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Stem cells

Reprogramming finds its niche

Nature volume 511, pages 301–302 (2014)Cite this article

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Production of blood stem cells from reprogrammed adult cells is notoriously difficult. It emerges that a supportive microenvironment may be crucial for their efficient generation. See Article p.312

Bone-marrow transplants can be life-saving, but a large proportion of patients who are in need of a transplant — particularly those from ethnic minorities — lack suitable donors. Blood-cell precursors called haematopoietic stem cells are the basis of transplants because, when they are injected intravenously, they can migrate and engraft into the bone marrow, regenerating every blood-cell lineage. One way to combat the donor deficit, therefore, would be to generate patient-derived haematopoietic stem cells. However, this strategy has been hampered by problems with engrafting engineered stem cells, and by difficulties with maintaining haematopoietic 'stemness' in laboratory-cultured cells. On page 312 of this issue, Sandler et al.1 describe an approach for generating haematopoietic stem cells that circumvents these problems.

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Figure 1: In search of factors that induce haematopoietic stem cells.

References

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Daniel Lucas is in the Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, USA.,

    Daniel Lucas

  2. Paul S. Frenette is at the Ruth L. and David S. Gottesman Institute for Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine Research, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York, New York 10461, USA.,

    Paul S. Frenette

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  1. Daniel Lucas
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  2. Paul S. Frenette
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Correspondence to Paul S. Frenette.

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Lucas, D., Frenette, P. Reprogramming finds its niche. Nature 511, 301–302 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature13516

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