Cripto Regulates Hematopoietic Stem Cells as a Hypoxic-Niche-Related Factor through Cell Surface Receptor GRP78.
Hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) are maintained in hypoxic niches in endosteal regions of bones. Here we demonstrate that Cripto and its receptor GRP78 are important regulators of HSCs in the niche. Flow cytometry analyses revealed two distinct subpopulations of CD34(-)KSL cells based on the expression of GRP78, and these populations showed different reconstitution potential in transplantation assa