Hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) have the ability to self-renew and give rise to all lineages of blood cells while remain the capacity of regenerative in hematopoiesis. As the only stem cell type in routine clinical use, HSCs can be isolated from bone marrow, peripheral blood and umbilical cord blood. Stem cells transplantation is mainly used in HSCs while the trans-differentiation ability broadens the research of HSCs in regenerative medicine. Here, we focus on the current view on hematopoiesis and beyond and summarize the clinical application and the regulation of the fate of HSCs. We intend to outline recent advances in the human HSCs research area and review the characteristic of HSCs from definition through development to their clinical applications and future prospect.
Part of the book: Stem Cells in Clinical Practice and Tissue Engineering