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The niche for hematopoietic stem cell expansion: a collaboration network

Cellular & Molecular Immunology volume 14, pages 865–867 (2017)Cite this article

Transplantation of hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells (HSPC) has become one of the most effective treatments for several hematological malignancies, cancers and genetic immune disorders. However, the lack of histocompatible donor sources and the number of stem cells suitable for engraftment are major constraints in the clinic, and these constraints greatly hamper the use of stem cell therapy. In humans, fetal liver and bone marrow are the two major locations of hematopoiesis before and after birth, respectively. Thus, understanding the specialized stem cell microenvironment supporting the self-renewal and expansion of HSPC in fetal liver and bone marrow is not only essential for extending the current knowledge of stem cell biology but is also beneficial to adult regenerative medicine in the clinic.

Despite intensive research over the past several decades, there has not been a clear overall picture of how the hematopoietic stem cell niche functions in the expansion of primitive and self-renewing HSPCs. Many studies have shown that the expansion of HSPCs depends on some well-known growth factors, such as stem cell factors, flt3 ligands, thrombopoietin, interleukin 6, interleukin-3 and angiopoietin-like 5, which function in different combinations,1, 2, 3 and newly recognized factors such as notch ligand and stemregenin 1.4, 5 However, whether cytokines alone lead to HSPC expansion with self-renewing capacity remains unclear, as previous studies have also indicated that direct interactions between HSPCs and cellular components, such as blood vessel endothelial cells, osteoblasts, mesenchymal stem cells and so on, in the stem cell niche are crucial for the regulation of hematopoiesis.6, 7 Moreover, there are ongoing debates about whether HSPCs lose long-term grafting ability during in vitro expansion as a result of the loss of a proper stem cell-forming niche, which has not yet been accurately formatted in existing stem cell protocols.8 New insights into the hematopoietic stem cell niche are required.

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Acknowledgements

QC is supported by the Singapore National Research Foundation Fellowship (NRF-NRFF2017-03).

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  1. Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology, Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), Singapore, 138673, Singapore

    Qingfeng Chen

  2. Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore, 119228, Singapore

    Qingfeng Chen

  3. National Cancer Centre Singapore, Singapore, 169610, Singapore

    Qingfeng Chen

  4. Key Laboratory for Major Obstetric Diseases of Guangdong Province, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, 510150, China

    Qingfeng Chen

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Chen, Q. The niche for hematopoietic stem cell expansion: a collaboration network. Cell Mol Immunol 14, 865–867 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/cmi.2017.74

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