Submitted July 26, 2005
Accepted November 25, 2005
Scientific and clinical opportunities for modeling blood disorders with embryonic stem cells
M W Lensch and George Q Daley*
Department of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Division of Hematology/Oncology, Children's Hospital Boston, Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Harvard Stem Cell Institute, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
* Corresponding author; email: George.Daley{at}childrens.harvard.edu.
Our considerable wealth of data concerning hematological processes has come despite difficulties working with stem and progenitor cells in vitro and their propensity to differentiate. Key methodologies that have sought to overcome such limitations include transgenic/knock-out animals and in vitro studies using murine embryonic stem cells, as both permit investigation of the formation of hematopoietic tissue from non-hematopoietic precursors. Although there have been many successful studies in model animals for understanding hematopoietic cell development, differences between lower vertebrates and humans have left gaps in our understanding. Clearly, human-specific strategies to study the onset of hematopoiesis, particularly the earliest events leading to the specification of both normal and abnormal hematopoietic tissue, could bring an investigational renaissance. The recent availability of human embryonic stem (hES) cells suggests that such a system is now at hand. This review highlights the potential of hES cells to model human hematological processes in vitro with an emphasis on disease targets.
