Advances in Hematopoietic Stem Cell Mobilization and Peripheral Blood Stem Cell Transplantation

Hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells (HSPCs) which give rise to different blood cell types are present within the bone marrow microenvironment, especially in flat bones such as skull, vertebrae, pelvis and chest. Interacting factors such as stromal derived factor-1/CXCR4, very late antigen-4/vascular cell adhesion molecule-1, Lymphocyte function-associated antigen-1/ intercellular adhesion molecule-1 retain the cells in the microenvironment. Any factor affecting these links may lead to migration and mobilization of HSPCs into peripheral blood. Several factors are involved in hematopoietic stem cells (HSC) mobilization such as granulocyte-colony stimulating factor, sphingosine-1-phosphate, hepatocyte growth factor, complement system, plasminogen system and matrix metalloproteinases. In bone marrow transplantation, HSC is transferred to the recipient from bone marrow of the donor, which can be performed in two ways. In the first method, Jamshidi needle is used for aspiration of bone marrow to extract hematopoietic cells usually from the hip. The second method uses mobilizer factors such as granulocyte-colony stimulating factor  and granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor to mobilize the HSC into peripheral blood. Mobilized hematopoietic stem cells are suitable for the bone marrow transplantation in leukemias such as chronic myeloid leukemia, acute myeloid leukemia, chronic lymphocyte leukemia, Hairy cell leukemia, etc.