Nucleated red blood cells impact DNA methylation and expression analyses of cord blood hematopoietic cells.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Genome-wide DNA methylation (DNAm) studies have proven extremely useful to understand human hematopoiesis. Due to their active DNA content, nucleated red blood cells (nRBCs) contribute to epigenetic and transcriptomic studies derived from whole cord blood. Genomic studies of cord blood hematopoietic cells isolated by fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS) may be significantly altered by heterotopic interactions with nRBCs during conventional cell sorting.

Results

We report that cord blood T cells, and to a lesser extent monocytes and B cells, physically engage with nRBCs during FACS. These heterotopic interactions resulted in significant cross-contamination of genome-wide epigenetic and transcriptomic data. Formal exclusion of erythroid lineage-specific marker

SUBMITTER: de Goede OM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4567832 | biostudies-literature | 2015

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature