Leukemia poses a serious challenge to current therapeutic strategies. ?is has been attributed to leukemia stem cells (LSCs),\r\nwhich occupy endosteal and sinusoidal niches in the bone marrow similar to those of hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs). ?e\r\nsignals from these niches provide a viable setting for the maintenance, survival, and fate speci??cations of these stem cells.\r\nAdvancements in genetic engineering and microscopy have enabled us to critically deconstruct and analyze the anatomic and\r\nfunctional characteristics of these niches to reveal a wealth of new knowledge in HSC biology, which is quite ahead of LSC biology. In\r\nthis paper, we examine the present understanding of the regulatory mechanisms governing HSC niches, with the goals of providing\r\na framework for understanding the mechanisms of LSC regulation and suggesting future strategies for their elimination.
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