Scl and stem cell quiescence.

摘要

The mechanisms underlying maintenance of hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) remain one of the critical mysteries in blood development. Because of advances in whole genome analysis and in reverse genetic animal model systems, there has been accelerating progress in identification of the genes involved in stem cell self-renewal, lineage commitment and differentiation, and cell-cycle regulation. Critical genes include those encoding hematopoietic transcription factors, cell-signaling molecules, epigenetic modifiers of gene expression, and molecular regulators of cell-cycle progression. Despite much progress, we still lack an integrated understanding of how these complex genetic networks cooperate to maintain the pool of HSCs or methods to manipulate these processes for therapeutic intent.