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Use of Zebrafish to Dissect Gene Programs Regulating Hematopoietic Stem Cells

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Regulatory Networks in Stem Cells

Part of the book series: Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine ((STEMCELL))

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Abstract

Hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) are responsible for creating each cellular component of the vertebrate blood system. However, HSCs must also self-renew to maintain their own population so that the blood system always has the capacity to be reconstituted. This balance of HSCs producing more HSCs as well as differentiated blood cells is regulated by several extrinsic pathways. The Cdx/Hox pathway has been shown to have a role in regulating embryonic stem cells, with the zebrafish caudal genes cdx4 and cdx1a acting upstream of the Hox clusters to aid in the formation of blood. The Notch pathway has been shown in mice and zebrafish to be a positive regulator of HSC self-renewal; experiments in fish revealed that this pathway signals through the HSC transcription factor runx1 to do so. Lastly, the action of prostaglandin E2 was found to positively regulate HSCs, and treatment with this compound leads to increased recovery kinetics of the hematopoietic system upon acute injury or transplantation. This knowledge is currently being applied in the clinic as a means to increase the success rates of umbilical cord blood transplantations in adult patients.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Hematology/Oncology, Harvard Medical School and Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Children’s Hospital Boston, One Blackfan Circle, 02115, Boston, MA

    Colleen E. Albacker & Leonard I. Zon

Authors
  1. Colleen E. Albacker
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  2. Leonard I. Zon
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Correspondence to Leonard I. Zon .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, USA

    Vinagolu K. Rajasekhar MSc, MPhil, PhD

  2. Invitrogen Corporation, Frederick, MD, USA

    Mohan C. Vemuri Ph.D.

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© 2009 Humana Press, a part of Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, a part of Springer Science+Business Media, LLC

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Albacker, C.E., Zon, L.I. (2009). Use of Zebrafish to Dissect Gene Programs Regulating Hematopoietic Stem Cells. In: Rajasekhar, V.K., Vemuri, M.C. (eds) Regulatory Networks in Stem Cells. Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine. Humana Press. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-60327-227-8_9

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