Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

Stem cells

Self-renewal writ in blood

Nature volume 423, pages 231–232 (2003)Cite this article

The ability to self-renew is a defining property of stem cells, and a protein in blood stem cells that controls their self-renewal has been discovered. That same protein is also crucial for the development of leukaemia.

Between birth and death, people produce of the order of 1016 blood cells of different types. These specialized cells are continuously produced from precursor cells, which in turn must be replaced by cells further up the blood hierarchy. Ultimately, the entire blood system is fed by a pool of rare haematopoietic stem cells (HSCs)1. But how does this small pool sustain blood production over a lifetime without being depleted? The answer involves a process termed self-renewal: when HSCs divide, one or both 'daughter' cells can retain the properties of the parent, rather than — as is usual after division — becoming more specialized. Despite some interesting findings, we still know little about how the balance is tipped towards self-renewal2. This is not just a biological conundrum: it is also important in developing treatments that involve culturing HSCs in vitro. On pages 255 and 302 of this issue, Lessard and Sauvageau3 and Park et al.4 provide new insight into the problem — they describe a gene regulator that governs the self-renewal of both HSCs and leukaemic 'stem cells'.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Relevant articles

Open Access articles citing this article.

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Prices vary by article type

from$1.95

to$39.95

Learn more

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: The choices available to haematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) upon division.

References

  1. Kondo, M. et al. Annu. Rev. Immunol. 21, 759–806 (2003).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Devine, S. M., Lazarus, H. M. & Emerson, S. G. Bone Marrow Transplant. 31, 241–252 (2003).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Lessard, J. & Sauvageau, G. Nature 423, 255–260 (2003).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Park, I. et al. Nature 423, 302–305 (2003).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Till, J. E. & McCulloch, E. A. Radiat. Res. 14, 213–222 (1961).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Siminovitch, L., McCulloch, E. A. & Till, J. E. J. Cell. Comp. Physiol. 62, 327–336 (1963).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Till, J. E., McCulloch, E. A. & Siminovitch, L. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 51, 29–36 (1964).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Reya, T. et al. Nature advance online publication, 27 April 2003 (doi:10.1038/nature01593).

  9. Willert, K. et al. Nature advance online publication, 27 April 2003 (doi:10.1038/nature01611).

  10. Sauvageau, G. et al. Genes Dev. 9, 1753–1765 (1995).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. van Lohuizen, M. et al. Cell 65, 737–752 (1991).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. van der Lugt, N. et al. Genes Dev. 8, 757–769 (1994).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Dick, J. E. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 100, 3547–3549 (2003).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Lapidot, T. et al. Nature 367, 645–648 (1994).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  15. Wang, J. C. et al. in Hematopoiesis: A Developmental Approach (ed. Zon, L. I.) 99–118 (Oxford Univ. Press, New York, 2001).

    Google Scholar 

  16. Bonnet, D. & Dick, J. E. Nature Med. 3, 730–737 (1997).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  17. Kroon, E. et al. EMBO J. 17, 3714–3725 (1998).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  18. Iscove, N. N. & Nawa, K. Curr. Biol. 7, 805–808 (1997).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. the Division of Cell and Molecular Biology, and the Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, University Health Network, University of Toronto, 620 University Avenue, Toronto, M5G 2C1, Ontario, Canada

    John E. Dick

Authors
  1. John E. Dick
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to John E. Dick.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Dick, J. Self-renewal writ in blood. Nature 423, 231–232 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1038/423231a

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/423231a

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing