Abstract
Purpose of Review
Hematopoiesis is the process of generating all blood and immune cells, which is fueled at the root by self-renewing multipotent hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs). Unlike other systems in the body, hematopoiesis occurs in several waves in different organs (yolk sac, AGM, placenta, embryonic head, fetal liver, and fetal spleen) across ontogeny until it settles down in the bone marrow and remains there throughout adult life. Within a given hematopoietic organ, the microenvironmental niche plays critical roles in regulating HSCs and hematopoiesis by elaborating cytokines and other factors. Interestingly, under pathologic conditions in adults, hematopoiesis can be re-initiated in organs that are hematopoietic during fetal stages, such as the spleen and liver. Here we will review recent progresses on the identification of cellular components and mechanisms in these hematopoietic niches. We will also compare and contrast the niches to identify outstanding questions that are still unsolved in hematopoietic niche biology.
Recent Findings
Over the past several years, cutting-edge technologies have been applied to uncover the nature and mechanisms of the adult and fetal hematopoietic niches across tissues and organs in vivo. A general theme of the hematopoietic niche where endothelial cells and perivascular mesenchymal stromal cells are the core components is emerging.
Summary
In contrast to the maintenance niche in the adult bone marrow, the fetal hematopoietic niches promote HSC emergence and expansion. Elucidating the fetal hematopoietic niche mechanisms will help devise ways to amplify HSCs for clinical use. The on-and-off nature of the fetal hematopoietic niche suggests that the hematopoietic niche is highly dynamic. Understanding these dynamic changes offers the opportunity to harness the niche to promote hematopoiesis.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Papers of particular interest, published recently, have been highlighted as:
• Of importance
•• Of major importance
Lee Y, Decker M, Lee H, Ding L. Extrinsic regulation of hematopoietic stem cells in development, homeostasis and diseases. Wiley Interdiscip Rev Dev Biol. 2017;6(5):279.
Mikkola HKA, Orkin SH. The journey of developing hematopoietic stem cells. Development. 2006;133(19):3733–44.
Kiel MJ, Yilmaz OH, Iwashita T, Yilmaz OH, Terhorst C, Morrison SJ. SLAM family receptors distinguish hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells and reveal endothelial niches for stem cells. Cell. 2005;121(7):1109–21.
Comazzetto S, Shen B, Morrison SJ. Niches that regulate stem cells and hematopoiesis in adult bone marrow. Dev Cell. 2021; 56(13):1848-60.
Chen JY, Miyanishi M, Wang SK, et al. Hoxb5 marks long-term haematopoietic stem cells and reveals a homogenous perivascular niche. Nature. 2016;530(7589):223–7.
Acar M, Kocherlakota KS, Murphy MM, et al. Deep imaging of bone marrow shows non-dividing stem cells are mainly perisinusoidal. Nature. 2015;526(7571):126–30.
Upadhaya S, Krichevsky O, Akhmetzyanova I, Sawai CM, Fooksman DR, Reizis B. Intravital imaging reveals motility of adult hematopoietic stem cells in the bone marrow niche. Cell Stem Cell. 2020;27(2):336–45.
Christodoulou C, Spencer JA, Yeh SA, et al. Live-animal imaging of native haematopoietic stem and progenitor cells. Nature. 2020;578(7794):278–83.
•• Zhang J, Wu Q, Johnson CB, et al. In situ mapping identifies distinct vascular niches for myelopoiesis. Nature. 2021;590(7846):457–62. This study developed markers to localize myelo-progenitors and revealed heterogeneity within the bone marrow niche.
Omatsu Y, Sugiyama T, Kohara H, et al. The essential functions of adipo-osteogenic progenitors as the hematopoietic stem and progenitor cell niche. Immunity. 2010;33(3):387–99.
Himburg HA, Termini CM, Schlussel L, et al. Distinct bone marrow sources of pleiotrophin control hematopoietic stem cell maintenance and regeneration. Cell Stem Cell. 2018;23(3):370–81.
Ding L, Saunders TL, Enikolopov G, Morrison SJ. Endothelial and perivascular cells maintain haematopoietic stem cells. Nature. 2012;481(7382):457–62.
Ding L, Morrison SJ. Haematopoietic stem cells and early lymphoid progenitors occupy distinct bone marrow niches. Nature. 2013;495(7440):231–5.
Greenbaum A, Hsu YM, Day RB, et al. CXCL12 in early mesenchymal progenitors is required for haematopoietic stem-cell maintenance. Nature. 2013;495(7440):227–30.
Omatsu Y, Seike M, Sugiyama T, Kume T, Nagasawa T. Foxc1 is a critical regulator of haematopoietic stem/progenitor cell niche formation. Nature. 2014;508(7497):536–40.
Seike M, Omatsu Y, Watanabe H, Kondoh G, Nagasawa T. Stem cell niche-specific Ebf3 maintains the bone marrow cavity. Genes Dev. 2018;32(5–6):359–72.
Derecka M, Herman JS, Cauchy P, et al. EBF1-deficient bone marrow stroma elicits persistent changes in HSC potential. Nat Immunol. 2020;21(3):261–73.
Kusumbe AP, Ramasamy SK, Itkin T, et al. Age-dependent modulation of vascular niches for haematopoietic stem cells. Nature. 2016;532(7599):380–4.
Comazzetto S, Murphy MM, Berto S, Jeffery E, Zhao Z, Morrison SJ. Restricted hematopoietic progenitors and erythropoiesis require SCF from leptin receptor+ niche cells in the bone marrow. Cell Stem Cell. 2019;24(3):477–86.
Cordeiro Gomes A, Hara T, Lim VY, et al. Hematopoietic stem cell niches produce lineage-instructive signals to control multipotent progenitor differentiation. Immunity. 2016;45(6):1219–31.
Shen B, Tasdogan A, Ubellacker JM, et al. A mechanosensitive peri-arteriolar niche for osteogenesis and lymphopoiesis. Nature. 2021;591(7850):438–44.
Tikhonova AN, Dolgalev I, Hu H, et al. The bone marrow microenvironment at single-cell resolution. Nature. 2019;569(7755):222–8.
Baryawno N, Przybylski D, Kowalczyk MS, et al. A cellular taxonomy of the bone marrow stroma in homeostasis and leukemia. Cell. 2019;177(7):1915–32.
Baccin C, Al-Sabah J, Velten L, et al. Combined single-cell and spatial transcriptomics reveal the molecular, cellular and spatial bone marrow niche organization. Nat Cell Biol. 2020;22(1):38–48.
Chen X, Deng H, Churchill MJ, et al. Bone marrow myeloid cells regulate myeloid-biased hematopoietic stem cells via a histamine-dependent feedback loop. Cell Stem Cell. 2017;21(6):747–60.
Hirata Y, Furuhashi K, Ishii H, et al. CD150(high) Bone marrow Tregs maintain hematopoietic stem cell quiescence and immune privilege via adenosine. Cell Stem Cell. 2018;22(3):445–53.
Zhao M, Perry JM, Marshall H, et al. Megakaryocytes maintain homeostatic quiescence and promote post-injury regeneration of hematopoietic stem cells. Nat Med. 2014;20(11):1321–6.
Bruns I, Lucas D, Pinho S, et al. Megakaryocytes regulate hematopoietic stem cell quiescence through CXCL4 secretion. Nat Med. 2014;20(11):1315–20.
Decker M, Leslie J, Liu Q, Ding L. Hepatic thrombopoietin is required for bone marrow hematopoietic stem cell maintenance. Science. 2018;360(6384):106–10.
Cabezas-Wallscheid N, Buettner F, Sommerkamp P, et al. Vitamin A-retinoic acid signaling regulates hematopoietic stem cell dormancy. Cell. 2017;169(5):807–23.
Agathocleous M, Meacham CE, Burgess RJ, et al. Ascorbate regulates haematopoietic stem cell function and leukaemogenesis. Nature. 2017;549(7673):476–81.
Pitt LA, Tikhonova AN, Hu H, et al. CXCL12-producing vascular endothelial niches control acute T cell leukemia maintenance. Cancer Cell. 2015;27(6):755–68.
