Role in Hematopoiesis
SCF plays a role in the regulation of HSCs in the stem cell niche in the bone marrow. SCF has been shown to increase the survival of HSCs in vitro and contributes to the self renewal and maintenance of HSCs in-vivo. HSCs at all stages of development express the same levels of the receptor for SCF (c-Kit). The stromal cells that surround HSCs are a component of the stem cell niche, and they release a number of ligands, including SCF.
In the bone marrow, HSCs and hematopoietic progenitor cells are adjacent to stromal cells, such as fibroblasts and osteoblasts (Figure 2). These HSCs remain in the niche by adhering to ECM proteins and to the stromal cells themselves. SCF has been shown to increase adhesion and thus may play a large role in ensuring that HSCs remain in the niche.
A small percentage of HSCs regularly leave the bone marrow to enter circulation and then return back to their niche in the bone marrow. It is believed that concentration gradients of SCF, along with the chemokine SDF-1, allow HSCs to find their way back to the niche.
In adult mice, the injection of the ACK2 anti-kit antibody, which binds to the c-Kit receptor and inactivates it, leads to severe problems in hematopoiesis. It causes a significant decrease in the number HSC and other hematopoietic progenitor cells in the bone marrow. This suggests that SCF and c-Kit plays an important role in hematopoietic function in adulthood. SCF also increases the survival of various hematopoietic progenitor cells, such as megakaryocyte progenitors, in vitro. In addition, it works with other cytokines to support the colony growth of BFU-E, CFU-GM, and CFU-GEMM4. Hematopoietic progenitor cells have also been shown to migrate towards a higher concentration gradient of SCF in vitro, which suggests that SCF is involved in chemotaxis for these cells.
Fetal HSCs are more sensitive to SCF than HSCs from adults. In fact, fetal HSCs in cell culture are 6 times more sensitive to SCF than adult HSCs based on the concentration that allows maximum survival.
Read more about this topic: Stem Cell Factor
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