Hematopoietic Stem Cell Development, Niches, and Signaling Pathways

doi:10.1155/2012/270425

Bone Marrow Res. 2012; 2012: 270425.

Published online 2012 July 30. doi: 10.1155/2012/270425

PMCID: PMC3413998

Hematopoietic Stem Cell Development, Niches, and Signaling Pathways

Kamonnaree Chotinantakul^1
,² and Wilairat Leeanansaksiri^1
,²^*

¹Stem Cell Therapy and Transplantation Research Group, Suranaree University of Technology, Nakhon Ratchasima 30000, Thailand

²School of Microbiology, Institute of Science, Suranaree University of Technology, Nakhon Ratchasima 30000, Thailand

*Wilairat Leeanansaksiri: Email: wilairat/at/g.sut.ac.th

Academic Editor: Amanda C. LaRue

Received March 9, 2012; Revised May 30, 2012; Accepted June 13, 2012.

This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Abstract

Hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) play a key role in hematopoietic system that functions mainly in homeostasis and immune response. HSCs transplantation has been applied for the treatment of several diseases. However, HSCs persist in the small quantity within the body, mostly in the quiescent state. Understanding the basic knowledge of HSCs is useful for stem cell biology research and therapeutic medicine development. Thus, this paper emphasizes on HSC origin, source, development, the niche, and signaling pathways which support HSC maintenance and balance between self-renewal and proliferation which will be useful for the advancement of HSC expansion and transplantation in the future.

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