Abstract
© 2016 Elsevier Ltd All rights reserved. Hematopoiesis refers to the overall process of blood cell production. It is initiated in the embryo and continues throughout life to maintain required levels of multiple types of mature blood cells that have relatively short life spans. The hematopoietic process is complex and hierarchical, at the apex of which is a rare subpopulation of stem cells. These cells have remarkable regenerative abilities, although their individual primitive and mature progeny outputs can vary widely both in type and number. Cell surface analyses coupled with clonal assessments of cell survival, proliferation, and differentiation, as well as molecular profiling indicate that a combination of intrinsic, extrinsic, and stochastically variable mechanisms alter how blood cell outputs are determined at multiple levels throughout development and aging, and in response to injury. The innate regenerative capacity of primitive hematopoietic cells makes them attractive elements for clinical transplantation and molecularly targeted therapies, with pilot clinical trials of stem cell ex vivo expansion and gene therapy already underway. Many mutations that perturb hematopoiesis have also now been identified, although the biology of the diseases produced often remains unclear. Nevertheless, blood formation continues to serve as an important framework for understanding the cell dynamics of other tissues.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | Encyclopedia of Immunobiology |
| Publisher | Academic Press |
| Pages | 15-25 |
| Number of pages | 11 |
| Volume | 1 |
| ISBN (Print) | 9780080921525 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | E-pub ahead of print - 9 May 2016 |