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Role of integrins and selectins in the development and regulation of the haematopoietic system Volume 7, issue 2, Mars - Avril 2001

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Authors
Peter MacCallum Cancer Institute, Stem Cell Biology Laboratory, Locked Bag 1, A'Beckett Street, Melbourne, VIC 8006, Australie.

During foetal development in humans, primitive haemopoietic stem cells appear in the dorsal aorta, then migrate to the liver and finally reside in the bone marrow. The stroma of these haemopoietic organs forms a specific microenvironment in which a network of cytokines is produced to control the development, renewal and homeostasis of the haemopoietic system. Haemopoietic stem cells are in intimate contact with the stroma through specific adhesive interactions between cell adhesion molecules produced by the stroma and adhesion receptors expressed by haemopoietic precursors. The aim of this review is to present and discuss the function of adhesion receptors belonging to the integrin and sialomucin superfamilies whose essential role in migration, development and homeostasis of haemopoietic stem cells has been recently demonstrated in vivo.