Agarwal P, Isringhausen S, Li H, et al. Mesenchymal niche-specific expression of Cxcl12 controls quiescence of treatment-resistant leukemia stem cells. Cell Stem Cell. 2019;24(5):769–84.
Decker M, Martinez-Morentin L, Wang G, et al. Leptin-receptor-expressing bone marrow stromal cells are myofibroblasts in primary myelofibrosis. Nat Cell Biol. 2017;19(6):677–88.
Leimkuhler NB, Gleitz HFE, Ronghui L, et al. Heterogeneous bone-marrow stromal progenitors drive myelofibrosis via a druggable alarmin axis. Cell Stem Cell. 2021; 28(4):637-52.
Palis J. Primitive and definitive erythropoiesis in mammals. Front Physiol. 2014;5:3.
McGrath KE, Frame JM, Fegan KH, et al. Distinct sources of hematopoietic progenitors emerge before HSCs and provide functional blood cells in the mammalian embryo. Cell Rep. 2015;11(12):1892–904.
Boiers C, Carrelha J, Lutteropp M, et al. Lymphomyeloid contribution of an immune-restricted progenitor emerging prior to definitive hematopoietic stem cells. Cell Stem Cell. 2013;13(5):535–48.
McGrath KE, Koniski AD, Malik J, Palis J. Circulation is established in a stepwise pattern in the mammalian embryo. Blood. 2003;101(5):1669–76.
Ferkowicz MJ, Starr M, Xie X, et al. CD41 expression defines the onset of primitive and definitive hematopoiesis in the murine embryo. Development. 2003;130(18):4393–403.
Azzoni E, Frontera V, McGrath KE, et al. Kit ligand has a critical role in mouse yolk sac and aorta-gonad-mesonephros hematopoiesis. EMBO Rep. 2018;19(10):e45477.
Frame JM, Fegan KH, Conway SJ, McGrath KE, Palis J. Definitive hematopoiesis in the yolk sac emerges from Wnt-responsive hemogenic endothelium independently of circulation and arterial identity. Stem Cells. 2016;34(2):431–44.
Boisset JC, van Cappellen W, Andrieu-Soler C, Galjart N, Dzierzak E, Robin C. In vivo imaging of haematopoietic cells emerging from the mouse aortic endothelium. Nature. 2010;464(7285):116–20.
Bertrand JY, Chi NC, Santoso B, Teng S, Stainier DY, Traver D. Haematopoietic stem cells derive directly from aortic endothelium during development. Nature. 2010;464(7285):108–11.
Wilkinson RN, Pouget C, Gering M, et al. Hedgehog and Bmp polarize hematopoietic stem cell emergence in the zebrafish dorsal aorta. Dev Cell. 2009;16(6):909–16.
Kim AD, Stachura DL, Traver D. Cell signaling pathways involved in hematopoietic stem cell specification. Exp Cell Res. 2014;329(2):227–33.
Fadlullah MZ, Neo WH, Lie ALM, et al. Murine AGM single-cell profiling identifies a continuum of hemogenic endothelium differentiation marked by ACE. Blood. 2021; 2020007885.
Gu Q, Yang X, Lv J, et al. AIBP-mediated cholesterol efflux instructs hematopoietic stem and progenitor cell fate. Science. 2019;363(6431):1085–8.
Grainger S, Richter J, Palazon RE, et al. Wnt9a is required for the aortic amplification of nascent hematopoietic stem cells. Cell Rep. 2016;17(6):1595–606.
Grainger S, Nguyen N, Richter J, et al. EGFR is required for Wnt9a-Fzd9b signalling specificity in haematopoietic stem cells. Nat Cell Biol. 2019;21(6):721–30.
•• Espin-Palazon R, Stachura DL, Campbell CA, et al. Proinflammatory signaling regulates hematopoietic stem cell emergence. Cell. 2014;159(5):1070–85. This study, together with several others, identified inflammatory signaling as an important regulator for HSC emergence from the AGM.
