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Figure 1 | Journal of Hematology & Oncology

Figure 1

From: Cancer stem cells in basic science and in translational oncology: can we translate into clinical application?

Figure 1

Cellular interactions in the bone marrow (BM) stem cell niches. Two types of BM stem cell (SC) niches have been postulated, the vascular SC niche and the endosteal (osteoblastic) SC niche. Both SC niches are considered to play a role in SC homing and SC self-renewal. A number of SC receptors and their ligands regulate qiuesence, self-renewal, proliferation, differentiation, and homing of SC. Relevant ligands are expressed in niche-related cells, including vascular endothelial cells, endosteal cells, and osteoblasts. Whereas several of these ligands are membrane-bound and act as homing receptors, some of them, such as stem cell factor (SCF) or stroma cell-derived factor-1 (SDF-1), can also be produced and released as soluble ligands and thus can act as chemotactic factors for SC. Abbreviations: OPN, osteopontin; HY-A, hyaluronic acid; Ang-1, Angiopoietin-1.

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