Abstract
Mature erythrocytes and granulocytes have limited lifespans, do not replicate and must therefore be replenished constantly. They are derived from pluripotent stem cells (PSCs) which are capable of self-renewal1. The numbers and properties of PSCs can be inferred in part from studies of their progeny. Such studies have depended largely on highly artificial experimental systems, involving such procedures as X-ray irradiation, bone marrow transplantation and parabiosis2. We now describe a method for studying the behaviour of haematopoietic cell populations in normal mice, and show that erythropoiesis is maintained by the products of a very small number of clones which, as predicted by Kay3, arise and decline in succession. These results suggest that spleen colony-forming cells (CFC), usually regarded as stem cells, are themselves members of substantial clones which differentiate in sequence.
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Burton, D., Ansell, J., Gray, R. et al. A stem cell for stem cells in murine haematopoiesis. Nature 298, 562–563 (1982). https://doi.org/10.1038/298562a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/298562a0
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