Stem cell biology, Hematology
Hematopoeitic stem cells (HSCs) govern life-long maintenance of blood cell generation through their extraordinary capacities for "self-renewal" and "multi-differentiation". At steady state, HSCs show quiescent state to prevent excess cell divisions, thereby contributing to long-term maintenance of hematopoietic homeostasis. But, upon stress hematopoiesis, HSCs actively divide to regenerate hematopoietic system through self-renewal. However, it still remains unclear how HSC divisions are regulated. We have interested in the mechanism for the regulation of self-renewal division in HSCs, and are aimed at establishing a novel method for ex vivo maintain/expansion of HSCs to contributes to regenerative medicine using HSC transplantation.