CXCL12 Production by Early Mesenchymal Progenitors is Required for Hematopoietic Stem Cell Maintenance

Hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) primarily reside in the bone marrow where signals generated by stromal cells regulate their self-renewal, proliferation, and trafficking. Endosteal osteoblasts and perivascular stromal cells including endothelial cells3, CXCL12-abundant reticular (CAR) cells, leptin-receptor positive stromal cells, and nestin-GFP positive mesenchymal progenitors have all been implicated in HSC maintenance. However, it is unclear if specific hematopoietic progenitor cell (HPC) subsets reside in distinct niches defined by the surrounding stromal cells and the regulatory molecules they produce. CXCL12 (stromal-derived factor-1, SDF-1) regulates both HSCs and lymphoid progenitors and is expressed by all of these stromal cell populations.

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Greenbaum A, Hsu YM, Day RB, Schuettpelz LG, Christopher MJ, Borgerding JN, Nagasawa T, Link DC