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World J Stem Cells. Feb 26, 2017; 9(2): 37-44
Published online Feb 26, 2017. doi: 10.4252/wjsc.v9.i2.37
Impact of T cells on hematopoietic stem and progenitor cell function: Good guys or bad guys?
Sulima Geerman, Martijn A Nolte
Sulima Geerman, Martijn A Nolte, Sanquin Research, Department of Hematopoiesis, Landsteiner Laboratory, Academic Medical Centre, University of Amsterdam, 1066CX Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Author contributions: Geerman S and Nolte MA wrote the paper.
Supported by a fellowship obtained by Nolte MA from the Landsteiner Foundation for Blood Transfusion Research (www.lsbr.nl), No. #1014.
Conflict-of-interest statement: Authors declare no conflict of interest for this article.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Martijn A Nolte, PhD, Sanquin Research, Department of Hematopoiesis, Landsteiner Laboratory, Academic Medical Centre, University of Amsterdam, Plesmanlaan 125, 1066CX Amsterdam, The Netherlands. m.nolte@sanquin.nl
Telephone: +31-20-5123377 Fax: +31-20-5123474
Received: August 26, 2016
Peer-review started: August 26, 2016
First decision: November 17, 2016
Revised: December 22, 2016
Accepted: January 11, 2017
Article in press: January 14, 2017
Published online: February 26, 2017
Processing time: 182 Days and 3.3 Hours
Core Tip

Core tip: T cells act as a double-edged sword upon allogeneic hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSPC) transplantation, as they support engraftment of HSPCs and provide anti-tumor activity, but are also the cause of graft-vs-host disease (GvHD). Here, we discuss the findings from several studies that have addressed the still enigmatic role of T cells during HSPC transplantation, either in an allogeneic or autologous setting, in mice or men, and with HSPCs derived from bone marrow, peripheral blood or cord blood. We anticipate that a better comprehension of how T cells support HSPC engraftment may lead to new strategies to optimize HSPCs transplantations and prevent GvHD.