Figure 7 |. Impact of disrupted gut epithelial barrier on hematopoiesis.

The gut epithelial barrier may become impaired in old age or due to intestinal infection and/or microbial dysbiosis^159,160,182. A defective barrier may in turn lead to increased leak into the circulation of microbe-derived compounds, which cause systemic inflammation^137,159. Systemic inflammation is sensed by the bone marrow and may lead – especially when persistent or chronic) – to hematopoietic inflammaging, in the case of normal HSCs^1,24. On the other hand, CHIP-mutant HSCs thrive in an inflammatory environment which exerts a selective pressure that drives their aberrant expansion^35,72,120.