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Stem cells

SLAM passes the haematopoietic stem cell identity test

Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology (2025)Cite this article

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Haematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) are defined by their self-renewal ability and multipotent differentiation potential. HSCs have several applications in regenerative medicine, for example for haematopoietic cell transplants (also known as bone marrow transplants) and gene therapy. The field has long been interested in defining the molecules that HSCs express, and having an established panel of HSC markers that researchers agree on has enabled the reliable and reproducible isolation of self-renewing HSCs to be used for research and clinical applications. The field has undoubtedly benefitted from works performed to establish and functionally validate these markers, which has streamlined the integration of discoveries made by laboratories studying the same immunophenotypically defined populations of HSCs.

The authors used Affymetrix oligonucleotide arrays to compare the gene expression profiles of a cell population enriched for HSCs (Thy1lowSca1+Lineage–c-Kit+ cells) and that of haematopoietic multipotent progenitor cells (Thy1lowSca1+Mac1lowCD4lowB220–). The authors found that Slamf1, which encodes CD150, is increased in the HSC-enriched cell population compared with haematopoietic multipotent progenitor cells.

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References

Original article

  • Kiel, M. J. et al. SLAM family receptors distinguish hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells and reveal endothelial niches for stem cells. Cell 121, 1109–1121 (2005)

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Related articles

  • Oguro, H., Ding, L. & Morrison, S. J. SLAM family markers resolve functionally distinct subpopulations of hematopoietic stem cells and multipotent progenitors. Cell Stem Cell 13, 102–116 (2013)

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Challen, G. A. et al. Simplified murine multipotent progenitor isolation scheme: Establishing a consensus approach for multipotent progenitor identification. Exp. Hematol. 104, 55–63 (2021)

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Translational Science and Therapeutics Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, Seattle, WA, USA

    Christina Marie Termini

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  1. Christina Marie Termini
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Correspondence to Christina Marie Termini.

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Termini, C.M. SLAM passes the haematopoietic stem cell identity test. Nat Rev Mol Cell Biol (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41580-025-00906-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41580-025-00906-4

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