The developmental hierarchy of haemopoietic lineage relationships

Funded Activity Summary

The blood cells are all the progeny of a very rare stem cell, that is thought to reside in the bone marrow. The stem cell maintains itself throughout the life span of the individual as well as generating the billions of more mature cell types required in the blood. However the processes and stages that immature cells pass through from the stem cell to ultimately a mature functional blood cell such as a lymphocyte remain disputed. This study aims to determine to relationship of the various blood cell progeny with each other and thus to provide a lineage map of the system. To do this we will isolate precursors at various stages along the developmental pathways and determine their capabilities to produce the normal range of progeny. We will then use a number of genetically altered mouse strains to assess the genes involved in this process. These studies will help provide an underlying scientific basis to the attempts to development a number of stem cell therapies that are aimed at boosting or directing stem cell production in procedures such as bone marrow transplantation for leukemia and immune deficiency. In addition a number of characterized human blood malignancies seem to have developed along aberrant pathways indicating that inappropriate lineage specification may be a factor in cancer.

Funded Activity Details

Start Date: 01-01-2003

End Date: 01-01-2004

Funding Scheme: NHMRC Project Grants

Funding Amount: $192,000.00

Funder: National Health and Medical Research Council

Research Topics

ANZSRC Field of Research (FoR)

Cell Development (Incl. Cell Division And Apoptosis)

ANZSRC Socio-Economic Objective (SEO)

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Other Keywords

bone marrow reconstitution | cell differentiation | dendritic cells | developmental haemopoiesis | haematological disorders | haematological malignancy | lineage commitment | stem cell therapy | stem cells

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