STEM-CELL TRANSCRIPTION FACTORS

The individual properties of hematopoietic stem cells, including self- renewal, maintenance of pluripotency, and asymmetric cell division, mu st depend at some level on the functions of specific transcription fac tors. Recently, valuable insights into stem cell transcription factor function have emerged from targeted gene disruption (knockout) studies in mice. Absence of transcription factors belonging to diverse protei n families results in interference with expansion and differentiation of either the stem cell itself or of primitive multipotential progenit ors. The findings from these and complementary experiments provide a f ramework for examining the transcription control of the earliest cellu lar events in hematopoiesis.