Mathematical aspects of hematopoietic stem cells
By: David Dingli
From: Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, Rochester, MN & Program for Evolutionary Dynamics, Harvard University
At: Complexo Interdisciplinar, Anfiteatro
[2007-01-31]
Circulating blood cells undergo continuous turnover and therefore, new cells are being generated in the bone marrow all the time. Production is maintained by a population of hematopoietic stem cells (HSC) that have the dual capability to self-renewal and to give rise to progeny cells that can differentiate along all the lineages present in the blood. HSC are the target of a wide array of inherited and acquired genetic disorders that may lead to bone marrow failure or cancer such as chronic myeloid leukemia. HSC are conceptually divided into an active pool supported by a quiescent reserve. The presentation will discuss approaches to estimating the size of the active stem cell pool, the relevance of stochastic effects in the evolution of acquired stem cell disorders and the importance of symmetry in stem cell replication. Finally the compartmental architecture of hematopoiesis and scaling from HSC to circulating cells will be illustrated.