Resistance in the Ribosome: RUNX1, pre-LSCs, and HSPCs.

Therapeutic targeting of pre-leukemic stem cells (pre-LSCs) may be a viable strategy to eradicate residual disease and prevent leukemia relapse. Now in Cell Stem Cell, Cai et al. (2015) show that loss-of-function mutations in RUNX1 reduce ribosome biogenesis and provide pre-LSCs a selective advantage over normal hematopoietic cells through increased stress resistance.