Hematopoietic stem cell homing: biology and clinical prospectives

The hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) niche is a specific microenvironment in the bone marrow that maintains the ability of HSCs to differentiate and self-renew. It comprises two interconnected sub-niches: the vascular and the intraosseous. This distinction is particularly relevant in the context of homing, as hematopoietic stem cells sequentially interact with both niches during the engraftment process. The components of the bone marrow niche are divided into cellular and extracellular elements. All of them are crucial for maintaining niche homeostasis and, consequently, are essential for the success of HSC transplantation and subsequent engraftment.
Homing is the process of active migration of hematopoietic stem cells into the bone marrow, which occurs during bone marrow transplantation — a common treatment for hematopoietic tissue tumors. However, a significant proportion of the transplanted cells fail to reach their niche, leading to various side effects and complications of this procedure. Currently, there is active research focused on improving the efficacy of HSC transplantation. The approaches under investigation include both methods to directly enhance cell migration and strategies to preemptively increase the number of transplantable hematopoietic stem cells. Homing itself is a key target for new technologies, as improving its efficiency can reduce the time required for blood cell recovery after transplantation. Advancements in this field have the potential to transform current HSC transplantation practices and significantly increase patient survival rates following the procedure.

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