PLURIPOTENT HEMATOPOIETIC STEM CELLS (HSC) AND HEMATOPOIESIS (BLOOD CELL LINEAGE)

Hematopoietic stem cells (HSC) are stem cells and the early precursor cells which give rise to all the blood cell types that include both the myeloid and lymphoid lineages. The hematopoietic tissue have cells with long term and short term regeneration capacities and committed multipotent, oligopotent and unipotent progenitors.

Just beyond the HSC, there is a cell that is known as a "hematopoietic progenitor cell" or HPC. Progenitors are not quite the same as stem cells though they share important characteristics. While progenitor cells have an incredible capacity to divide and make other types of cells as they mature, they have only a limited ability to self-renew.