The inhibition of the osteoblast niche during hematopoietic stem cell mobilization is an indirect effect involving mature bone marrow leukocytes, IL6 and soluble IL6 receptor

Abstract

Abstract Mobilization of hematopoietic stem cells (HSC) involves the disruption of 1) the adhesive interaction between VCAM-1 and α4-integrins and 2) the chemotactic interaction between CXCL12 and CXCR4, interactions which are both required for the retention of HSC within the bone marrow (BM). Experiments in mice deficient in neutrophil proteases have shown that while the disruption of the VCAM-1/α4 integrin interaction is entirely due to the proteolytic cleavage of VCAM-1 by proteases released from neutrophils accumulating in mobilized BM, the down-regulation of CXCL12 involves protease-independent mechanisms. We have recently shown that osteoblasts are the main source of CXC..