Hematopoiesis has served as a paradigm for investigation of normal mammalian developmental processes over the last four decades. Rapid turnover of mature blood elements requires their ongoing replacement from the bone marrow throughout adult life. The accessibility of marrow stem and progenitor cells facilitated the elucidation of the cellular basis of hematopoiesis, and the ability to grow hematopoietic colonies enabled isolation of cytokines that drive the proliferation and differentiation of specific marrow progenitors. When investigation of lineage-specific transcription began approximately two decades ago, the clinical importance of hemoglobin and antibodies inspired early characterization of the β-globin and immunoglobulin genes.
The clinical importance of hematopoiesis has also inspired its widespread study. In addition to benign hematologic and marrow failure syndromes, leukemias, lymphomas and myelodysplastic syndromes arise from hematopoietic cells, and hematopoietic stem cells serve as a source for marrow transplantation for malignant and non-malignant conditions. Moreover, many chemotherapy agents markedly reduce blood counts, and cytokines that stimulate the proliferation of specific lineages have already become part of clinical practice.
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