Gfi-1: another piece in the HSC puzzle

Recent work addresses the complex issue of stem cell regulation mechanisms. Both groups involved have studied the role of Gfi-1 in preserving the functional integrity of the adult hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) pool through a series of experiments, including phenotypic analysis of the primitive hematopoietic compartment, transplantation assays and cell cycle analyses. The results suggest that Gfi-1 deficiency leads to an exhaustion of HSCs in the adult mouse bone marrow, presumably through unrestricted cycling of these cells.