Lineage assays: which pathway to take?

Abstract

The report by Ehrlich et al in this issue of Blood reveals that assigning lineage potential to hematopoietic progenitors can be a challenging task, with interpretations differing widely depending on which functional assays are used. The findings add a new angle to the controversy of how the lymphoid and myeloid lineages are related during normal differentiation of hematopoietic stem cells.