Functional and genetic aberrations of in vitro -cultured marrow-derived mesenchymal stromal cells of patients with classical Philadelphia-negative myeloproliferative neoplasms

Mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) are multipotent progenitor cells that contribute to the structure and function of the bone marrow (BM) niche, controlling homing, self-renewal, differentiation and proliferation of hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells (HSPCs).1 Recently, genetic and functional alterations of MSCs have been reported to occur in patients affected by myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) and acute leukemias,2, 3, 4 in keeping with the experimental notion that MSC dysfunction can affect relevant functions of leukemic blasts and induce MDS and leukemia in murine models.5