Concise review: hematopoietic stem cells and tissue stem cells: current concepts and unanswered questions

Abstract

The term hematopoietic stem cells has at times been used to include a miscellany of precursor cells ranging from multipotential self-generating cells to lineage-restricted progenitors with little capacity for self-generation. It is probable that the stem cells of other tissues also vary widely in their multipotentiality and proliferative capacity. This review questions several dogmas regarding the self-generative capacity of various hematopoietic cells, the single episodic origin of hematopoietic cells, and the irreversible nature of progressive mature cell formation in individual hematopoietic lineages. Disclosure of potential conflicts of interest is found at the end of this article.