A mathematical model of myelodysplastic syndromes: The effect of stem cell niches

Abstract

While myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) are commonly observed nowadays, the underlying mechanisms remain unclear, not to mention mathematical models for MDS. In this work, by incorporating the concept of stem cell niches, we proposed a minimal mathematical model that can be used as a platform for studying the formation and treatment of MDS. Our model includes two main compartments: bone marrow and peripheral blood, in both compartment normal and abnormal cells exist. Simulation results show that 1) under normal condition, our model is robust to reproduce the hemopoiesis even with different perturbations; 2) by reducing stem cell niches, formation of MDS can be observed in our model; 3) treatments should be used to improve environment in bone marrow, rather than to kill the abnormal cells only. © 2010 Springer-Verlag.