Li Y, Esain V, Teng L, et al. Inflammatory signaling regulates embryonic hematopoietic stem and progenitor cell production. Genes Dev. 2014;28(23):2597–612.
Sawamiphak S, Kontarakis Z, Stainier DY. Interferon gamma signaling positively regulates hematopoietic stem cell emergence. Dev Cell. 2014;31(5):640–53.
Frame JM, Kubaczka C, Long TL, et al. Metabolic regulation of inflammasome activity controls embryonic hematopoietic stem and progenitor cell production. Dev Cell. 2020;55(2):133–49.
Mariani SA, Li Z, Rice S, et al. Pro-inflammatory aorta-associated macrophages are involved in embryonic development of hematopoietic stem cells. Immunity. 2019;50(6):1439–52.
Fitch SR, Kimber GM, Wilson NK, et al. Signaling from the sympathetic nervous system regulates hematopoietic stem cell emergence during embryogenesis. Cell Stem Cell. 2012;11(4):554–66.
Kwan W, Cortes M, Frost I, et al. The central nervous system regulates embryonic HSPC production via stress-responsive glucocorticoid receptor signaling. Cell Stem Cell. 2016;19(3):370–82.
Gekas C, Dieterlen-Lievre F, Orkin SH, Mikkola HK. The placenta is a niche for hematopoietic stem cells. Dev Cell. 2005;8(3):365–75.
Ottersbach K, Dzierzak E. The murine placenta contains hematopoietic stem cells within the vascular labyrinth region. Dev Cell. 2005;8(3):377–87.
Rhodes KE, Gekas C, Wang Y, et al. The emergence of hematopoietic stem cells is initiated in the placental vasculature in the absence of circulation. Cell Stem Cell. 2008;2(3):252–63.
Robin C, Ottersbach K, Durand C, et al. An unexpected role for IL-3 in the embryonic development of hematopoietic stem cells. Dev Cell. 2006;11(2):171–80.
Chhabra A, Lechner AJ, Ueno M, et al. Trophoblasts regulate the placental hematopoietic niche through PDGF-B signaling. Dev Cell. 2012;22(3):651–9.
Li Z, Lan Y, He W, et al. Mouse embryonic head as a site for hematopoietic stem cell development. Cell Stem Cell. 2012;11(5):663–75.
Li Z, Vink CS, Mariani SA, Dzierzak E. Subregional localization and characterization of Ly6aGFP-expressing hematopoietic cells in the mouse embryonic head. Dev Biol. 2016;416(1):34–41.
Li Z, Mariani SA, Rodriguez-Seoane C, et al. A role for macrophages in hematopoiesis in the embryonic head. Blood. 2019;134(22):1929–40.
•• Tamplin OJ, Durand EM, Carr LA, et al. Hematopoietic stem cell arrival triggers dynamic remodeling of the perivascular niche. Cell. 2015;160(1–2):241–52. This study used live imaging to identify a specific cuddling behavior of HSC niche in the CHT of zebrafish, the fetal liver equivalent in mice. It also revealed endothelilal cells and perivascular mesenchymal stromal cells as critical niche components.
Ema H, Nakauchi H. Expansion of hematopoietic stem cells in the developing liver of a mouse embryo. Blood. 2000;95(7):2284–8.
Morrison SJ, Hemmati HD, Wandycz AM, Weissman IL. The purification and characterization of fetal liver hematopoietic stem cells. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 1995;92(22):10302–6.
Chou S, Lodish HF. Fetal liver hepatic progenitors are supportive stromal cells for hematopoietic stem cells. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 2010;107(17):7799–804.
Blaser BW, Moore JL, Hagedorn EJ, et al. CXCR1 remodels the vascular niche to promote hematopoietic stem and progenitor cell engraftment. J Exp Med. 2017;214(4):1011–27.
Xue Y, Lv J, Zhang C, Wang L, Ma D, Liu F. The vascular niche regulates hematopoietic stem and progenitor cell lodgment and expansion via klf6a-ccl25b. Dev Cell. 2017;42(4):349–62.
