# Understanding the role of stellate cells in the liver hematopoietic stem cell niche

> **NIH NIH R01** · COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY HEALTH SCIENCES · 2021 · $568,573

## Abstract

Project summary/Abstract
Hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) persist throughout life to generate all blood cells. The microenvironmental
niche critically regulates HSCs. The bone marrow is the major organ where adult HSCs reside. Rapid progress
has been made regarding the nature and mechanisms of the bone marrow HSC niche. Interestingly, HSCs
change tissues and niches during development and in stress. The fetal liver is the major hematopoietic organ
where HSCs self-renewal rapidly. Around birth, the liver loses HSC-supporting activity and HSCs egress to
seed the bone marrow. The liver can become hematopoietic and support HSCs in extramedullary
hematopoiesis (EMH) in stress and some hematologic diseases. However, in contrast to the bone marrow, little
is known about the liver HSC niche during development and in stress. Our preliminary data identified stellate
cells as a novel key component of the fetal liver HSC niche in vivo. In addition, we have identified a
transcriptional factor, Lhx2, that is required for the proper cell fate of stellate cells as the niche cell for HSCs in
the fetal liver. The goal of the proposed research is to leverage our knowledge of the fetal liver niche to
elucidate the role of Lhx2 in stellate cells during development. We will also study the nature and mechanisms
of the adult EMH liver niche. The results of these studies are expected to not only provide new insights on how
the liver niche regulates HSCs, but also have the potential to identify mechanisms mediating the generation of
new niches to amplify HSCs for clinic use.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10191033
- **Project number:** 5R01HL153487-02
- **Recipient organization:** COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY HEALTH SCIENCES
- **Principal Investigator:** Lei Ding
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $568,573
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2020-08-01 → 2025-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10191033

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10191033, Understanding the role of stellate cells in the liver hematopoietic stem cell niche (5R01HL153487-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10191033. Licensed CC0.

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