Transplantation of mouse fetal liver cells for analyzing the function of hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells.

Hematopoietic stem cells are defined by their ability to self-renew and differentiate through progenitor cell stages into all types of mature blood cells. Gene-targeting studies in mice have demonstrated that many genes are essential for the generation and function of hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells. For definitively analyzing the function of these cells, transplantation studies have to be performed.