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Review
. 2021 Apr 28;3(2):29-34.
doi: 10.1097/BS9.0000000000000071. eCollection 2021 Apr.

Abnormal bone marrow microenvironment: the "harbor" of acute lymphoblastic leukemia cells

Zehui Chen  1   2 , Yaxin Zheng  1 , Yaling Yang  2 , Junnan Kang  1 , M James You  2 , Chen Tian  1
Affiliations
Review

Abnormal bone marrow microenvironment: the "harbor" of acute lymphoblastic leukemia cells

Zehui Chen et al. Blood Sci. .

Abstract

Bone marrow (BM) microenvironment regulates and supports the production of blood cells which are necessary to maintain homeostasis. In analogy to normal hematopoiesis, leukemogenesis is originated from leukemic stem cells (LSCs) which gives rise to more differentiated malignant cells. Leukemia cells occupy BM niches and reconstruct them to support leukemogenesis. The abnormal BM niches are the main sanctuary of LSCs where they can evade chemotherapy-induced death and acquire drug resistance. In this review, we focus on the protective effects of BM niche cells on acute lymphoblastic leukemia cells.

Keywords: acute lymphoblastic leukemia; bone marrow microenvironment; osteoblastic niche; vascular niche.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
MSCs differentiate into various BM niche cells. MSCs = mesenchymal stem cells, BM = bone marrow.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Leukemic cell interaction with BM niche cells. BM = bone marrow.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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