Fetal liver hematopoiesis: from development to delivery

Clinical transplants of hematopoietic stem cells (HSC) can provide a lifesaving therapy for many hematological diseases; however, therapeutic applications are hampered by donor availability. In vivo, HSC exist in a specified microenvironment called the niche. While most studies of the niche focus on those residing in the bone marrow (BM), a better understanding of the fetal liver niche during development is vital to design human pluripotent stem cell (PSC) culture and may provide valuable insights with regard to expanding HSCs ex vivo for transplantation. This review will discuss the importance of the fetal liver niche in HSC expansion, a feat that occurs during development and has great clinical potential. We will also discuss emerging approaches to generate expandable HSC in cell culture that attain more complexity in the form of cells or organoid models in combination with engineering and systems biology approaches. Overall, delivering HSC by charting developmental principles will help in the understanding of the molecular and biological interactions between HSCs and fetal liver cells for their controlled maturation and expansion.