We now use "stem cell niche" or before "stem cell compartment"all the time but this concept must have been introduced to biology by someone, somewhere, somehow.
There are several well documented external stimuli that act to maintain the repopulating ability of the CD34+ CD38- haematopoitic progenitors, many of these stimuli are found to be secreated by cells adjacent to those non-cycling HSCs. I think this is one of the justification to the term 'HSCs niche'. In addition these findings are proved by invivo models, but the question here is it possible to model it invitro?