NES and acute myeloid leukemia: We observed that depletion of nestin+ cells during the course of AML development selectively diminished the number of MLL-AF9+ cells in peripheral blood, spleen, and BM and reduced the number of leukemic hematopoietic-lineage-negative (lin−) progenitor cells, without affecting normal hematopoiesis (Figures 2B–2D).