In this study, the authors investigated the link between an aggressive type of leukaemia and TP53 mutations in haematopoietic stem cells. Haematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) can differentiate to produce all blood cell types, which is essential for maintaining a healthy blood system. Up until now, the mechanisms by which these TP53-mutated blood stem cells expand and give rise to cancer have remained in the dark. They found that TP53-mutant cells generated fewer white blood cells and were also resistant to cell death, which is typically induced by inflammation. This study also investigated how well blood stem cells could keep their genomic integrity when they received an inflammatory stimulus.
