Behaving better: Stem cells singled out

Abstract

In this issue of Blood, Kokkaliaris et al use a sophisticated imaging approach to track the behavior of individual murine hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) cultured on stromal cells. The authors identify cell death as a critical factor limiting the in vitro culture of HSCs, which can be mitigated by the matrix protein dermatopontin (DPT). These studies lay the groundwork for the in vitro manipulation of HSCs for therapeutic purposes.1