Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2017 Feb;74(4):579-590.
doi: 10.1007/s00018-016-2306-y. Epub 2016 Jul 19.

The hematopoietic stem-cell niche in health and leukemia

Abel Sánchez-Aguilera  1 , Simón Méndez-Ferrer  2   3
Affiliations
Review

The hematopoietic stem-cell niche in health and leukemia

Abel Sánchez-Aguilera et al. Cell Mol Life Sci. 2017 Feb.

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.

Keywords: Bone marrow microenvironment; Hematopoietic stem cell; Leukemia; Leukemia stem cell; Stem cell niche.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Overview of the main components of the HSC niche and their alterations in leukemia. Simplified schematic of the normal HSC niche (left) and its alterations in the context of malignancy. The diagram does not attempt to comprehensively include every cell population and molecule implicated in HSC regulation but to illustrate some of the best characterized candidate niche cells and factors, particularly those that have been found altered in leukemias. The right panel summarizes niche abnormalities observed in various experimental models representing different leukemia types. Therefore, it does not intend to propose a general model nor to describe the pathophysiology of any particular malignancy. HSC hematopoietic stem cell, LSC leukemia stem/initiating cell
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Acar M, Kocherlakota KS, Murphy MM, Peyer JG, Oguro H, Inra CN, Jaiyeola C, Zhao Z, Luby-Phelps K, Morrison SJ. Deep imaging of bone marrow shows non-dividing stem cells are mainly perisinusoidal. Nature. 2015;526(7571):126–130. doi: 10.1038/nature15250. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Wilson A, Laurenti E, Oser G, van der Wath RC, Blanco-Bose W, Jaworski M, Offner S, Dunant CF, Eshkind L, Bockamp E, Lio P, Macdonald HR, Trumpp A. Hematopoietic stem cells reversibly switch from dormancy to self-renewal during homeostasis and repair. Cell. 2008;135(6):1118–1129. doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2008.10.048. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Bowie MB, McKnight KD, Kent DG, McCaffrey L, Hoodless PA, Eaves CJ. Hematopoietic stem cells proliferate until after birth and show a reversible phase-specific engraftment defect. J Clin Invest. 2006;116(10):2808–2816. doi: 10.1172/JCI28310. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. McKenzie JL, Gan OI, Doedens M, Wang JC, Dick JE. Individual stem cells with highly variable proliferation and self-renewal properties comprise the human hematopoietic stem cell compartment. Nat Immunol. 2006;7(11):1225–1233. doi: 10.1038/ni1393. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Kiel MJ, Yilmaz OH, Iwashita T, Terhorst C, Morrison SJ. SLAM family receptors distinguish hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells and reveal endothelial niches for stem cells. Cell. 2005;121(7):1109–1121. doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2005.05.026. - DOI - PubMed

Publication types