Wnt Signaling in Normal and Malignant Hematopoiesis
- 1Division of Cellular Therapy, Department of Medicine, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina 27710
- 2Duke Brain Tumor Immunotherapy Program, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina 27710
- 3Department of Hematopoiesis, Sanquin Research and Landsteiner Laboratory, Academic Medical Center, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
- 4Department of Pharmacology, University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, La Jolla, California 92093
- Correspondence: treya{at}ucsd.edu
Abstract
One of the most remarkable characteristics of stem cells is their ability to perpetuate themselves through self-renewal while concomitantly generating differentiated cells. In the hematopoietic system, stem cells balance these mechanisms to maintain steady-state hematopoiesis for the lifetime of the organism, and to effectively regenerate the system following injury. Defects in the proper control of self-renewal and differentiation can be potentially devastating and contribute to the development of malignancies. In this review, we trace the emerging role of Wnt signaling as a critical regulator of distinct aspects of self-renewal and differentiation, its contribution to the maintenance of homeostasis and regeneration, and how the pathway can be hijacked to promote leukemia development. A better understanding of these processes could pave the way to enhancing recovery after injury and to developing better therapeutic approaches for hematologic malignancies.
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