Aging and the Bone Marrow Microenvironment

Flow Cytometric analysis of hematopoietic lineage-, Sca-1+,
C-Kit+ bone marrow cells. A population that is enriched for
ematopoietic stem cells.

Aging is associated with hematopoietic failure. Though the number of hematopoietic stem cells in the marrow increases with age, their functional ability to repopulate the hematopoietic system decreases. Changes to the bone marrow microenvironment, including bone loss and the age related disease osteoporosis, coincide with the observed decrease in hematopoietic stem cell function. Our laboratory is defining the impact of aging on the bone marrow microenvironment, with particular focus on the hematopoietic stem cell niche, using both murine models as well as samples from older volunteers and patients with marrow failure syndromes. The goal of this project is to define age related changes to the hematopoietic stem cell niche that may be developed as therapeutic targets for the improvement of hematopoietic function.

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