Understanding the role of the microenvironment during definitive hemopoietic development

Hemopoietic stem cells (HSCs) are sustained in a specific microenvironment known as the stem cell niche. Recent studies in adult bone marrow have identified osteoblasts and endothelial cells as two important supportive cell types within the niche and demonstrated that interactions between HSCs and cellular and extracellular components within the endosteal and perivascular regions are critical for HSC regulation. However, the understanding of the role of the microenvironment in definitive HSC establishment, expansion, and maintenance during embryonic development is extremely limited. This review focuses on what is known about the components of each HSC microenvironment at various developmental stages and their known functional roles.