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Normal and leukaemic stem cells
Author(s) -
Bonnet Dominique
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
british journal of haematology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.907
H-Index - 186
eISSN - 1365-2141
pISSN - 0007-1048
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2141.2005.05596.x
Subject(s) - haematopoiesis , stem cell , epigenetics , biology , cancer stem cell , leukemia , cancer research , cancer , immunology , disease , epigenesis , medicine , pathology , genetics , dna methylation , gene , gene expression
Summary The blood‐related cancer leukaemias were the first diseases where human cancer stem cells, or leukaemic stem cells (LSC), were isolated. The haematopoietic system is one of the best tissues for investigating cancer stem cells, because the developmental hierarchy of normal blood formation is well defined. Leukaemias can now be viewed as aberrant haematopoietic processes initiated by rare LSC that have maintained or reacquired the capacity for indefinite proliferation through accumulated mutations and/or epigenetic changes. Yet, despite their critical importance, much remains to be learned about the developmental origin of LSC and the mechanisms responsible for their emergence in the course of the disease. This report will review our current knowledge on normal and LSC development and examine the impact of these discoveries may have clinically and in our understanding of the leukaemogenic process.