The Expanding Tool Kit for Hematopoietic Stem Cell Research

Hematopoietic stem cells (HSC) play critical roles in maintaining blood cell production for the lifetime of the organism. Considerable progress has been made in their isolation from mouse bone marrow to high levels of purity based on a combination of cell-surface phenotype and functional characteristics. In addition, in vitro assays have been established that provide important tools for study of hematopoietic differentiation from HSC and for differentiation to generate HSC from embryonic stem cells. Although these in vitro studies provide a window on the temporal function and differentiation of HSC progeny, the transplantation assay still serves as the gold standard for quantitative and qualitative analysis of murine HSC biology. There are now many flavors of syngeneic and xenogeneic HSC transplant, all focused on quantitative assessment of repopulating function. As a vehicle for genetic modification of HSC, retroviral-mediated gene transfer followed by transplantation has had a major impact upon our understanding of genetic disorders, gene therapy, and leukemogenesis. This overview chapter summarizes the growing number of tools available for HSC research and specifically ties together the methods in chapters of the second edition of Hematopoietic Stem Cell Protocols