Little evidence for developmental plasticity of adult hematopoietic stem cells

Science. 2002 Sep 27;297(5590):2256-9. doi: 10.1126/science.1074807. Epub 2002 Sep 5.

Abstract

To rigorously test the in vivo cell fate specificity of bone marrow (BM) hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs), we generated chimeric animals by transplantation of a single green fluorescent protein (GFP)-marked HSC into lethally irradiated nontransgenic recipients. Single HSCs robustly reconstituted peripheral blood leukocytes in these animals, but did not contribute appreciably to nonhematopoietic tissues, including brain, kidney, gut, liver, and muscle. Similarly, in GFP+:GFP- parabiotic mice, we found substantial chimerism of hematopoietic but not nonhematopoietic cells. These data indicate that "transdifferentiation" of circulating HSCs and/or their progeny is an extremely rare event, if it occurs at all.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Brain / cytology
  • Cell Differentiation*
  • Cell Lineage
  • Chimera
  • Fluorescent Antibody Technique
  • Green Fluorescent Proteins
  • Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation*
  • Hematopoietic Stem Cells / cytology
  • Hematopoietic Stem Cells / physiology*
  • Hepatocytes / cytology
  • Intestinal Mucosa / cytology
  • Intestinal Mucosa / radiation effects
  • Intestine, Large / cytology
  • Intestine, Small / cytology
  • Kidney / cytology
  • Leukocyte Common Antigens / analysis
  • Luminescent Proteins / analysis
  • Lung / cytology
  • Mice
  • Mice, Inbred C57BL
  • Mice, Transgenic
  • Muscle, Skeletal / cytology
  • Myocardium / cytology
  • Neurons / cytology
  • Parabiosis
  • Regeneration
  • Stem Cells / cytology
  • Stem Cells / physiology

Substances

  • Luminescent Proteins
  • Green Fluorescent Proteins
  • Leukocyte Common Antigens