Travnickova J, Tran Chau V, Julien E, et al. Primitive macrophages control HSPC mobilization and definitive haematopoiesis. Nat Commun. 2015;6:6227.
Li D, Xue W, Li M, et al. VCAM-1(+) macrophages guide the homing of HSPCs to a vascular niche. Nature. 2018;564(7734):119–24.
• Khan JA, Mendelson A, Kunisaki Y, et al. Fetal liver hematopoietic stem cell niches associate with portal vessels. Science. 2016;351(6269):176–80. This study identified NG2+ periportal stromal cells as a candidate niche cell type for fetal liver HSCs.
• Lee Y, Leslie J, Yang Y, Ding L. Hepatic stellate and endothelial cells maintain hematopoietic stem cells in the developing liver. J Exp Med. 2021;218(3):e20200882. This study performed the first systematic genetic dissection of the fetal liver niche and identified endothelial and stellate cells, a type of perisinusoidal mesenchymal stromal cells, as the major source of SCF for HSC maintenance.
Liu C, Han T, Stachura DL, et al. Lipoprotein lipase regulates hematopoietic stem progenitor cell maintenance through DHA supply. Nat Commun. 2018;9(1):1310.
Sigurdsson V, Takei H, Soboleva S, et al. Bile acids protect expanding hematopoietic stem cells from unfolded protein stress in fetal liver. Cell Stem Cell. 2016;18(4):522–32.
May A, Forrester LM. The erythroblastic island niche: modeling in health, stress, and disease. Exp Hematol. 2020;91:10–21.
Christensen JL, Wright DE, Wagers AJ, Weissman IL. Circulation and chemotaxis of fetal hematopoietic stem cells. PLoS Biol. 2004;2(3):E75.
Bertrand JY, Desanti GE, Lo-Man R, Leclerc C, Cumano A, Golub R. Fetal spleen stroma drives macrophage commitment. Development. 2006;133(18):3619–28.
•• Inra CN, Zhou BO, Acar M, et al. A perisinusoidal niche for extramedullary haematopoiesis in the spleen. Nature. 2015;527(7579):466–71. This study identified endothelial cells and Tcf21+ perisinusoidal stromal cells as the major sources of key cytokines for HSCs in the extramedulary spleen.
Coskun S, Chao H, Vasavada H, et al. Development of the fetal bone marrow niche and regulation of HSC quiescence and homing ability by emerging osteolineage cells. Cell Rep. 2014;9(2):581–90.
Isern J, Garcia-Garcia A, Martin AM, et al. The neural crest is a source of mesenchymal stem cells with specialized hematopoietic stem cell niche function. Elife. 2014;3:e03696.
Ono N, Ono W, Mizoguchi T, Nagasawa T, Frenette PS, Kronenberg HM. Vasculature-associated cells expressing nestin in developing bones encompass early cells in the osteoblast and endothelial lineage. Dev Cell. 2014;29(3):330–9.
Ono N, Ono W, Nagasawa T, Kronenberg HM. A subset of chondrogenic cells provides early mesenchymal progenitors in growing bones. Nat Cell Biol. 2014;16(12):1157–67.
Maes C, Kobayashi T, Selig MK, et al. Osteoblast precursors, but not mature osteoblasts, move into developing and fractured bones along with invading blood vessels. Dev Cell. 2010;19(2):329–44.
Mizoguchi T, Pinho S, Ahmed J, et al. Osterix marks distinct waves of primitive and definitive stromal progenitors during bone marrow development. Dev Cell. 2014;29(3):340–9.
Bowie MB, McKnight KD, Kent DG, McCaffrey L, Hoodless PA, Eaves CJ. Hematopoietic stem cells proliferate until after birth and show a reversible phase-specific engraftment defect. J Clin Investig. 2006;116(10):2808–16.
Bowie MB, Kent DG, Dykstra B, et al. Identification of a new intrinsically timed developmental checkpoint that reprograms key hematopoietic stem cell properties. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 2007;104(14):5878–82.
Li Y, Kong W, Yang W, et al. Single-cell analysis of neonatal HSC ontogeny reveals gradual and uncoordinated transcriptional reprogramming that begins before birth. Cell Stem Cell. 2020; 27(5):732-47.
