Restricted Hematopoietic Progenitors and Erythropoiesis Require SCF from Leptin Receptor+ Niche Cells in the Bone Marrow

Hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) are maintained in a perivascular niche in bone marrow, in which leptin receptor+ (LepR) stromal cells and endothelial cells synthesize factors required for HSC maintenance, including stem cell factor (SCF). An important question is why LepR+ cells are one hundred times more frequent than HSCs. Here, we show that SCF from LepR+ cells is also necessary to maintain many c-kit+-restricted hematopoietic progenitors....