Human blood stem cells remember previous inflammation

Inflammatory stress is shown to reprogram a subset of human haematopoietic stem cells (HSCs). These inflammatory memory (HSC-iM) cells have reduced differentiation and pass on inflammation-related gene programs to their immune-cell progeny. HSC-iM cells accumulate with age, and cancer-associated mutations affect HSC-iM cells more than they do other HSCs in clonal blood disorders. A subset of haematopoietic stem cells pass on an inflammatory program to their immune-cell progeny.