Nakada D, Oguro H, Levi BP, et al. Oestrogen increases haematopoietic stem-cell self-renewal in females and during pregnancy. Nature. 2014;505(7484):555–8.
Lefrancais E, Ortiz-Munoz G, Caudrillier A, et al. The lung is a site of platelet biogenesis and a reservoir for haematopoietic progenitors. Nature. 2017;544(7648):105–9.
Ye H, Adane B, Khan N, et al. Leukemic stem cells evade chemotherapy by metabolic adaptation to an adipose tissue niche. Cell Stem Cell. 2016;19(1):23–37.
Sandler VM, Lis R, Liu Y, et al. Reprogramming human endothelial cells to haematopoietic cells requires vascular induction. Nature. 2014;511(7509):312–8.
Lis R, Karrasch CC, Poulos MG, et al. Conversion of adult endothelium to immunocompetent haematopoietic stem cells. Nature. 2017;545(7655):439–45.
Sugimura R, Jha DK, Han A, et al. Haematopoietic stem and progenitor cells from human pluripotent stem cells. Nature. 2017;545(7655):432–8.
Kim I, Saunders TL, Morrison SJ. Sox17 dependence distinguishes the transcriptional regulation of fetal from adult hematopoietic stem cells. Cell. 2007;130(3):470–83.
Park IK, Qian D, Kiel M, et al. Bmi-1 is required for maintenance of adult self-renewing haematopoietic stem cells. Nature. 2003;423(6937):302–5.
Hock H, Hamblen MJ, Rooke HM, et al. Gfi-1 restricts proliferation and preserves functional integrity of haematopoietic stem cells. Nature. 2004;431(7011):1002–7.
Zhang CC, Kaba M, Ge G, et al. Angiopoietin-like proteins stimulate ex vivo expansion of hematopoietic stem cells. Nat Med. 2006;12(2):240–5.
Horton JD. Development and differentiation of vertebrate lymphocytes: review of the Durham symposium—September 1979. Dev Comp Immunol. 1980;4:177–81.
• Kapp FG, Perlin JR, Hagedorn EJ, et al. Protection from UV light is an evolutionarily conserved feature of the haematopoietic niche. Nature. 2018;558(7710):445–8. This study identified melanocyte-mediated protection against UV light as a mechanism to protect HSCs in the niche.
Ara T, Tokoyoda K, Sugiyama T, Egawa T, Kawabata K, Nagasawa T. Long-term hematopoietic stem cells require stromal cell-derived factor-1 for colonizing bone marrow during ontogeny. Immunity. 2003;19(2):257–67.
Smith-Berdan S, Nguyen A, Hassanein D, et al. Robo4 cooperates with CXCR4 to specify hematopoietic stem cell localization to bone marrow niches. Cell Stem Cell. 2011;8(1):72–83.
Funding
Hiroyuki Hirakawa received funding from the Uehara Memorial Foundation and the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS). Yeojin Lee received funding from the Korea Foundation for Advanced Studies and the New York State Stem Cell Science (NYSTEM). Lei Ding received funding from the Rita Allen Foundation, the NIH (R01HL132074, R01HL153487 and R01HL155868), the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, and the Irma Hirschl Foundation.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of Interest
Hiroyuki Hirakawa, Yeojin Lee, and Lei Ding declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Human and Animal Rights and Informed Consent
All reported studies/experiments with human or animal subjects performed by the authors have been previously published and complied with all applicable ethical standards (including the Helsinki declaration and its amendments, institutional/national research committee standards, and international/national/institutional guidelines).
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Hiroyuki Hirakawa and Yeojin Lee contribute equally to this work.
This article is part of the Topical Collection on Cell: Cell Interactions in Stem Cell Maintenance
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Hirakawa, H., Lee, Y. & Ding, L. The Fetal Hematopoietic Niche: Components and Mechanisms for Hematopoietic Stem Cell Emergence and Expansion. Curr Stem Cell Rep 8, 14–23 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40778-021-00202-9
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40778-021-00202-9