the bone marrow microenvironment.
authors.affiliation: Stem Cell Niche Pathophysiology Group, Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Cardiovasculares (CNIC), Melchor Fernández Almagro 3, 28029, Madrid, Spain. abel.sanchez-aguilera@cnic.es.
authors.forename: Abel
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sánchez-Aguilera
authors.affiliation: Stem Cell Niche Pathophysiology Group, Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Cardiovasculares (CNIC), Melchor Fernández Almagro 3, 28029, Madrid, Spain. sm2116@medschl.cam.ac.uk.|Wellcome Trust-Medical Research Council Cambridge Stem Cell Institute and Department of Haematology, University of Cambridge, and National Health Service Blood and Transplant, Cambridge Biomedical Campus, Cambridge, CB2 0PT, UK. sm2116@medschl.cam.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Simón
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-9805-9988
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Méndez-Ferrer
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001853:Bone Marrow / Q000473:pathology*; D019337:Hematologic Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology; D006412:Hematopoietic Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D007938:Leukemia / Q000473:pathology*; D014411:Neoplastic Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000473:pathology*; D055153:Stem Cell Niche; D059016:Tumor Microenvironment
keywords: Bone marrow microenvironment; Hematopoietic stem cell; Leukemia; Leukemia stem cell; Stem cell niche