Hematopoietic Stem and Progenitor Cells

There has been much effort in isolating hematopoietic stem cells (HSC) and some confusion within the literature on what even a HSC is, with some investigators using the term inappropriately (1 ). A HSC is a cell capable of both self-renewal and of deriving progeny of all hematopoietic cell lineages, that is, a single HSC can regenerate erythroid, myeloid, megakaryocytic, and lymphoid lineages in a myeloablated host. Progenitor cells, on the other hand, are cells committed to one or a few lineages having a limited capacity for self-renewal. Progenitors are the progeny of HSC.