Bone Marrow Vascular Niche: Home for Hematopoietic Stem Cells

Figure 1

The model of HSCs niche. The hematopoietic niches are where hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) mainly reside in during adulthood. HSCs niche is composed of complex components including HSCs and other functional elements such as vessels, stromal cells, ECM proteins, neural inputs, and endothelial cells (ECs). Only through interaction with these components HSCs can keep self-renewal and differentiation. Under the help of such “blocks,” the progenitor cells derived from HSCs locating at the inner surface of BM migrate to blood vessels at the center of the BM cavity when they differentiate into mature blood cells.