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Fetal liver: an ideal niche for hematopoietic stem cell expansion

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Abstract

Fetal liver (FL) is an intricate and highly vascularized hematopoietic organ, which can support the extensive expansion of hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) without loss of stemness, as well as of the downstream lineages of HSCs. This powerful function of FL largely benefits from the niche (or microenvironment), which provides a residence for HSC expansion. Numerous studies have demonstrated that the FL niche consists of heterogeneous cell populations that associate with HSCs spatially and regulate HSCs functionally. At the molecular level, a complex of cell extrinsic and intrinsic signaling network within the FL niche cells maintains HSC expansion. Here, we summarize recent studies on the analysis of the FL HSCs and their niche, and specifically on the molecular regulatory network for HSC expansion. Based on these studies, we hypothesize a strategy to obtain a large number of functional HSCs via 3D reconstruction of FL organoid ex vivo for clinical treatment in the future.

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Acknowledgements

We thank lab members for helpful discussions and critical reading of the paper. This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (81530004, 31425016), the Ministry of Science and Technology of China (2016YFA0100500) and the Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, China (XDA16010104).

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  1. College of Life Sciences, Hebei University, Baoding, 071002, China

    Suwei Gao

  2. State Key Laboratory of Membrane Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China

    Feng Liu

  3. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China

    Feng Liu

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  1. Suwei Gao
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Correspondence to Feng Liu.

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Gao, S., Liu, F. Fetal liver: an ideal niche for hematopoietic stem cell expansion. Sci. China Life Sci. 61, 885–892 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11427-018-9313-4

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