白血病干细胞及其微环境

Leukemia Stem Cells and Their Microenvironment——Editorial

白血病干细胞研究是肿瘤干细胞研究的先驱,不仅有重要的理论意义,也有潜在的应用前景。干细胞的生存和发展受其微环境的直接影响,白血病干细胞及其微环境成为研究热点。作者认为白血病干细胞是群体,具有异质性和阶梯性,不能分离单个细胞形成克隆;白血病干细胞与微环境的作用可以用白血病干细胞生态位(leukemiastem cell niche)的概念表述。本文就白血病细胞群体的阶梯性和异质性及白血病干细胞的生态位问题进行了评述。

As pioneer of tumor stem cell research, leukemia stem cell research has not only important theoretical significance, but also clinical application potential. The survival and development of stem cells are directly impacted by their microenviromnent. The research on leukemia stem cells and their microenvironment are now becoming a hot topic. The author presumes that stem cells are a population with heterogenecity and hierarchy; any single cell from the population is difficult to form a clone; the interaction between the leukemia stem cell and its microenviroument can be described by the concept of leukemia stem cell niche. In this article, the leukemia cell population with heterogenecity and hierarchy as well as leukemia stem cell niche were summarized and discussed.