Markers for Hematopoietic Stem Cells: Histories and Recent Achievements

Hematopoietic stem cells (HSC) are characterized with the capacity for self-renewal as well as multi-lineage differentiation, maintaining the immune system and blood cell formation throughout life. Although studies for the HSC biology have been in the forefront of the stem cell research field, many questions still remain with regard to the origin, development, and aging of HSC. Furthermore, needless to say, HSC are very useful for clinical medicine, particularly in the transplantation and/or regeneration therapy for hematological malignancies. Success of those therapies depends on how effectively HSC are purified and transplanted to the patients. In order to address those important issues in both basic and clinical science, information of cell surface molecules that selectively mark HSC is essential.