Determining Competitive Potential of Bone Metastatic Cancer Cells in the Murine Hematopoietic Stem Cell Niche.

The ability of cancer cells to compete with hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) to target the bone marrow microenvironment, or the HSC niche, during the dissemination process is critical for the development of bone metastasis. Here, we describe the methods for testing the relative potential of cancer cells to compete with HSCs for occupancy of the HSC niche by measuring the peripheral blood level of engrafted HSCs by flow cytometry in mice after bone marrow transplantation and tandem cancer cell inoculation. This method is useful for determining the molecular mechanisms for the roles of HSCs in the regulation of bone metastases.